Question Regarding Stalls and Air Sickness

Bigey

Bigey

Well-Known Member
Howdie

I've been doing on and off flight lessons and one thing bums me out each time. I get airsick. I've gotten airsick ever since like the age 7 but i've enjoyed the whole aspect of flying for as long as i can remember. The question is, right now, i have a "barf" bag in case i lose it while flying, but is there any way to overcome it? Any medicine?

My question also; when i practice stalls, should i wait till i'm over the airsickness part, or just do it and deal with being sick up there?

Thanks
 
I'd say just tough it out. A lot of my students would carry barf bags early in their training 'just in case'. But as they progressed thru training, they got their 'sea legs'.

I never really got airsick, but one turbulent summer day over Gilroy, CA (during the garlic festival) with a student that hadn't bathed since he left his homeland...
 
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I'd say just tough it out. A lot of my students would carry barf bags early in their training 'just in case'. But as they progressed thru training, they got their 'sea legs'.

I never really got airsick, but one turbulent summer day over Gilroy, CA (during the garlic festival) with a student that hadn't bathed since he left his homeland...

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Haha

I felt embarrassed one of the times really badly. We're on final and my CFI is talking me down, when all of a sudden i grab the bag, and let loose. I had enough time to tell him "YOU HAVE CON..." before i barfed into the bag.
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Perhaps I'm the weirdo, but at least you had presence of mind to relinquish controls of the aircraft!
 
I'd also speculate that frequency of training would help cure you of that problem.
Not training frequently your body isn't getting used to motion sickness.
I have only barfed once in a 172. And that was when I was training for my PPL in TUS in the summer.
It was 110 and the thermals had us bouncing around like crazy.
My instructor decided to RTN to the airport. Unfortunately to lil to late. As I barfed minus the bag and (there were none in the plane) all over him and the plane.
To make matters worse. TUS is a class C airport with heavy military traffic.
We landed on 29L just as several 3 & 4 ship flight of F-16's as well as comm traffic filled the pattern.
Ground wouldn't let us cross 29R to taxi back to the FBO with all the landing traffic in the pattern.
So we sat there for 15-20 mins. in 110 degree temps with a plane full of barf...everywhere! I'll never ever forget that smell.
Whats worse is that the FBO cleaners refused to clean the plane because there was alot of it (barf) everywhere.
So they made me clean it...gross!!!

-Matthew
 
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I'd also speculate that frequency of training would help cure you of that problem.
Not training frequently your body isn't getting used to motion sickness.
I have only barfed once in a 172. And that was when I was training for my PPL in TUS in the summer.
It was 110 and the thermals had us bouncing around like crazy.
My instructor decided to RTN to the airport. Unfortunately to lil to late. As I barfed minus the bag and (there were none in the plane) all over him and the plane.
To make matters worse. TUS is a class C airport with heavy military traffic.
We landed on 29L just as several 3 & 4 ship flight of F-16's as well as comm traffic filled the pattern.
Ground wouldn't let us cross 29R to taxi back to the FBO with all the landing traffic in the pattern.
So we sat there for 15-20 mins. in 110 degree temps with a plane full of barf...everywhere! I'll never ever forget that smell.
Whats worse is that the FBO cleaners refused to clean the plane because there was alot of it (barf) everywhere.
So they made me clean it...gross!!!

-Matthew

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Maybe thats it. I go pretty sparingly. Maybe every month or so..

So no medicine huh?
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I think you will be fine with stalls, not a violent manuever. Im sure you will be much more prone to puke during transition. Summer thermals close tot he ground can be a pain in the butt.. Just toughen t out and get used to it. Ask your instructor if you can ride along in the back when he instructs other people...You can get more time to practice dealing with it that way
 
There is a medication called Dramamine that you can take for airsickness. Whether it is approved through the FAA, or not, I cannot tell you.
 
One wears one of the anti-motion sickness wrist band thingy's and it seems to work for him. You usually can find them in pilot shops.

One of my other students got sick on me the other day. We had just gotten back in the pattern after doing ground refs and I instructed him to do a normal landing. We did a touch and go and I took control (through positive exchange of course) and was demonstrating a short field take-off and landings. He told me he wanted to make this a full stop because (in his own words), "I not feel so good" as we turned downwind. I looked over at him and saw the typical I'm getting sick face. I really didn't know what to do. Should I chop the power and bank it on in or should I fly a normal pattern. I decided to do the latter. I was just about to tell him to keep his head straight and look out side when he let loose out of the window. Only problem was that he didn't get his head far enough out of the window and a the wind blew and lot of hit back onto him and into the back of the plane. I felt a little mist of it hitting me also. We landed taxied back, and I told him to go clean himself off and come back and clean the plane out. I not cleaning up nobodies.....
 
