Afraid of heights?

Nothing much to discuss about being afraid of heights. I'm the same way even though I did a bit of mountain climbing on Mt. Rainier and working in the roof framing of an old army air force hangar. I am scared to death to get up on some things but in an airplane you are an observer unassociated with the earth and looking down as a piece attatched to a secure location, the airplane. At least, that's my slant on it.
My son was a lineman for the Bonneville Power Admin. and he worked 300 feet above the ground string conductors to the steel towers that he and his crew built. I have a picture of him HANGING UPSIDE DOWN from his ladder which was hooked to the structure above, while he was placing a cable into the insulator. He said that his fear soon became an addiction and he enjoyed the " High Life" . But not without respecting the dangerous conditions under which he worked.
Switches

 

Having kids to think about changed my flying style but it didn't ruin my enjoyment of it.

 

Working construction for many years I had no problem walking perimeter walls 3 or 4 stories up, back in the day when I was "young, dumb and full of ........."

These days I have trouble cleaning my second story gutters.

No problem with planes or buildings but anything high up and wobbly or insubstantial and I break into a cold sweat.

..................age and self preservation kicking in I guess.

 

Stay Sane! Don't fly inverted in a Stearman.....

I guess I have the same fright, (as opposed to a fear)
Well..... let me clear my definition somewhat.

A "fear", or "phobia" is debillitating.
It will cause you to freeze in your tracks, become tongue tied,
lose your bodily controls.. etc..
Difficult, if not impossible to overcome.
i.e. climbing halfway up a sheer cliff, have a handhold crumble, Knowing that if you miss the next grab......
you're dead. You can't bring yourself to try.
That is fear.

Whereas a "fright" is a something that can scare you,
but you can overcome it logically.
i.e. Lying in bed, and thinking of falling from a rooftop, is a fright.
Logically I'm in bed....Ain't nothing going wrong.

Now onward......

I have always, had a fright of falling. Buildings, spires, bridges, etc.

In my youth, I was a structural steel and bridge painter. Working suspended on a thin 5/16 inch cable
400, 500, 600, feet above the ground. Sometimes with nothing within 100 feet, or more horizontally.
(on Bridge cables, & High Tension Towers )

On the job, I'd never even think about it, and go about my daily tasks.

Then there'd be some time off between jobs, and a week or so later,
I'd start thinking about the height, and dwelling on the frightening aspects...
What if......Suppose I.... Should this happen, what......etc.
I'd work myself up, into such a state, that I couldn't get to sleep, the night before a new job.

I have trouble doing the first drop Roller Coasters, and the 70 ft high
water slide at the amusement park. It's approx a 80° drop for the first 40 feet or so,
then it lessens, in an parabolic arc till horizontal.
It's all over in four seconds. Perfectly safe!
10 year old kids do it! Again, and again!
The anxiety, it causes me is unreal! I can and do however overcome it.
Once a season, though, is enough for me.

Used to have the same feeling when **thinking** of doing stalls.....

I learned something that for me, obliterates the feeling of falling. I lean forward.
Yes it's that simple. Not alot, just a few degrees.
It works for me! ( it also works on the roller coaster...)

But the water slide is feet first.... UGH!

Human Frailties, eh??


KUTGW!





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Ah yes, I remember seeing you on a condo job somewhere in West Seattle walking a wiggly exterior wall about 60 feet up while you were carrying a beam or something. I got queasy just watching you.
Dad

 

I was bred (jobwise) on scaffolding,roofing @ 15 yrs old.It took a little getting used to "but" never a problem.Even owned a roofing co. @ one point.

Now I get woozy w/ hieghts especially looking out off solid structures,I never hang around long enough to see if it will go away I just back up and view from a few feet away.

When I'm flying I NEVER get that feeling .It seems when I'm in foward motion this woozyness is non -existent.I raced supercross (dirtbikes) for years and always felt "in control" when 30-50 above the earth (always in foward motion).

I think its a "I can controll my descent" thing.For example "engine out" means perfectly good glider (assuming the wings are still attactched).

MY355

 

I get a bit concerned (okay, scared) on unsteady heights.

In airplanes, as someone else pointed out, inverted in an open cockpit takes a bit of getting used to-- I never quite got it. Actually, inverted in the open cockpit was fine as long as there as a positive G loading-- it was only inverted with negative Gs-- floating against the straps-- that concerned me.

Of course, the last open cockpit airplane I flew much (Great Lakes) had a second seatbelt, so even if the primary released you were still held in there, but still...

That and out of ground effect hovering in a helicopter with the doors off. Hovering at 2,000 feet and having to look down to see if you were over the point was a bit unnerving. It just felt wrong!

 

Yep. I flew a little two seat helicopter on the big island of Hawaii with the doors off. Real freaky. I kept seeing the ground out of my peripheral vision. I don't think that it helped that the cockpit was so small that you at least felt like your shoulder was outside all the time.

But then, flying in Hawaii is beautiful.

 

You lucky guy!

 

Kinda like this :O) ??

Markus
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Ummm Yeah....
But out in the open, from a teee-ny tiii-ny cable,
not all belted in to the seat....with a stick to hang on to... ;-)

 

In the Cub with the door open -- no problem. Upside down in the Decathlon at 7000' -- fine. Looking over the edge of a tall building -- no way! (yeah, I know it's weird).

 

Not smart

 

Not unusual - I have spent hundreds of hours inverted at negative G's hanging by seatbelts in Stearmans, etc., but I still don't like to be close to "the edge!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"