The Little Lady gets airsick

[BigJohnnie]

Any of you MD's out there, --or experienced flyers for that matter -- have any advice for assisting the Misses in easing her airsickness? Seems the general jostling about in the afternoon mild chop does her in, hence me flying by myself . Doesn't matter if it's a 737, or a Pa-22. It just really effects her. I bought the electric "relief band" device ( the one with the replaceable batteries) and she has about an hour flight time using it and so far she didnt get nauseated. However, we were in relatively smooth air ( in the mid morning) so I don't really know of it's effectiveness. My plan I have come up with is to take her up, about 20 min at a time , in the calm of the morning , and gradually lengthen the time in the air -- about 5-10 minutes per flight, keeping the banking to a minimum and flying as smooth as possible -- hoping to help her "grow out of " her motion sickness. Your thoughts ?

Johnnie

[Geoff Newcombe]

Hmmm, I thought this subject got a pretty good going over the LAST time you asked this question about a year ago.
http://www.shortwing.org/forum/showt...ht=airsickness

[BigJohnnie]

yup... but I guess I was inquiring about reviews concerning the "relief band"......TY for the heads up on that prev post...

[Wayne Jacobson]

The Relief Band works good for my wife, and she gets sick very easy. Also consider trying ginger capsules for ginger gum, it works really good for many people.

[joewcasey]

I've had pretty good luck with dramamine, if that makes her drowsy, try half a caplet.

[p_everette]

There is a "non drowsy" formula of dramamine that my wife will use if needed. Works for her and dosen't knock her out. Wait that gives me an idea, awwww just teasing.

[portouwl]

Get her involved in navigation and then flying the plane. The distraction helps and she may ask you to take here flying!

[joewcasey]

Oh, and DON'T go in the mid afternoon, there are usually 10-14 other hours of the day when the weather's better.

[Wayne]

Hi Johnnie, I have found that most people build tolerance to flying after doing enough of it. If the patch works (some brands can be cut in half if to strong, some have goo inside and can't be) then use them. She should need the meds. less and less as her body gets use to the motion. Wayne

[12611]

HI,
I used to fly a health nurse to various northern communities and she was not a good flyer. She would show up half drugged and convinced she would be sick before we got off the water which was usually the case. After several attempts I convinced her to ride in the front, just rest her hand on top of the control yoke and look ahead to the horizon, she was still using her drugs but for once wasn't sick. I like to think it was because she was looking out, and not inside or down, and that the movement of the yoke gave her some indication as to what the movement of the airplane was going to be??? In any case she was much better but I could never convince her to try it without the gravol.
Doug.
PS, tell her to not feel bad, I have trouble doing the log book in flight if it's choppy.

[Tom T.]

When I first bought my airplane, I would get sick everytime I just looked at it. I am hoping this restoration will take care of that!!

[Glen Geller]

Johnnie, you will find the Missus will be much more relaxed and less sick if she is flying the plane. As soon as you leave the pattern, trim for gentle climb or level, pick a mountain etc 20 miles away and let her drive for 30 minutes. Along the way get her doing a few turns (now head towards THAT mountain. Good now back to the ORIGINAL mountain.)
After a few flights like this she will probably deal with the motion much better.
It might even be worth it to send her up with a CFI in a C150 (dont start with me anyone!) to get an objective lesson or two. A good investment in the long run.
If you don't have any suitable mountains in your area, let me know and I'll email a few of ours to you. Oregon is loaded with 'em!

[BigJohnnie]

Glen
NOTHING would make me happier than getting her interested in flying the airplane. Alas, she will have nothing to do with that. She's still way too scared. However, we HAVE been working on both of us flying it at the same time. That seems to help a little as her general anxiety level seems to be much less, so we will see what will happen in the next year. As far as other nausea-provoking things, she says the most sickening feelings arise from the occasional moderate chop encountered, namely the brief periods of close-to-negative g's in the downdrafts.

