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Personally, I love turbulence. I'm thoroughly disappointed when the pilot announces they'll be changing altitude to avoid it. It's literally the most interestin

by eric_h 9y ago

Personally, I love turbulence. I'm thoroughly disappointed when the pilot announces they'll be changing altitude to avoid it. It's literally the most interesting thing that can happen while flying.

lisper 9y ago
You have an, um, interesting definition of "interesting".
- marvin 9y ago
  Well, you have people flying aerobatics for fun, which provide much greater negative G forces than quite extreme turbulence. It's just a matter of personal preference; turbulence is completely harmless if you're strapped in reasonably tight :)
  - lisper 9y ago
    I'm actually one of those people who (occasionally) flies aerobatics for fun. It's a lot more fun if you can see out the front, which you typically can't in a commercial airliner.
schoen 9y ago
I remember a conversation where a group of people considered whether we like turbulence or roller coasters. We managed to find represented all four combinations of liking neither, liking one but not the other, or liking both. I don't like turbulence, but I became more comfortable with it by listening to the "From the Flight Deck" on channel 9 of United's in-flight entertainment (with live ATC audio). Unfortunately, I don't fly United that much anymore and it also appears that this is offered on fewer flights over time. But it was quite comforting to hear the pilot talking to an ARTCC about the turbulence we were experiencing, especially to learn that it was only "light chop" and the captain saw no need to change routes.
- sixothree 9y ago
  I like fun, tall, fast, soaring roller coasters. I hate jerky, upending coasters.
- elygre 9y ago
  I flew from New York to London once, listening in to the ATC channel. Lots of fun. We passed Newfoundland, things got quiet. Then one aircraft came on line, saying "we are at such position and height, it's a bit bumpy, anyone got any advice?". Somebody answered that they were 10 minutes ahead, bumpy, too. Somebody said they were 2000 feet higher, very bumpy. The radio chatter died away with a final pilot saying the only thing to do was to "strap'em up and ride it through". Me? I spent the next few hours preparing for turbulence that never arrived.
  - bonzini 9y ago
    Two airplanes flying the North Atlantic Tracks [1] can be hundred of miles away. While you can adjust your altitude, you cannot move from one "lane" to another. [1] https://youtube.com/watch?v=-aQ2E0mlRQI https://youtube.com/watch?v=-aQ2E0mlRQI
yardie 9y ago
There is nothing humorous about being thrown against the cabin ceiling and breaking your back, or neck, or getting a concussion. Do you equally enjoy being thrown from the 5th floor of a building? That temporary loss of gravity is almost exactly what a plane experiences in mild to severe turbulence.
- l0b0 9y ago
  You might want to read the article. 40 foot drops at the very outside, and 50 out of 2 billion passengers worldwide each year requiring medical attention. Sounds like less risk than walking the dog.
- eric_h 9y ago
  I always keep my seatbelt fastened while sitting in my seat.
dahart 9y ago
I am so jealous! I hate turbulence, and I can't even explain why. I have a USPA C license - I've flown in enough rickety planes to get certified to skydive into public venues - and turbulence still causes my blood to boil. You would love this: one time I flew from Chicago to Ithaca on a small commuter plane, and the pilot told us it'd be bumpy due to area storms. It got pretty bumpy, and the girl sitting next to me was a lot worse off than I was, I didn't know her but she grabbed my hand and was squeezing so hard it hurt. Maybe ten minutes into one of the turbulent spells, the cockpit door flew open and the pilot and co-pilot were going "YEE-HAW" and doing the rodeo rope. My chin hit the floor, and so did everyone else's when we all realized they'd been hitting the roughest parts of the storms they could find on purpose.
- chrischen 9y ago
  Hilarious but sounds mildly illegal.
  - eric_h 9y ago
    Fairly certain it wasn't even remotely illegal before 9/11/2001, after which it probably did become pretty illegal (for the opening of the cockpit door).
    - dahart 9y ago
      It'd be pretty hard to ever prove anything, it's not like they can really go hundreds of miles off the flight path. In my case, the cockpit door opened completely on accident, or at least because of what the pilots were doing, the turbulence is what bumped the door open. Now that the doors are locked, it wouldn't happen again. They blushed and shut it as quickly as they could, and later offered an apology that didn't openly admit to doing it intentionally, but reading between the lines was as close as they could go. It wasn't particularly enjoyable at that moment, but it is really funny, and I'm glad it happened.
- WalterBright 9y ago
  A friend of mine was on a flight that hit turbulence and suddenly dropped a few hundred feet. People were basically panicky until some texan towards the front waved his hat in the air yelling "yee-haw", which sucked all the tension out of the air.
adrr 9y ago
Maybe a little bit turbulence. I had a flight from LA to SEA that they couldn't serve drinks on the whole flight and the overhead bins kept opening up.
WalterBright 9y ago
I was on a cruise ship once where they announced they were changing course to avoid a storm (not a hurricane by any stretch). I was pretty disappointed. :-)
- eric_h 9y ago
  That's another experience I'd love to live, open ocean storm, giant waves. Unfortunately I can't seem to come up with a way of doing it that doesn't statistically shorten my life expectancy considerably (unlike turbulence in an airplane ;)
- willyt 9y ago
  This is why they do that https://youtu.be/jup-5Xu1OOU https://youtu.be/jup-5Xu1OOU
  - eps 9y ago
    Similar, but viewed from the outside - https://youtube.com/watch?v=EkS_f6Aztxk https://youtube.com/watch?v=EkS_f6Aztxk
  - peteretep 9y ago
    This was considerably funnier last time I saw it dubbed with Rod Stewart's "We are sailing"
PopsiclePete 9y ago
Yes, I love having someone who's 270lbs fall into my lap while I'm holding a drink. What's not to love about that. Or smelling vomit or listening to a hysterical woman screaming or a child crying. Sounds awesome.
- eric_h 9y ago
  Yes, my enjoyment is entirely conditional upon not being immediately in the company of people who don't enjoy it all, like most other activities.
LoSboccacc 9y ago
Am not worried about mid flight turbolence having flown myself I kinda know it all works, but we had strong guts on approach to Dublin once and that was extremely stressful

