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Airsickness problems

beau

Registered User
Yay!! Got Sick today!!! Tacform 1....Instructor at the controls alot of the the flight...pulling and yanking and rolling....not good....got to cross turns and he reversed to get separation from lead...and that did it! Puked ...then felt great...finished the hop. More lessons....the less the Instructor is at the controls the less chance that you will barf (sorry FO's :(...that anticipation thing is key!...not knowing, aka instructor at the controls, is bad!)
 

Fly Navy

...Great Job!
pilot
Super Moderator
Contributor
beau said:
Yay!! Got Sick today!!! Tacform 1....Instructor at the controls alot of the the flight...pulling and yanking and rolling....not good....got to cross turns and he reversed to get separation from lead...and that did it! Puked ...then felt great...finished the hop. More lessons....the less the Instructor is at the controls the less chance that you will barf (sorry FO's :(...that anticipation thing is key!...not knowing, aka instructor at the controls, is bad!)

Just don't make yourself sick. I've heard of guys doing it, by flying rough in the maneuvers. Pretty funny.
 

Sly1978

Living the Dream
pilot
I'm kind of the unofficial spokesman for airsickness in primary. I actually had more flights in the T-34 where I puked than flights where I didn't. I puked at least once in every stage of the training (Fams, BIs, PAs (lots and lots), Forms, and RIs). It sucks, but you will survive. Here are a few pointers I found.

First, to keep from getting sick (everyone's different. There's no "cure-all"):

I would eat about 20 minutes before we walked. Nothing heavy, like has been suggested (though that does work for some people). I used to eat a Cup-o-Noodles. They're cheap, easy on your stomach, and perfectly portioned to put food in your gut, but not over-fill you.

Ginger pills. You said you already used them, but keep at it. They're not a "never-puke" pill, but they will help keep the airsickness at bay. Take them when you eat the afore mentioned Cup-o-Noodles.

Look outside. This is key, especially during PAs. I actually had an instructor prohibit me from looking at my instruments during my PA maneuvers. He pointed out that if you ever watch the cockpit videos of aerobatic pilots, they're looking all over the place, but not inside the cockpit.

In BIs and RIs, once you put the hood up, stay under the hood. Don't pull the hood back until the flight is over.

Finally, get back on the controls ASAP. Puke, drink some water to get the taste out of your mouth, take back the controls. Stay with it. Also, use quart size Ziploc Freezer Bags. They don't leak, and they're easily sealed.

On a more serious note, here's some advice on staying away from an airsickness attrition:

Make it obvious you really want to be there. Show a willingness to do whatever is necessary to stay in the cockpit. Try every remedy anyone tells you, no matter how ridiculous it sounds. Ask all your IPs if they know any remedies. Don't go down without a fight.

Like I said before, get back on the controls. Show that you can still complete the flight after you get sick. The fewer "incomplete for airsickness" you have, the better.

Unfortunately, you may have to forget about strike. About 3 weeks before I selected we had a guy select from my squadron that had a 63 NSS. He had gotten sick on two of his early-stage fams, then gotten over it. He put jets as his first choice, but was passed up because of the airsickness. They gave him E-2/C-2s instead. I've never heard of it happening before or since, but I saw it with my own eyes. Just keep your options open.

Finally, on a positive note, I'm about to solo in the TH-57 and haven't felt remotely sick. Make it through. Remember, the T-34 is the worst aircraft in the entire Navy for airsickness (they'll quote that stat to you when you go to the FFSS airsickness prevention class). So, no matter where you go, it can only get better.
 

Chubby

Active Member
Sly1978 said:
Unfortunately, you may have to forget about strike. About 3 weeks before I selected we had a guy select from my squadron that had a 63 NSS. He had gotten sick on two of his early-stage fams, then gotten over it. He put jets as his first choice, but was passed up because of the airsickness. They gave him E-2/C-2s instead. I've never heard of it happening before or since, but I saw it with my own eyes. Just keep your options open.
How do you know it was because he got sick? Could it have just been a particularly tough week for jet slots? Not calling you out, just interested to see if they actually quoted that as being a contributing factor. I have a buddy who got Tacair with a slightly lower NSS and he got sick all through FAMS, but he selected a while ago. Maybe they've changed the way they look at it?
 

East

东部
Contributor
Simsickness

:spin_125: In the Netherlands Armed Forces Aviation, airsickness is a reason to get DOR 'ed in basic flighttraining. In my career I met no one who was sick during actual flight because of that reason.

What we experience from time to time is airsickness in the Sim when motion is frozen. If you are flying the Sim very intensely and the environment around you says you're not, your brain is telling you something's wrong out there...

More than once it happened that experienced flightcrews got sick under these conditions, but I have to say that they were observers in the Flightdeck at that time and not actually involved in flying.
 

Sly1978

Living the Dream
pilot
Chubby said:
How do you know it was because he got sick? Could it have just been a particularly tough week for jet slots? Not calling you out, just interested to see if they actually quoted that as being a contributing factor. I have a buddy who got Tacair with a slightly lower NSS and he got sick all through FAMS, but he selected a while ago. Maybe they've changed the way they look at it?
I agree with you. It has happened in the past that guys get jets even with airsickness. Like I said, I've never heard of another case like his. I've been told that the individual that this happened to is on the forum so I'll let him go into more detail of his story if he chooses to do so. It's not really for me to say any more. I'm not trying to cop out, I just want to respect him.
 

kray1395

Active Member
Sly1978 said:
I agree with you. It has happened in the past that guys get jets even with airsickness. Like I said, I've never heard of another case like his. I've been told that the individual that this happened to is on the forum so I'll let him go into more detail of his story if he chooses to do so. It's not really for me to say any more. I'm not trying to cop out, I just want to respect him.


