"Frode Berg" wrote in message
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Anyone else had "mid-air-ities" and how did you deal with it?
Nope, never had an issue with that particular phobia. That said, IMHO
that's what it is. A phobia. Every pilot should be aware of, and take
steps to avoid, the hazard of running into other aircraft. But for that
concern to be at the forefront of your piloting concerns isn't rational.
It's not my place to offer psychological advice here (or anywhere else, for
that matter). But I can tell you that when I run into something like this
(and I have in other areas), it does take a little doing, but by reminding
myself of the irrational nature of my fears, I manage to get my perspective
back on track.
Whether this will work for you, I don't know. I do know you can't go flying
around worrying about running into other aircraft all the time. Don't
forget about the risk, but it doesn't deserve top-billing at the expense of
other piloting duties.
Before I started on my PPL, I witnessed a midair from a cruise ship in
France. Maybe that's why I'm a bit obsessed with it.
That certainly could be the catalyst. I saw a mid-air crash at the Reno air
races one year, and it freaked me out for a little while. Oddly enough, not
with respect to mid-airs, but just with respect to the question of crashing
generally.
I mean, what are the probabilities of hitting someone?
Depends on where you are. In cruise flight out in the middle of nowhere,
pretty slim. On an airway, somewhat higher (especially if you're climbing
or descending or are near an airport where someone else might be). Over a
nav aid, even a little higher. In the traffic pattern, a little higher
again. The risk warrants careful attention to what's going on around you.
But all in all, pilots do a pretty good job of avoiding each other.
Mid-airs constitute a pretty small portion of all accidents. I don't know
what the actual probability is, but the odds of being in ANY accident are
reasonably low, and the odds of being in a mid-air are a fraction of that.
How easy is it really to see another AC once it get's closer than normal?
I'm thinking if it getęs real close it will be rather obvious, since most
traffic I'm able to spot now is 1-2 nm away, and look really small and
hard to see.
You're not going to want to hear this.
Based on size, another aircraft
should be relatively easy to see when it's "closer than normal" (whatever
that means
). However, an aircraft on a collision course with you will
appear to be motionless, and unless you are looking directly at it, you're
unlikely to notice it. Human vision is hard-wired to do a better job at
detecting moving objects.
The easiest aircraft to see are the ones you don't have to worry about.
Just make sure you spend an appropriate amount of time looking outside, and
you pause for long enough looking at each "slice" of the sky around you.
Don't forget that your airplane likely has blind spots, and that it's
helpful to move your head around in the cockpit, to allow yourself to check
behind structural parts of the cockpit. Allowing yourself the opportunity
to look directly at any aircraft that are a threat is the best way to ensure
that you will see them, and that you will avoid them.
Pete