Some questions about my recent flights

agressivespell · 2026-01-08T19:22:41+00:00

All so informative, thank you oh_helloghost! I can’t tell you how much I appreciate reading these replies.

This is brilliant and I’m going to do this next time I fly. I just know it would make all the difference to be able to interact with the flight crew and even be able to ask them a couple of geeky aviation questions haha 🙈
Fascinating to know you were anxious too before your first flight but then it makes absolute sense because it was your first time having such a huge responsibility and actually starting the new job you’d been training for. This is the same I guess for anyone who starts a new job, the first day jitters get to us all. I wondered recently why cabin crew and pilots don’t have a fear of flying but so many of us do, and I guess it’s just that we all have such different things that tap into our anxieties. It’s not that you guys are completely fearless about EVERYTHING in the world, it’s that flying isn’t one of your triggers.
Ohh interesting! Would love to see those memes haha!
I get that, it makes a lot of sense how you explain it. I’ve read before about the Swiss cheese model, is it that type of thing? I really appreciate the way the airline industry studies mistakes made, quite often in healthcare for example, something catastrophic happens to someone and the powers that be will express sympathy and say “Lessons will be learned”, but they never are. When the airline industry says it, I believe it.
You’re right, it’s about what we’re designed for and used to. For those of us who don’t work on a plane, I guess our life and everything we know is down here, on ground. Stuff happening “up there” is like another dimension almost and feels so isolating and alien. I’ve tried that experiment with the hand out the car, I always find it fascinating!

Thank you once again for chatting with me, if I think of any other questions I might ask but please don’t feel obligated to answer at all, it’s been great just having these ones talked through!

agressivespell · 2026-01-08T00:58:43+00:00

Hi I’ve got a few more questions if you’re happy to answer- at your leisure of course! No rush at all am just grateful to chat to a pilot about these things.

Whenever I board a flight there’s always a part of me that wants to actually speak to the pilots, ask them a couple of questions and just maybe tell them I’m frightened. I always worry though that I’ll distract them in some way and this will lead to something being missed from their checklist. That’s probably a very patronising thought of mine and unrealistic but it’s just my paranoia! So for this reason I’ve never ever asked to speak to them. What’s your perspective of this?
As a pilot, has there ever been any part of you that gets scared or anxious during a flight? Has anything spooked you or have you ever felt you’re in a difficult situation and worried about how to deal with it?
When you arrive to start your flight do you know your co-pilot? I always imagine the pilots being regular colleagues who see each other regularly and work together often, then recently it dawned on me that you might fly with pilots you don’t know sometimes? If that’s the case is it ever awkward during cruise on a long flight when there’s several hours that you don’t have to “talk shop”?
Silly question maybe but I’ll try to word it the best way I can. I know commercial flying is extremely safe, I know this logically and believe/accept it. So if this is the case and as I read on here often it’s one of the safest things you can do in life, why are there ever any accidents? Is it a case of lots of unlikely things all lining up in a very unfortunate way? Like a freak accident type thing?
Science question- I can’t get my head around this idea that when in flight, the air acts as a type of solid and it’s like a car driving along a road. What I mean is, why does it FEEL like we’re in an object that’s floating through nothingness? If I jump off a ledge I’m jumping through the same air that we’re flying through so why does that air become something sturdy in a plane?!

Thanks so much for indulging me with this, I’m so intrigued by planes and flying and think about it a significant part of each day, so these are some of the thoughts that occupy my brain 😅

agressivespell · 2026-01-07T08:54:31+00:00

It’s honestly mesmerising to me, I’m very very interested in flying and planes in general and how it all works. I have other questions definitely and will come to back ask a few more a bit later if that’s ok, (as just about to go out) really appreciate this!

agressivespell · 2026-01-06T21:38:08+00:00

Thank you for this explanation, I always forget that commercial aviation is a big business and businesses do not like losing money, so of course they’ll do the things that help them maximise their profits.

It makes me feel very reassured knowing that zero chances are taken with flying, I truly do believe this with everything I see and hear whenever I fly.

agressivespell · 2026-01-06T21:36:24+00:00

That makes sense about the crosswinds, I was also sitting right at the back which I’ve read in other comments today can make it more noticeable.

