IMO, in the real world, that can be a bit dangerous. I am a private pilot, and I have a realistic understanding that every time I go up, there is a chance that I may not come back in one piece. I know that my aircraft is maintained well and I have great confidence in my abilities as a pilot, but having a bit of 'fear' in the back of your mind can prevent you from making dangerous decisions. (Really, fear is a bit of a strong word, I would more equate it to respect for Murphy's law and the fact that I am not bullet proof). 

 

Oh I feel a pressure to get things right, and a respect that if you make a mistake, things can turn out bad. Always do things that are safe. If there's an easy but risky way of doing something vs a less convenient but safe way of doing something, do the safe thing. 

 

Flying isn't scary, but weather can be. That very flight into Canberra I linked to had us leave later than planned due to a morning fog that didn't really lift till nearly midday. The 4 hour waiting for the fog to lift was boring, particularly when the fog at the origin was gone by 9am.

 

Proper planning, careful checking of weather and technology, and not going into a potentially risky situation is common sense. You could say that the motivation is "so you don't die", but it's equally about being legal, and not getting yourself into a situation you don't like. Layers of safety. 

 

The lack of fear could be due to the fact you know how many extra layers of safety you have put in using preparation. You have a plan, and several backup plans. Don't eat into your safety margin, treat every flight like it's an exam.

 

I have seen people (passengers) fear death when flying, with hyperventilation, grasping things, becoming so panicked that they cannot comprehend basic language etc... 

 

I have also been flying when I initiated a go around due to 'an odd feeling' on an otherwise good approach. I remember once flying into Hoxton Park YHOX (closed now) for the first time and as I came through about 300ft there was a bit of a windshear sink. The wind wasn't too heavy, only around 10 or so knots, but I just felt the aircraft descend a bit more than I expected it to. I corrected, but couldn't quite find my sweet spot for the descent rate and was inducing some vertical Pilot Induced Oscilation. At about 100ft I made the decision that I didn't like it, and just went around. The instructor said I seemed to be settling it out ok, but I just felt unsettled, 100ft and not quite stable? no thanks!

 

The next circuit we hit the same patch of turbulence, but I was expecting it that time and kinda predicted where it would hit. On the debrief the Instructor suggested that maybe I thought I was lower than I thought I was due to the runway at YHOX being slightly wider than 11L at YSBK, and that it had a good undershoot area, so I probably would have been ok on the first landing, but I felt like my wheels were going to collect the 'zebra crossing' instead of the touchdown zone, and I wasn't happy with that idea.

 

It wasn't fear of death that made me go around, it was just a desire to put the aircraft where I wanted it, and had planned for it, to go. I felt that I had lost the assurance to put it there, and so decided to reset the situation and try again. If I had proceeded I probably would have made a reasonable landing, either a little early in the runway, or a little too shallow. But that's not what I wanted to see. Perhaps if I had relaxed my "personal limits" a bit more, I would have continued, but there's something I have respect for. There's legal limits, and personal limits (Which should be far more stringent than the legal ones). I'd made a decision about my personal limits, and if those factors were not met, try again.

 

Treat every flight like you have your licence on the line and an examiner in the right seat. A healthy amount of stress makes you work harder to ensure you do lots of planning, set personal hard limits and use caution to ensure and check everything and assume nothing.

 

Are we ready to go? Did we actually check the engine? flight controls? Did I complete the entire checklist? Do I remember where I put the wheel chocks? Pitot Cover? Can I visualize them sitting there? can I see them? Did the light work? Did I check it? - If none of these are a resounding yes, then do it again. Proceed with caution.

 

Caution, not fear.

Completely Calm and Calculated caution, backed up with tonnes of planning.

 

Carry more fuel than you need, Make backup plans for any areas where options may be limited, maybe even plan to avoid such areas/times, Know how to use the equipment you are using... No need for actual fear of death, only fear of mistakes.

 

Of course if you do Darwin Award worthy stuff like knowingly exceeding legal limitations of the aircraft or rules of flight, then you may well be in danger of death, in which case, stop doing that crazy stuff!

Trent, so you are Musical Aviator?  I really like your videos mate, have started watching them recently.

yep, thats me

 

 

PS: I must admit that I never, ever fly THY again, they ARE the worst, and the RW pilots here on Avsim - if they knew about the stuff going on there - would agree with me

I see your racists posts were deleted from here http://forum.avsim.net/topic/414443-thai-creations-mumbai-india-is-out/page-3

You don't deserve to breath the same air as me mate.

I have a mere 20 hours dual instruction in a 172 under my belt so for what ever this comment is worth....

 

The physics FSX uses is not that great, period.

 

One of the biggest flaws in my eyes is what FSX lacks simulating is ground effects. And I know several other real world pilots who I have discussed this issue with who completely agree. The ground effects are just not there....

 

For me the closest desktop sim I have ever used that was the best at mimicking proper flight dynamics was the old IL-2 series by Oleg Maddox.

 

About ten years ago I even let ex RCAF pilot Bob Middlemiss have a go at it once. He flew everything from Spitfires to 104's. Enjoy the clip boys!

 

http://youtu.be/zdKM1aV2EOI

 

One of the biggest flaws in my eyes is what FSX lacks simulating is ground effects. And I know several other real world pilots who I have discussed this issue with who completely agree. The ground effects are just not there....

 

 

PMDG actually added a ground effect to the NGX. Sometimes it apparently doesn't kick in properly, (there's a long thread about this somewhere) but the fact is, that even the worst critic of the ground effect was stating that it "Sometimes" doesn't happen (which according to them was worse than never).

 

I'd say the Majestic Software Q400 is pretty spot on too, although that's a high-wing aircraft, making ground effect less obvious (but still there), although most of the effect is less obvious when the thrust levers are pulled and the amount of torque drops, causing lift to decrease from the reduction of propwash over the flaps, making it sometimes feel like a negative ground effect.

 

I completely understand what you're saying. Of course, I don't hyperventilate and sweat profusely every time I fly (well, perhaps I do after my 5th time flying 5 feet off the runway in a stiff crosswind during my training! haha). Like I said, what I really meant by fear was a respect for the fact that flying can be rather dangerous, regardless of how well you plan or how stringent your limits are. 

 

A few months ago, I brought a friend up with me. It was her first time in a small plane, so she was excited, albeit a bit nervous. During the run-up, I did not experience any RPM drop in one magneto and a significant (~150rpm) drop in the second. I brought it back to the hangar and the mechanic took a look and fixed it up, so we taxied back to the runway for another go. During our takeoff roll, I noticed that I was getting ~200rpm less than normal. The mechanic had just checked it all out and in his judgement the plane was fine, but I had a split second of fear that we would have engine problems and I would end up giving the 172 a bath in Lake Michigan (which is about 500ft from the threshold). So, I aborted the takeoff and taxied back to the hangar. I ended up feeling like an idiot in front of a girl I was trying to impress (she refuses to go up with me again), but that brief feeling of fear/strong caution possibly saved us both a swim in the lake.

Ever notice how posts tend to go way off topic in this forum?

Ever notice how posts tend to go way off topic in this forum?

 

Then they turn into personal attacks. I think it is a combination of extra sensitivity and extra confident that is normally controlled in the real-world.