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Any medicine?

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Check out:
RBAPicture.jpg


I used to have problems as well, but I picked this up and carry it all the time. The minute you start to feel queazy, turn it on and like magic it does the work. Never had a problem again.
 
I 2nd the motion sickness band. We've got a student here that had problems with airsickness.............he got that little electronic band (C-Band I think it is? With the multiple levels of settings), and has been fine ever since!
 
You do tend to get used to it after a while. A lot of it has to do with nerves as well. Once you become more comfortable in the plane the loading and un loading of Gs on your body doesn't bother you as much. I only had one student ever get sick on my. Thankfully it was in a seminole and he got 90% of it out the little window. I haven't ever been sick in a plane my self although there were a few times I felt pretty darn queasy. Try the wristbands and try doing some breathing excersises.
 
I just did my stall recovery trainig today, for both stall power on and stall power off I felt nothing except an extreme adrenaline rush for the first one when I went into a hard left bank after the palne went into a stall and instead of using the rudder to recover I used the ailerons (BIG MISTAKE)
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and the palne proceeded to enter a spin and that was when I got the control back.
My instructor told me that I was his first student that did not get sick or felt scared after the first time. By the way I had to add that we were in a C-172 manufactured in 1976 and it was 95 degrees outside with a thick haze that reduced the visibility extremely.
I would say just go ahead and make the stall recovery lessons repeatative so you would get used to it.
HAPPY FLYING
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I used to have problems as well, but I picked this up and carry it all the time. The minute you start to feel queazy, turn it on and like magic it does the work. Never had a problem again.

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How do these wristbands work?

Thanks.
 
Hey Bigey, dude don't sweat it, I was in the same boat as you. I always threw up flying when I was a kid but I still loved it.

When I started my training this summer, I was so paranoid about getting airsick. I did, and it wasn't a big deal at all, almost funny. Now that I have some hours under my belt I have felt fine ever since. The only days that bother me are the REALLY hot days. Bumpy air doesn't bother me, and stalls never did.

Good luck and don't worry about it too much. Your stomach will get used to it.
 
When I started my private training last year, I had to cut my first two lessons short because I wasn't feeling well. I had heard about Sea-Band wrist bands, so I went to CVS and picked up a pair for only $10. I wore them for a few weeks, and eventually stopped, and that pretty much took care of the problem. I think a lot of it wasn't so much motion as much as it was nerves and anxiety. It's a lot to take in when you're new at flying.

Another suggestion is to wear light, comfortable clothing, and know where the air vents are and adjust them as needed. The only time I ever threw up in a plane was back in early 2001, on my first technical flying lesson. I had been fine the whole time, but on the way back the combination of my heavy winter coat and cabin heat in the cramped confines of a 152 caused me to become nauseous and I filled a sic-sac with partially digested Apple Jacks and orange juice.

As far as stalls, I never had a problem with them. Even the power-ons where I didn't use enough rudder and the right wing dropped... Have your instructor demonstrate one to you first, so you'll know what to expect. Confidence is key in learning to fly. The only other things that made me queasy when flying was at times during my 2nd and 3rd solos (it'd come and go), my first attempt at unusual attitude recovery, and during my checkride, of all times. I managed to keep it all in though.
 
I tried those wrist bands, they didnt work too well for me. Hell i still barfed!
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The ones from sav on..sea band or something.

What medicine am i allowed when i go flying and such, just so i can get used to it.
 
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You will eventually get used to it.

How many hours do you have?

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Beautiful 2.3!
 
Bigey, I got sick quite a bit during the beginning of my Private Training. On just about every one of my first 5 flights, I felt absolutely horrible. My Instructor would have to fly us back to the airport because I thought I'd loose it if I had to fly.

On my last flight before my checkride, I threw up!

A while later, while flying on of the SAFECON events in 2002, I threw up. Those Jepp flight bags are leakproof, you know . . .

It happens, but you'll get past it. Trust me on that one. Just go frequently, eat light, and stay hydrated.
 
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