A good pilot, part 1

Pilot Fred. He worked alongside Pilot Andrew.

Over the past year I've become more wary of flying. Growing up on the islands and literally flying on plane after plane to get anywhere, I'd always been the type of person that gets on a plane without even thinking about it. Planes are safe (and they really are) and that's all there was to it. I never gave a second thought to flying.

Until last year. I was a passenger that was on a flight to HI that was so turbulent that it made me, for the first time, really scared. And, the flight lasted for hours. And we were over the huge Pacific Ocean the entire time. It wasn't encouraging.

So now I'm not necessarily afraid to fly but I have a slight case, as I self-diagnosed, of airplane anxiety.

Which is why tonight, when I trekked across the Pacific Ocean once again, I was very appreciative of my good, informative pilot.  

Our flight was slightly turbulent from the very beginning, the fasten seatbelt sign that traditionally goes off after you reach your flying elevation, didn't go off for about an hour. Then it came back on after a short break and the captain announced that they'd gotten word that we'd experience turbulence for awhile. Fantastic. After a short time he came on again and explained that there were tail wings at 100 knots, head winds of 80 knots and winds coming from the side that was causing the turbulence we were experiencing. He noted that we'd elevated an additional 1,000 feet, slowed our speed to something like 500-ish miles per hour. He noted the effect this would have on our arrival time (not much) and that he anticipated it would make our flight smoother. Within minutes, he proved himself right. Thank you, pilot.

I thank the pilots of this flight because when flying all the passengers are really at the mercy of the pilots - and these pilots took great care of us and took the time to reassure us too. I always do better with more information and the information this pilot shared throughout the flight was very comforting. Never before had I heard some of the science behind airplane turbulence, never before had a pilot taken the time to share this information. And, for this frequent flyer with the slight case of airplane anxiety, these pilots calmed the air of a potentially long, bumpy ride!

And, they get even better. Check in tomorrow for part 2. Trust me, it's good.