Overview

Since we have been around we have learned how to walk, run, jump or climb over all sorts of terrain. Even though we have invented ways to help with these tasks we can, in the end, still depend on ourselves. So, if we've been ignoring the gas gauge for miles and the engine stops on a desolate road in an area with no cell phone service we can still rely on our ability to walk 10 miles to the nearest gas station.

If our boat springs a leak from that crack we were supposed to caulk last winter and it starts to sink with our life jackets back at the dock, we can resort to treading water, the breaststroke or a slow Australian Crawl for 3 hours until a rescue boat, with the crew shaking their heads, arrives.

If our air balloon, parachute, or twin-engine aircraft malfunctions what's our "fall back"? After all, the longest an average person can stay in the air is a little over .5 seconds. The longest NBA "hang time" is .93 seconds. Perhaps this is why we may have an inborn mistrust of flying, even with contraptions.

Over the years, various studies have born this out consistently. For example, in 1975 Pan Am found 16% of air travelers were fearful about flying, while Gallup Polls in '83.'87' and '94. found 18-37% were anxious or fearful. This was before 9/11 when the fear of terrorism impacting flying increased anxiety about air travel to over 40% before settling back to 35% by 2006. Now, another overlay of stress is the Covid 19 pandemic and the additional uncertainties anxious flyers face. A Templeton/Gallup Poll in August of 2020 found 52% of "regulars" uncomfortable about flying.

Choosing to avoid flying can mean missing training opportunities, risking career advancement, limiting vacations and losing contact with family. Deciding to fly when anxious can make thoughts about the flights vs the destination the main preoccupation.

Fortunately, during the past 30 years, a number of effective programs and courses have emerged which have combined orientation to the technical and operational aspects of flying with information and skills for managing anxiety and achieving comfort.

It is the goal of the Quiet Flying Course to help participants learn to regulate their comfort in an environment that is one we aren't inherently in control over.