Getting over air sickness

[Dreampilot]

Hey everyone,

I was curious if anyone got really nausea while doing steep turns during training and how you eventually if ever, got over it. I am about 7 hours into training and everytime we do steep turns I want to head back in and land because I am feeling nausea.

Thanks,

Matt

[MQAAord]

Give yourself time

Chances are very good that your body will get used to it, and you'll quit feeling sick.

In the meantime, you can do a few things to help yourself:
-Eat a little something before flying. Like a bit of bread, some water. Do not eat greasy, heavy foods before flying. That'll make it worse.
-Try ginger ale, it's got good fizzy.
-SeaBands (little plastic bracelets) are rumored to help. I've never tried them myself, but some pilots have had good luck with them.

[Airdale]

Originally Posted by Dreampilot

Hey everyone,

I was curious if anyone got really nausea while doing steep turns during training and how you eventually if ever, got over it. I am about 7 hours into training and everytime we do steep turns I want to head back in and land because I am feeling nausea.

Thanks,

Matt

Matt,

Unless you have a chronic motion sickness issue, I would say you will be fine.

A few things you may want to try. When doing steep turns, keep your eyes outside! Steep turns do tricky things to your inner ear, especially in your first few hours of training. The G-forces that you are experiencing and the angle of bank can sometimes make you want to tilt your head in the opposite direction of the turn. Bad! That will make it worse.

Roll into the turn, set your bank angle and back pressure then look on the horizon. Focus intently on mainting the same horizon sight picture through out the turn. Maybe glance in every once in awhile to check your altitude and bank. I had some students who would get sick as well and what I found was they were moving their head around too much. Look forward, keep your head straight in relation to the airplane - not the ground -and see if that works.

Some other physiological things may be what you eat prior to flying.

- Avoid Eggs for breakfast
- Avoid anything containing a lot of milk or cheese
- Drink plenty of water prior to flying
- Avoid greasy foods as well, like burgers etc.
- A good PB&J or a Ham sandwich with a can of coke or ginger ale should be fine


Most importantly - don't think about getting airsick!

[PanJet]

Originally Posted by MQAAord

Chances are very good that your body will get used to it, and you'll quit feeling sick.

When I first started flying turbulence just about got me. Now I can handle just about anything. I've always found that eating before I fly helps too, which seems sort of odd, but it does.

[charlie1017]

I also had motion sickness issues when I began my PPL. It'll go away as you fly more often. Eating something prior to flying helped me a lot!
Also a friend of mine who flies aerobatic planes told me he always had some coke (regular, not diet) before flying.
Good luck!

[Kingairer]

here, have a dollar, no infact have 2, 2 dollars means a snack to me...Go ahead.

[TheShortOne]

bananas. they taste the same going out as they do going in!

[gtpilot]

During my training I did a lot of back seat time during the summer during the afternoon in 172s. I was given a Reliefband (brand name) and it worked for me. It shocks your wrist and there's some scientific explanation to how it work. For me I usually went from on the verge of hurling to a mild head ache as soon as it started.

Of course, mythbusters 'busted' this one and we all know how perfectly valid their methods are!

I have had at least three students who have the same trouble you're having. One used the wrist band, the other two just got used to it over time.