[Homer Landreth]

Hi Johnnie;
This is not intended to be "flip" and it has some personal knowledge behind it so;
Have you considered Hypnosis? As I am sure you know, anxiety can be a powerful force, and if She is riding along thinking that the next negative "G" is coming any second now, She is 3/4 ths of the way to letting it cause her problems when it comes. My personal knowledge comes from from years ago knowing a lot of tail gunners in B-52 D models who spend 99 percent of 8 - 12 hour missions riding at the maximum aft moment point of a huge airplane flying 200 feet off the ground over hill and dale and mountains and deserts. It gets a bit bumpy back there for them. I knew a gunner who used to get sick immediately after the AC announced they were descending to low level. Hypnosis and some other psychological "tricks" helped him.

[BigJohnnie]

Been wanting to fly with the Lil' RedHead for a long time now, but seems something is always preventing that from happening. Either the family has planned an "event" that needs our audience ( and the weather is perfect ) , or with nothing on the agenda but flying -- the weather absolutely danged-awful , or the airplane developes an issue that prevents it from safely flying --- like a leaky gascolator ( which was fixed with "Steve's") , or an internally leaky aux fueltank transfer pump -- which BTW resulted in a puddle of very expensive fuel dripping / overflowing from the filler neck of the aux tank ( which was fixed by my SWPC Bretheren Tom Anderson of the Buckeye chapter ) --- it was always SOMETHING. Well, yesterday, I had an ok day at work. Got out on time and an evening ( hour ) of flying was planned with Lil'Red. Her plan was to cut out of work early , But, alas, She was unable to leave early. Not to mention that her day was really bad, and she arrived home quite tired and , shall we say, rather pi**ed-off. Her job is a tough one, so I understand her frustrations. ANyway, I managed to get her out of the house and go with me to the airport. It was about 19:00 when we arrived there, and quite warm -- right around 90 degrees, but not a cloud in the sky , but what with areas of haze and smog and a vis of about 10 miles. So we boarded up, me sneakily taking a plastic bag for a possibe "emergency stomach event" , and the relief band thingey in the camera bag. Well, the planets must have been perfectly aligned with the cosmos -- and my little TriPacer---- ,and the Big Guy Above must have been listening to my pleas. All seemed in order. At her suggestion, I had all of the vents open for good ventilation , and we lifted off and climbed to 3000 ft MSL with nary a bump to be had .I gave her a task, of which was to look for airborne traffic. More than willing, she agreed to do so. I pointed out some familiar landmarks ( shopping malls ) , and showed her the direction of where our farmhouse / subdivision was, as that was where we were heading.That evening, there just happened to be a very large "cruise-in" at our local supermarket parking lot --probably two to three hundred cars and about a couple of thousand folks attending. She looked intrested , so I did a lazy circle around it with her looking down and making comments. There also happened to be a local outdoor concert ( the bands "Loverboy" that evening, and "Kansas" slated to perform the next day ) at a park near our home. "Hey look over there! Isn't that "Midsummer at the Meadows?", she asked. "Yup", so I did a lazy circle over it as well, all the while she taking in the sights and making comments. Heading back home ( due west ) , she made the comment on how nice the evening sky looked in the distance. "Hey", she said. "This is rather pleasant". "Kind of serene". WWWWWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTT a minute here, I thought to myself. Did mine own ears deceive me? Was the word "serene" and "pleasant" occur in the same sentence and actually eminate from that really-purty smile of hers? HOT D**N. I believe it did. I could not believe my ears. Six miles from the airport, a cessna reported his position in the pattern. She immediately started scanning , and picked him out for me saying, "I got him. About 2 o'clock and way over there. Smiling I said, "Thank You, honey". I flew a rather large pattern, keeping the bank angles as minimal as prudent, applied full flaps on final and with a plan of doing a soft field toucdown , managed to doa full-stall thump from about a foot off the runway. With my bungee combo of 1080 hd / 1280 hd's it was noticed by her. "Oh !! I guess we've landed ! No doubt about that landing !" I could tell she was feeling good by her good-hearted banter. After locking her away in the hangar ( no, not Lil'Red, our TriPacer) , She said with a smile that she was "starving". Off we went to the neighborhood "Applebees". When we were ordering our food, the waitress asked if the weather was "Still hot and yukky outside". I said it wasn't too bad , especially from about 3000 feet up over our heads. With a puzzled look on her face, the waitress said " You just fly in? Where did you fly in from?" My wife then proudly said " We went on a real nice evening flight over this area. We have our own airplane". That's the first time she mentioned the word "OUR", combined with the phrase "own airplane", for in the past it was always "HIS own airplane."
I think things are going to get a might better, now. I felt so lucky, in fact, that I bought me --- ooops , I mean US --- a lottery ticket.

