Do you have the jitters about flying across the country? Perhaps this is the first time that you have ever flown, or maybe you have made some short flights here and there but have never had to sit on an airplane for hours upon hours waiting for it to reach it's destination. If that describes you then here are some tips to help make the flight as pleasant as possible. 1. Fill Your Mind - Sure there are magazines and catalogs available in the seat pocket in front of you but that is certainly not enough to keep you interested on a 5 hour flight. Visit the local library and get a book or two that is on a subject that interests you to read while you are in flight. Another thing that you can do if you are on an airline such as Jet Blue is to enjoy a movie in flight because they have the small television screens for each seat, that will help the time pass more quickly. 2. Plan on Napping - If you really don't enjoy long flights and are uncomfortable almost the whole time then you should try to sleep as much as possible. I know some people that will take something to make them drowsy about an hour before a long flight so that they will be able to sleep while they are in the air. If falling asleep isn't a problem for you then you could take a small pillow with you that will be more comfortable than the pillows that they give out on the flight. Don't forget to grab one of the blankets when you get on board before they are all gone, it tends to get chilly on a long flight, especially if you are sleeping 3. Do some puzzles - I know that my wife always carries a sudoku or a crossword puzzle book with her when she goes on a long flight. She loves the distraction that the puzzles provide and it helps to make it easier for her to endure a long flight. These are just some of the many things that can help you to get through a long flight. You can try some other things to help make yourself comfortable such as trying to get a bulkhead seat so you have more legroom. There is no way to help you to be 100% comfortable on a long flight but by doing a few small thing you will help to make it as comfortable as possible.
One sunny afternoon in Irving, TX, I scheduled a crosscountry flight and reserved a plane. I did everything the way you are supposed to do, not the way it was done at the Old Red Baron flying Club (See my first post.). I called the Flight Service Station (FSS) and got the weather for my flight. I was going to fly to Oak Grove Airport and then on to Waco and back to Greater Southwest Airport (GSW). FSS indicated the weather was good, so I topped off the tanks and headed for Oak Grove which was south west of GSW. As I flew along, I noticed it was getting a bit dark to the west of me. The further I flew, the darker it got and the more concerned I became. I landed at Oak Grove and had the FBO sign my logbook and then decided to call FSS again. I asked the operator if the weather had changed since I filed my flight plan. Indeed it had he said and further indicated there were thunder storms in the area. I asked if I could bake it back. He asked where I was returning and when I said GSW, he said you can make that but you couldn't make Meacham (An airport on the west side of Fort Worth.) I amended my flight plan and headed back. It got darker and darker and I saw flashes of lightning off to the west. At this point, I was getting scared. I began flying the needle. An aircraft has an instrument called a VOR receiver. As it happened, there was a VOR transmitter at the end of the GSW runway so all I had to do was keep the needle centered and it would take me right to the end of the runway.
Well, it continued to get darker with more flashes of lightning and I had just about decided to set down at one of the many airstrips in the area and wait the storm. I looked ahead just about then and saw the big Eiffel Tower structure at Six Flags Over Texas. I knew this to be 3 miles from the end of the runway. I immediately called the tower and received clearance for a straight-in approach. I made one of my best landings ever and taxied to the school tiedown area. I got the aircraft tied down and ran for the building. It started raining before I got inside and I got drenched. It rained for 3 days. My instructor told me how proud he was that I had sense enough to recognize a potentially bad situation and return. Sense indeed! that was good old fashioned fear.
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