[Kolyan2k]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

I fly a lot, well a long way a lot of the time, like 20+ hrs. Turbulance can be annoying on a long flight as you can't relax, go tot he loo or stretch your legs. But it's fine, what I fear is a pocket, nevr encountered one but every so often you hear about it where all is good then WHAM everyone hits the ceiling. Traveling with kids who FINALLY fall asleep but their belt is not right, you are dead set walking on egg shells to find a way to do it up "just in case".

On our last several flights we had all 4 seats to us (3 people) and son was sleeping horizontally which makes it near impossible to fasten him. Waking him up is a nightmare, he starts crying very loud for 15-20 minutes straight without stopping because he is really tired.....and he is 4.5 soon, crying louder than 6 month old babies, everyone starts staring.

When he is not asleep, he is pretty serious about fastening when the sign/light is ON

[///MPhatic]

Originally Posted by tranquility

Anyway, imagine going from a Boeing airliner to a freaking, what, 20-seater bi-propeller plane? The cockpit door was left open and I could almost stretch my arm and touch the pilots....I don't even know why they bothered having a stewardess....it was insane lmao, but the crampedness wasn't the worst part. Now, I dunno what plane you're getting onto and I'm pretty it's going be better, but MAN, I never experienced worse turbulence, the freaking thing was shaking so badly I thought it was gonna break, and I'm a damn cyborg when it comes to these things - I was wondering if the thing's gonna go down at some pt. When I got back, I freaking yell (ok, mildly complained lol) at my folks for putting me through that crap. NEVER AGAIN!!

Anyway, hope you have a good flight.

Oh hell. Thanks for that. haha

[Alfisti]

Originally Posted by Tommy-G

I don’t know how you do it. My limit is 5 hours. Florida or NJ to Vegas is about my tolerance. We did 9 to Europe but I was way younger, much more excited to travel and about 20 pounds lighter too

On my own it is easy but with kids, young kids, goddam. From Toronto to Syd is tough as the timezoen means red eye ALL THE FUCKING WAY. The usual hop is Toronto > West coast (LA/SFO/VAN) > Syd but the second leg is a bitch at over 15 hrs. Last time we went Toronto > Hawaii > 2 nights rest > Syd...... was about 12 billion times easier.

[Alfisti]

Originally Posted by Kolyan2k

On our last several flights we had all 4 seats to us (3 people) and son was sleeping horizontally which makes it near impossible to fasten him. Waking him up is a nightmare, he starts crying very loud for 15-20 minutes straight without stopping because he is really tired.....and he is 4.5 soon, crying louder than 6 month old babies, everyone starts staring.

When he is not asleep, he is pretty serious about fastening when the sign/light is ON

If you can try to fly in the day, especially with 4+ yr olds because they will stare at a screen for 10 hrs no issue.

Under 3 is just a nightmare, i cannot tell you the literal tears shed by the mrs and almost myself, nursing babies for 14 hrs, can't move, can't pee, screaming, crying etc..... just a fucking nightmare.

[floridaorange]

Originally Posted by ///MPhatic

Oh hell. Thanks for that. haha

Been in much much smaller commercial flights in the tropics - easy peasy no fuss

[damianwo]

Originally Posted by 3.0L

The best way to deal with turbulence on commercial flights might be to have another drink.

Amen

[ezaircon4jc]

Originally Posted by NealfromNZ

Used to fly for work on a regular basis. Live in a windy city and the local airport supports only up to mid size jets...

When thunderbumpers went through SLC the wind could get rather, shall we say, gamey. We were landing south and all I could see of an arriving Western 72 was the left side of the aircraft! He didn't straighten-out until the mains were on the runway.

[dradernh]

Originally Posted by floridaorange

I don't particularly mind it - I've flown alot, but during my recent trip out of the country my friend told me about 2 incidents she experienced that were severe turbulence both of which were on her way to England.

