Pilots with a fear of heights

Pilotforhire587 said:
I don't know about the diaper, but I wouldn't do it with out a BASS parachute either.
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Yeah how does the saying go again. I believe it's, "a parachute is like a gun. If you ever need one and don't have one, you'll probably never need one again." I couldn't find a way to fit the diaper into that sentence though. Ever BASE jump before?
 
Jet said:
Yeah how does the saying go again. I believe it's, "a parachute is like a gun. If you ever need one and don't have one, you'll probably never need one again." I couldn't find a way to fit the diaper into that sentence though. Ever BASE jump before?
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Nope, never sky dived either, though I may try that one day... No way in hell I would ever base jump, I like my life to much.
 
rframe said:
I wouldn't call it an irrational fear (like, being afraid of bunnies or the dark), but a healthy respect for something that will easily kill you if you dont pay attention. I have no problem in an airplane including aerobatics, and no real problem climbing things like ladders or trees, but when I'm on something without a good grip I get very tense. For example when I built my house, standing on the edge of the roof to work on a piece of trim makes me tense. Standing on the edge of a cliff also gets me a little tense. It's not the height so much as the lack of a secure grip that bothers me.

Starting about 1:30 makes me pee myself just watching this from my office chair.
3:50 gives me a mild heart attack.
At 6:30 I pass out.


I probably wouldn't sign up for this either:
hand_prop_in_flight.jpg
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Holy crap! He just kept going up and up and up! That was the most uncomfortable I've ever felt watching anything since having to watch the bathtub scene from "The 40 Year Old Virgin" with my father.
 
I am terrified of heights, yet I have no problems at all in an airplane! At work we have a scissor lift that I use to clean the T tail on the G2s, and when you get that thing up about 20 feet it starts to get real wobbly from side to side. Most of the mechanics I work with have no fear of heights at all though, it is nuts. They will raise the scissor lift as high as it will go (which is still about a foot shorter than the top of the horizonal of the G2) and then climb up on the railing to get up on top of the tail to do inspections. It just blows my mind how they do it.

Another time that I can remember that really showcased my fear of heights is when I was taken on sort of a VIP tour of the US Capital building that only Senators can give. We went up to the very top of the rotunda and went on the little circular walkway that is up at the top. You are literally 10 feet from touching the paintings on the ceiling from there. The people down on the floor look like ants. I was so scared that I could briefly look over the edge, but I didn't feel comfortable unless I was standing at least 3 or 4 feet away from the railing.

A lot of the deal with the fear of heights is control. In an airplane I feel like I am in control and don't have that much danger (when in reality there is definitely danger involved with flying, don't get me wrong), but when you are standing by a ledge it just seems so much more out of control. I have even flown in the amphibious Air Cam that we have at work and being in the open air cockpit didn't affect me. It is definitely a weird sensation not having anything between you and the trees down below, yet there was no sense of fear there. Fears are definitely very interesting things.
 
I'd climb the hell out of that tower, but I get nervous as hell rock climbing and the initial part of repelling when the harness feels like it's not doing anything. My fear is lack of grip, as mentioned by rframe. That tower looks like it's got plenty of human hand friendly things to hold onto. Cliffs, not so much.
 
I have a morbid fear of heights. I hated my first 2 first flight lessons. Now, I love flying.

I still hate and am scared of the rides at Six Flags.
 
wildfreightess said:
Holy crap! He just kept going up and up and up! That was the most uncomfortable I've ever felt watching anything since having to watch the bathtub scene from "The 40 Year Old Virgin" with my father.
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AHHHHHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! I don't know if it was a funny moment for you, but it was funny to read this! :D
 
I'm terrified of heights if there is any chance of falling over the edge, or off of what I'm climbing. But whenever people want to get drink on roof tops, climbing them via the sketchy route them and their housemates concocted, I grow a pair and do it to face my fears. Don't ask me to climb ladders otherwise. Period.
 
Add me to the afraid of heights list! You won't catch me on a ladder longer that 8 ft, Or a roller coaster, or near the window of a high hotel room!
 
Derg said:
Well, most of us are. And more lefties than average as well.
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I have noticed that too! At least 2 out of the 5 pilots I work with, as well as one of my old instructors are lefties. I don't know the standard average of left handed people, but I imagine it isn't nearly that high.


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Being 6'7, standing near a stairway bar or a balcony bar is almost certainly prohibitve. Also, climbing a ladder is a major accomplishment to my psyche.
 
Muff3n said:
I have noticed that too! At least 2 out of the 5 pilots I work with, as well as one of my old instructors are lefties. I don't know the standard average of left handed people, but I imagine it isn't nearly that high.


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I've heard figures, however unverified, that lefties make up 15% of the population at-large but 40% of the pilot population.
 
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