Fear of Flying course

July 27, 2014

I’m sure everyone has an in-flight horror story to tell, and no I’m not talking about watching Scream’s 523rd sequel repeatedly. But let me tell you I developed an angst around flying when a plane I was on last year had to turn back to the airport from whence it came because there was a ‘malfunction’. Annnnd I won’t go on about the flapping wings or the smoke coming from the cockpit or the lack of phones in the hotel we were put up in, but can now reassure you (thanks to David – an Ill Capitano at Qantas) that the flapping of plane wings is not something to fear.

For all those with irrational (or legitimated) fears of flying, Flight Experience have developed a course for you. The course gives you sessions with psychs (who work with CBT), a session with an actual pilot (who explains the rigorous testing they have to go through), and a flight simulation – so that your fears of that clunking noise as the plane takes off are assuaged with the fact that that’s just the sound of the wheels being pulled into the plane.

Yeah we know they’re pricey, but so is building a bridge to Europe and getting over it. The flight, on a 737, takes you out of Brisbane and takes you wherever you want to go (if you’ve had a particularly bad experience at say, JFK, they’ll take you there, they’ll take you anywhere, it’s up to you). Also – it feels real. I left with motion sickness.

Even if you’re not scared of hurtling through the sky at 1000kms/hour surrounded by only a metal shell, the flight simulator is good for pretending that you’re some modern day Nancy Bird Walton. Seriously, Baudrillard has nothing on this.

Article originally published by Sarah Werkmeister on The Thousands