[Hillbilly]

Customarily, lottery winnings are shared with the first hillbilly that speaks to you after buying the ticket, but its only tradition... Great story BTW.

[metrallarider]

Great story Johnny. Really hit home, cause my wife is the same way (motion sickness). She has a whole ritual now and it seems to work. It starts with an anti-histamine the night before, and there's also some sort of homeopathic drop behind the ears. After she started this routine, it was just like your story. She's away till Mon., but I'll post the exact "cure" when she's back.
Jim

[metrallarider]

OK, here is the routine the boss - er, I mean the wife uses. Tylenol P.M. the nite before. This clears the sinuses. Then, before the flight, Motion-ease (homeopathc oil)behind all three ears. Then any homeopathic motion sickness pill under the tongue. This sounds like a lot of trouble, but remember that any participation by the significant - other, adds a decimal point to your aviation expenditures!

[Michael Durling]

When I was a kid I got car sick unless I sat in front and could look out. When I was in the Navy I got sea sick! Whoa! they dont stop the bus and let you off. Got so bad one time a corpman had to give me a shot to knock me out. From that point on I had to report to sickbay 2 hrs prior to getting underway to take my motion sickness medication. I think it was Dramamine, dont know for sure. It did'nt make me drowsy, could'nt have a sleepy sailor. When I was taking flight instruction, I would get queasy, particularly under the hood. When I mentioned it to my instructor, he gave me this advise. When you drive home I want you to count every bump in the road, and tell me if you get sick. Here in Michigan we have some pretty bad roads, something to do with frost, salt, snow at least thats what they say. At any rate I did and I did not, so the next flight he inquired and I reported, I lost count and I did not get sick. Mike he said, just think of it as bumps in the road. It works for me. By the way I dont get car sick anymore! The boats and water thing, well let's just say I'd rather fly,drive or walk. Hope this helps

[BigJohnnie]

An update ...

Earlier this week, Lil'Red asked me if I would like to visit her sister and her husband over the holiday weekend. I kind of half-heartedly said "Sure, why not". After all, we had no plans anyway. Mid week, The Lil'Red Head asked me " Hey , how's the weather going to be this weekend"? I said "I dunno...but we won't be here anyway so what's the diff?" She replied quietly, " Well......honey....ahem......I thought we might FLY there this time instead of driving the three and a half hours". "Whaaaaaa....?" I was shocked . "You mean FLY.......right? You realize its 145 miles one way , right? " She replied " That's exactly why I want to fly. If we can get there in a third of the time, I'm all for it".
To make a long story short, a mostly cloudy day, a bit of a headwind, a surprisingly smooth ride ( Thank You Lord ) , and QUALITY time spent with my wife enjoying her company her, laughter and conversation --- and she enjoyed following our progress with a sectional in her lap. ( I decided it best to try and keep her busy). The airplane ran like the proverbial Swiss watch --- and both of had one heluva good flight. I cant wait until the return trip tomorrow....

[BigJohnnie]

Well, the return trip was not nearly as nice. Broken ( cumulous) ceiling only about 3500' all the way back, and the enroute forecast was for solid overcast -- made for a bumpy ride . *BUT* she didnt get sick , and thanks to that (battery powered) "Relief Band" I bought her, her "sick" was limited to just some nausea.
The best part is that she says she'll do it again....says "an hour and a half in our little plane still better than driving over three hours..".I think I'm gonna buy her some flowers today.

[SandyM]

Great to hear the "Little Ladies" flight went well. Sounds like an awesome trip and to have her want to do more is a great thing. So often I hear of pilots who's wives hate flying and that's very sad.

My wife is really pushing me to finish up my ticket so we can start doing some flying together. She's looking forward to being the right seat navigator and doing some weekend getaways. We've had a chance to fly together with my brother and she loves it. She had always talked about retiring and driving a motor home around the country. Now she's modified that to flying around instead.

[Curley]

Get her the biggest bunch of flowers you can find -

It was a major effort for her to go flying with you and it takes courage to do something that you know will make you sick and therefore comes with a great deal of aprehension. "LilRed" did real well