HaHaHa, it's true. What's up dude? How's helo's treating you?? Yeah the story went like this. I went into selection with a 63 NSS and the highest of 4 Navy people picking that week. This was later confirmed with the other 3. They ended up giving me E2/C2, which I was bummed about that day, but I'm really excited about now. The next two guys, both from Corpus, ended up going J1. The explanation I get from my XO is this:

You have a very high NSS and the board recognized that. Every one of us here at the squadron recommended you for strike. The strike pipeline has been having several problems recently with folks either attriting or having significant adaptation difficulity due to airsickness and they passed on to the board to stop sending them people with airsickness issues.

So anyways, I've known people that selected before me to get strike having had airsickness issues in primary, and I've heard of a few people after me. Guess that falls under the whole every thing changes week to week thing we all talk about. I think things just turned out the way they were meant to be. The E2/C2 pipeline is proving to be a great one to be in with some awesome opportunities down the line during your career. Don't want to change the point of this thread though.

I did get over being airsick during primary but I think the secret for me was just flying a lot. It took me longer than the average person to adapt I believe because of hurrevac's, weeks of bad weather, etc. Once I was able to string a lot of flight together, which happened around late stage fams and PA's, I somehow got over it and started having fun. Apparently, the week I selected, that wasn't good enough for the strike community. It's all good. I'm having a blast.
 

Sly1978

Living the Dream
pilot
Texan said:
pardon the ignorance, but what is 'the chair?'
Sorry. I meant to touch on that. "The Chair" is exactly that. It's a chair inside the Training Wing 5 building (I don't know if Corpus has one) that is set on a rotating platform. You will get a chance to sit in it if you puke enough during your primary flights. You sit in it and set it for a certain number of RPMs and then move your head around as you spin. The idea is to get you used to spacial disorientation. The really weird part is there are a lot of guys (myself included) who get sick constantly in the T-34, but experienced nothing in the chair. Strange.
 

KBayDog

Well-Known Member
Sly1978 said:
The really weird part is there are a lot of guys (myself included) who get sick constantly in the T-34, but experienced nothing in the chair. Strange.

Perhaps if they made you wear all of your gear, cranked the room temp to 130°, blew exhaust fumes on your face, had the chair bounce all over the place, made you put the instrument hood on and off, and still had you fly a perfect spin, the chair would be more effective.
 

Sly1978

Living the Dream
pilot
KBayDog said:
Perhaps if they made you wear all of your gear, cranked the room temp to 130°, blew exhaust fumes on your face, had the chair bounce all over the place, made you put the instrument hood on and off, and still had you fly a perfect spin, the chair would be more effective.
That's awesome!
 

lucian_boy

Registered User
i took a flight in a t-34 in fallon and i puked and i was also scared because it was my first flight in a non commercail flight. the pilot told me to be calm and i tried but i was scared but it was also fun and exciting cause i got to see bomds drop. i was wonder is being scared a normal feeling or is it a sign that this is not for you.
 

Sly1978

Living the Dream
pilot
Valion, were you scared or were you nervous? I think, if all of your flight experience up to that point had been in 737s with flight attendants and an in-flight movie, it's pretty natural to be a little apprehensive about strapping yourself into a 2 seater, single-engine airplane that's older than you. Just like the first few flights at primary (or helo advanced, for that matter) when you're positive you'll never be able to really fly that thing by yourself. Everyone goes through it. Now, if you're 3/4 of the way through primary, and you're still scared, well, that's a different story. Don't give up on your dreams because you were apprehensive about one fligh.
 

TheBubba

I Can Has Leadership!
None
valion_pride said:
i took a flight in a t-34 in fallon and i puked and i was also scared because it was my first flight in a non commercail flight. the pilot told me to be calm and i tried but i was scared but it was also fun and exciting cause i got to see bomds drop. i was wonder is being scared a normal feeling or is it a sign that this is not for you.

I was nervous ass sh!t my first IFS flight. It was the first time I'd been at the controls of an airplane, and first time in anything small and private in like 10 years or so. And I was really nervous when my instructor said "ok... you're flyin this thing" and even more so when he said "right... now you're gonna land it"

To make my point, the more I flew it, the more comfortable I got in the plane. After a couple flights, I wasn't nervous at all. Granted, it was only a cessna, but the basic idea is there. The more you fly, the more comfortable you'll get in the air and the less apprehensive/nervous you'll be.

Shoot... give me a few more lessons and I'll solo the fvcker... as much as I want to, I'm an SNFO, so that's out until I get some more money...
 

AllAmerican75

FUBIJAR
None
Contributor
Hey I got a question about the Turbo Weenie. I've seen some pictures of guys flying in formation and it seems as if the canopy open; I'm assuming it slides back, like the warplanes of WWII. Is there any truth to this or are my eyes deceiving me?
 
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