by eric_h 9y ago

Personally, I love turbulence. I'm thoroughly disappointed when the pilot announces they'll be changing altitude to avoid it. It's literally the most interesting thing that can happen while flying.

lisper 9y ago

You have an, um, interesting definition of "interesting".

marvin 9y ago
Well, you have people flying aerobatics for fun, which provide much greater negative G forces than quite extreme turbulence. It's just a matter of personal preference; turbulence is completely harmless if you're strapped in reasonably tight :)
- lisper 9y ago
  I'm actually one of those people who (occasionally) flies aerobatics for fun. It's a lot more fun if you can see out the front, which you typically can't in a commercial airliner.

schoen 9y ago

I remember a conversation where a group of people considered whether we like turbulence or roller coasters. We managed to find represented all four combinations of liking neither, liking one but not the other, or liking both. I don't like turbulence, but I became more comfortable with it by listening to the "From the Flight Deck" on channel 9 of United's in-flight entertainment (with live ATC audio). Unfortunately, I don't fly United that much anymore and it also appears that this is offered on fewer flights over time. But it was quite comforting to hear the pilot talking to an ARTCC about the turbulence we were experiencing, especially to learn that it was only "light chop" and the captain saw no need to change routes.

sixothree 9y ago
I like fun, tall, fast, soaring roller coasters. I hate jerky, upending coasters.
elygre 9y ago
I flew from New York to London once, listening in to the ATC channel. Lots of fun. We passed Newfoundland, things got quiet. Then one aircraft came on line, saying "we are at such position and height, it's a bit bumpy, anyone got any advice?". Somebody answered that they were 10 minutes ahead, bumpy, too. Somebody said they were 2000 feet higher, very bumpy. The radio chatter died away with a final pilot saying the only thing to do was to "strap'em up and ride it through". Me? I spent the next few hours preparing for turbulence that never arrived.
- bonzini 9y ago
  Two airplanes flying the North Atlantic Tracks [1] can be hundred of miles away. While you can adjust your altitude, you cannot move from one "lane" to another. [1] https://youtube.com/watch?v=-aQ2E0mlRQI https://youtube.com/watch?v=-aQ2E0mlRQI

yardie 9y ago

There is nothing humorous about being thrown against the cabin ceiling and breaking your back, or neck, or getting a concussion. Do you equally enjoy being thrown from the 5th floor of a building? That temporary loss of gravity is almost exactly what a plane experiences in mild to severe turbulence.