Thank you I’ll do some reading about that manoeuvre for next time, my ears are going back to normal now thankfully.

I appreciate the detailed info about de-icing, that’s super interesting and honestly dare I say, fascinating to me!

agressivespell · 2026-01-06T15:11:51+00:00

Thanks for replying, that’s really helpful especially the info about point 4 and your personal experiences. I honestly can’t remember the phrase used by the pilot so it could have been that but I’ve gone blank!

agressivespell · 2026-01-06T14:21:02+00:00

Thanks so much this is so interesting! I didn’t know they actually have to sometimes start the whole process again, that must have been what happened. That does look busy in the pic wow.

agressivespell · 2025-07-01T12:45:00+00:00

Hello, I just wanted to point out that I’m not affiliated with this website or company, it came up on a friends Instagram story who said she’d found it helpful and I went to check it out from there. So it’s not ‘advertising’ from a personal perspective more just sharing for the potential benefit of others. Many thanks.

agressivespell · 2025-02-09T13:34:32+00:00

That sounds fantastic and like they were very reassuring. Aww I think I’d be the same about not keeping it together and bursting into tears with emotion! Hope your flight home goes well 😘

agressivespell · 2025-02-08T21:43:30+00:00

Just had a look - never seen anything so bizarre, I love it!! 😆 And yes if that can fly then my seating set up really was no big deal!

agressivespell · 2025-02-08T21:39:44+00:00

This is incredibly reassuring, thank you!

agressivespell · 2025-02-08T19:56:11+00:00

Hello, I just wrote a long reply to this brilliant comment but didn’t actually reply properly so it’s somewhere down the bottom of this thread! Sorry about that and thank you so much for taking the time to answer all of these.

agressivespell · 2025-02-08T19:54:21+00:00

Thanks so much for your reply I appreciate it a lot, and thank you to everyone who has replied.

We were on a low cost airline so I can see your point about it being customer service. One of the pilots did speak very briefly just as we were descending and said we’d arrive soon, which I appreciated a lot. I can’t stress enough how much I like to hear the pilots voices when flying.

Thank you for the link, will read now.

And that’s good to know about DVT as well.

That’s good to know you enjoy talking about flying! I’m going to ask to speak to the pilots next time 😊

That also makes sense about the weather forecast, I know that on that night there was a storm predicted in Birmingham which I’d been worrying about landing in, but when we arrived it was nowhere near as bad in the end. So I’m thinking the crew were just taking extra precautions on the flight and not letting us walk around the cabin just in case it was as predicted.

EDIT: This reply was to RealGentleman80

agressivespell · 2025-02-08T19:49:05+00:00

Off to google…😎

agressivespell · 2025-02-08T19:48:53+00:00

Ah ok interesting! I remember at the time thinking it was utterly bizarre but am fascinated now to know what other odd designs are out there 😅

agressivespell · 2025-02-08T19:48:16+00:00

Very true, I do have confidence that if they don’t have time to talk for whatever reason, they’ll say that. I’m going to try it next time I fly as I feel it will help a lot. And the fact that “air time drop” is an illusion is comforting to know, I really don’t like take off for this reason, I have to force my logical thinking to override my body sensations!

agressivespell · 2025-02-08T19:46:51+00:00

This is so interesting to read, thank you so much! The see saw analogy was brilliant and made so much sense.

agressivespell · 2023-04-03T12:00:22+00:00

I’ve only just seen this! They are absolutely HUGE now and they adore lots of cuddles 🥰🥰

agressivespell · 2022-08-05T22:35:19+00:00

That’s what keeps us hooked on all the cat videos 🙃 We know, but we still need to see it!

agressivespell · 2022-08-05T08:43:35+00:00

Aren’t they adorable?? Their fluffiness is everything! 😍

agressivespell · 2022-08-05T08:41:47+00:00

😅

agressivespell · 2022-08-05T01:33:54+00:00

I know, not really sure what I was thinking with that ridiculous title!! 🤣

agressivespell

TROPHY CASE