Good News regarding air-sickness!

When I was 19 and on assignment out in Dallas, Texas I decided to take up flying. My instructor was a former fighter pilot fresh out of Vietnam. A rosy-faced loud jovial man, he always chewed on a cigar. He took me up in a tandem-seat Cub and we pulled some aerobatic moves flying around the Texas scrub-brush looking for his lost bull. By the time we cleared that bobbed-wire fence on short final and the tires kicked up a dirt cloud on that "grass" field, I was ready to barf my guts out. It was my first plane flight.

The instructor was so nice and encouraging (cost me 16 bucks an hour) I just couldn't give up. Oh, also... the temp was 103F outside. So I returned about 5 more times and each time got sick as a (sick)dog. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore. The summer ended and I returned to Nashville.

Leap forward about 35 years. 2 years ago I went to a local airstrip and tried my luck in a modern Cessna. I liked the fact that it was a tailwheel setup. My instructor was a cute blonde that didn't smell like a stale cigar, and it wasn't over 100 degrees. We didn't tilt the wings past 45 degrees the first day.
I won't lie to ya. Yes, there was a slight queezyness the first few flights, but each time it got less and less and I could go for longer distances. Eventually it subsided all together and now my dream of flying was possible..

If you've had this problem, please know:

1. Extreme heat makes it worse.(at first)
2. Building up a tolerance takes a few times.
3. Don't pull aerobatics
4. No cigars in the cockpit.

I think if you or your mate have had this problem, you will find that it will finally subside and you can truly enjoy the skies along with the best of them.

Good luck to all.

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