l0b0 9y ago
You might want to read the article. 40 foot drops at the very outside, and 50 out of 2 billion passengers worldwide each year requiring medical attention. Sounds like less risk than walking the dog.
eric_h 9y ago
I always keep my seatbelt fastened while sitting in my seat.

dahart 9y ago

I am so jealous! I hate turbulence, and I can't even explain why. I have a USPA C license - I've flown in enough rickety planes to get certified to skydive into public venues - and turbulence still causes my blood to boil. You would love this: one time I flew from Chicago to Ithaca on a small commuter plane, and the pilot told us it'd be bumpy due to area storms. It got pretty bumpy, and the girl sitting next to me was a lot worse off than I was, I didn't know her but she grabbed my hand and was squeezing so hard it hurt. Maybe ten minutes into one of the turbulent spells, the cockpit door flew open and the pilot and co-pilot were going "YEE-HAW" and doing the rodeo rope. My chin hit the floor, and so did everyone else's when we all realized they'd been hitting the roughest parts of the storms they could find on purpose.

chrischen 9y ago
Hilarious but sounds mildly illegal.
- eric_h 9y ago
  Fairly certain it wasn't even remotely illegal before 9/11/2001, after which it probably did become pretty illegal (for the opening of the cockpit door).
  - dahart 9y ago
    It'd be pretty hard to ever prove anything, it's not like they can really go hundreds of miles off the flight path. In my case, the cockpit door opened completely on accident, or at least because of what the pilots were doing, the turbulence is what bumped the door open. Now that the doors are locked, it wouldn't happen again. They blushed and shut it as quickly as they could, and later offered an apology that didn't openly admit to doing it intentionally, but reading between the lines was as close as they could go. It wasn't particularly enjoyable at that moment, but it is really funny, and I'm glad it happened.
WalterBright 9y ago
A friend of mine was on a flight that hit turbulence and suddenly dropped a few hundred feet. People were basically panicky until some texan towards the front waved his hat in the air yelling "yee-haw", which sucked all the tension out of the air.

adrr 9y ago

Maybe a little bit turbulence. I had a flight from LA to SEA that they couldn't serve drinks on the whole flight and the overhead bins kept opening up.

WalterBright 9y ago

I was on a cruise ship once where they announced they were changing course to avoid a storm (not a hurricane by any stretch). I was pretty disappointed. :-)

eric_h 9y ago
That's another experience I'd love to live, open ocean storm, giant waves. Unfortunately I can't seem to come up with a way of doing it that doesn't statistically shorten my life expectancy considerably (unlike turbulence in an airplane ;)
willyt 9y ago
This is why they do that https://youtu.be/jup-5Xu1OOU https://youtu.be/jup-5Xu1OOU
- eps 9y ago
  Similar, but viewed from the outside - https://youtube.com/watch?v=EkS_f6Aztxk https://youtube.com/watch?v=EkS_f6Aztxk
- peteretep 9y ago
  This was considerably funnier last time I saw it dubbed with Rod Stewart's "We are sailing"

PopsiclePete 9y ago

Yes, I love having someone who's 270lbs fall into my lap while I'm holding a drink. What's not to love about that. Or smelling vomit or listening to a hysterical woman screaming or a child crying. Sounds awesome.

eric_h 9y ago
Yes, my enjoyment is entirely conditional upon not being immediately in the company of people who don't enjoy it all, like most other activities.

LoSboccacc 9y ago

Am not worried about mid flight turbolence having flown myself I kinda know it all works, but we had strong guts on approach to Dublin once and that was extremely stressful