Anyway, how anxious does turbulence make you? Of course bumpiness is to be expected - but I've heard stories of air pockets and stewardess's having to sit with their heads between their legs (must be a standard procedure) and thankfully I haven't experienced that.

What kind of self talk do you start doing when most passengers start to get uncomfortable due to the level of turbulence?

Your handle reminds me of riding in a puddle-jumper up the length of Central America back in the 1950s, stopping at every capital along the way. It took forever, and we had plenty of turbulence along the way. I had an orange juice on my tray when we hit a deep pocket, and all of the juice went up to whatever was over my head, came back down all over me, and then drip-drip-dripped for the next few minutes until someone cleaned it up. This was in the days when you got dressed-up before getting on a plane. Great fun!

My sister and I once flew from Aspen to Denver's old Stapleton Field in a 12-passenger plane. I think we only got up to 16,000' before beginning our descent, so we enjoyed a very pretty view out of the windows. We were unaware that once the aircraft passed over the Front Range, it was going to begin hopping up and down in a most alarming way. While the pilots had to strain to reach the switches and buttons they needed to operate, the other passengers, who were obviously used to the routine, never looked up from what they were doing: reading, buffing fingernails, etc. We, however, were flat-out terrified!

So yeah, I'm not really a fan of turbulence.

Something I got from an airline pilot friend a few years back was about a colleague of his who failed to correctly interpret the signs of an approaching thunderstorm and flew straight into it. The aircraft hit a pocket, dropped a good distance, and a passenger who was out of his seat and standing in the aisle didn't survive after hitting the ceiling. I asked what happened to the pilot: fired, busted back to co-pilot, letter in his jacket...what? He said "He's still flying; he just has to live with it."

[3.0L]

Originally Posted by vreihen16

...like the pilots do?????

They might at the end of the day.

But during the flight:

Flight attendant, "Coffee, tea or me?"

[floridaorange]

I also wonder what procedures are in place to make sure pilots aren't under the influence.

[vreihen16]

Originally Posted by 3.0L

Flight attendant, "Coffee, tea or me?"

.

[3.0L]

Originally Posted by floridaorange

I also wonder what procedures are in place to make sure pilots aren't under the influence.

Commercial pilots can be spot-checked, and they well know it.

[dradernh]

Originally Posted by floridaorange

I also wonder what procedures are in place to make sure pilots aren't under the influence.

Quite a few have been nailed while checking-in for their early morning flights.

I no longer remember the airline or the airport, but a pair of an airline's pilots were caught at 6 AM in the last couple of decades still fairly drunk after closing down a bar while blind-drunk at 2 AM. They were picked up by the people charged with looking for such things before crew checked-in. Thank goodness.

[ezaircon4jc]

Originally Posted by dradernh

Quite a few have been nailed while checking-in for their early morning flights.

I no longer remember the airline or the airport, but a pair of an airline's pilots were caught at 6 AM in the last couple of decades still fairly drunk after closing down a bar while blind-drunk at 2 AM. They were picked up by the people charged with looking for such things before crew checked-in. Thank goodness.

I believe that was Northwest (Orient). There was a joke going around after the incident where Boeing was designing a new airplane just for them. It was called the 7&7.

[vreihen16]

There have been incidents of intoxicated flight crew members being yanked from the cockpit at the gate in the last year or so.....

[3.0L]

Originally Posted by vreihen16

There have been incidents of intoxicated flight crew members being yanked from the cockpit at the gate in the last year or so.....

Random sobriety checks, plus observations from crew members works well. And keep in mind there are 2 pilots up front.

Having said that, I will never fly on a commercial airliner if they go single-pilot.

[Chihuahua]

Originally Posted by damianwo

I fly on average twice a month to Europe. My wife checks the “turbuly” app every time we hop on a plane because she’s a chicken when it comes to rough air.

Thanks for this, I had no idea such an app existed. I am not a fan of turbulence at all.