Very true about being in control. When I was a cadet my instructor was a Jaguar pilot and I asked about it. He explained it as, when someone else is in control your body isn't ready for the directional changes - it thinks it's going one way and then suddenly it's weightless or 6-9 times heavier. But when you're in control, your body is subconsciously prepared for the maneuver you're about to pull. It's similar in the sense of passengers getting car sick, but you never see the driver get car sick BECAUSE they know what's coming.
Hi Mover. I’ve been a Police Officer for 25 years. Thanks for the support! And of course, thank you for your service to this great Country as a Military Aviator! 👍
I'm 73 years old and still get motion sickness. I puked 12 times in my first 6 T37 rides. That's the main reason I never wanted to be a fighter pilot. I flew tankers for 15 years and every Boeing jet up to the 787 so I'm proof you can over come it. Being in control is the main thing.
In case anyone is wondering, the physiology behind motion sickness is pretty interesting. To make it very simple, your brain uses 3 different source of 'data' to tell your body's spatial orientation and how much acceleration it experiences at any given moment: 1.) Proprioception: it's a fairly complex system in your muscles and joints that can tell you certain aspects of their current position. This is why you can feel even with your eyes closed where your limbs are. 2.) Vestibular system: The vestibular system in the inner ear can detect both angular and linear acceleration due to special hair cells and fluids in your balance-sensing organ. 3.) Visual signs: Very obvious, your eyes also give signs to your brain in order to help it determine the exact position. However, when you get mixed signals or when your vestibular system is overly senstive, your central nervous system will detect a mismatch between the incoming signals. And the popular theory is that vomiting is due to the fact that these symptoms very closely mimic certain poisons.
I am a an instrument rated private pilot. To this DAY I get sea sick 100% of the time when I go deep sea fishing. If we go far enough off shore, regardless of how calm the ocean is, I get sick. Its the natural pitch, yaw, roll of the ocean. EVEN ON A CALM DAY, I got sick. Prolonged motion sickness is horrific! I wasn't scared or nervous, it was the MOTION. I have never gotten air sick.The violent bumps in moderate and above turbulence is entirely different than the sensations of sea sickness (at least me). I have gotten a little quesy on flights, but those were in situations were I was too hot, etc. Just my experience. YOUNG PEOPLE OUT THERE, please DON"T let a little motion sickness get between you and your dream! One step, one flight, one day at a time!
As someone who aspires to be an airline pilot motion sickness is something I struggle to grapple with on small GA aircraft like Cessna's but I'm totally fine on an airliner. Thank you so much for posting this.
It's funny that you brought up this subject. As a very young newly certified flight instructor at age 21 or so certified back in the early 1970s. I worked for "Liberty Aviation" a flight school that no longer exists but was a vibrant flight training school at KCDW created during the early 1970s. That flight school had a unique history. It was owned and managed by one of the first "female commercial pilots who went on to become a 747 Captain for a major U.S Airliner". Her flight school was based at the same airport JFK, Jr. departed from on that sorrowful and dreadful evening. Liberty Aviation was given a unique military contract for it to instruct "future fighter pilots" who were to submit to a 25-hour grueling curriculum that even I could not pass, even though it was my job to teach them. I never had a student pilot get airsick until these future "military pilots" had to train under the curriculum given to us by the military. These students were so "psyched out" all but one of them puked during my standard everyday simple flight lesson. Yes, I was lucky enough as a young man to have become a CFIA in 1971 and to have worked for "Liberty Aviation". Back in those days, the FAA DID NOT want "young kids becoming flight instructors". I had to "flunk" my CFIA test too many times to prove I was competent to teach people to fly airplanes. But I busted my butt and proved the FAA wrong. I was able to prove that young 21-year-old kids could instruct and apply themselves to teach future fighter pilots and future airline pilots basic "stick and rudder" skills. God bless teen-age tenacity. I know now I could not do what I was able to do then when I was younger. ( an ode to Rod Stewart).
I can confirm as a Civil Air Patrol Cadet that when I was in control of the aircraft the motion sickness disappeared until my flight instructor took back controls for our approach and landing.
I was an aircrew member on P3 patrol aircraft. While deployed to Iceland, we had a fighter pilot ride with us on R&R flights and also to maintain his flight hours so he could collect his flight pay. On every flight, he would curl up on the floor and suffer airsickness for the duration of the flight.
I was a P-3 NFO - and the P-3 was a motion sickness machine for those not used to flying low, bumpy and with the noxious fumes from all of the sonobuoys being fired. I was fine, but always felt bad for the folks in the back
@@KevinFrye Yep. We had an IFT that often got air sick. The craziest time I saw was when we were working on the aft radar while sitting on the ramp in Bermuda on a windy day. The aft end was bobbing up and down and all of a sudden he stood straight up and made the dash to barf.
Missed your vlog while you were taking time off from vlogging. Good for you to take time for you!!! I'm sure your right about the the motion sickness. I haven't been car sick, air sick or sea sick and I think you're spot on about being the one controlling the air plane. It's like driving a stick shift car, the passengers feel the shifting more than the driver cause the drive is expecting the change. You give great flying advice. I wished I had you as my mentor when I was 20 years old!!! Thank you for what you are giving with your vlogs!!!!
I took ginger pills from Walmart in T-6s to settle my stomach out after I puked on my first ride (per the recommendation of a good friend 😉). I popped 2 or so right before I flew in UPT for the first few months of flying. It may have been a placebo effect or actually worked...either way I got past it, moved on to T-38s and F-16s!
yeah ginger pills do work. After I smacked my head pretty good when I was wake boarding, probably a concussion, I began to deal with nausea on my boat for a couple of years afterward and the ginger pills helped a lot and there isn't that drugged up feeling like Dramamine gives you, which I tried and yeah it works but oh so drugged up.
Putting together an OTS package for a rated slot, praying for a 16 spot myself one day in whatever FY I get picked up lol. Congratulations on getting the sexiest damn fighter in the world!
Great discussion!! I have a friend that is retired viper pilot and now is an airline pilot. He is actually afraid of heights! Yes he is, i asked him how if your a pilot, he pretty much said because he is in control of his surroundings.
Another great video as always. Your Front seat vs. Back seat is very similar to my many years of boating experience. I have never been seasick when I’m driving my 22ft. Center console and I have been seasick only twice in my life when I was a passenger in someone else’s boat. As a 35 year retired aviation electrician on fighter jets, I was constantly in awkward positions, especially upside down in the cockpit with my feet in the air trying to repair a wiring harness. I never got dizzy but in my old age, I have had a couple of bouts of vertigo. It goes away after laying down, or if it’s real bad, an ENT Dr. can cure it within a few minutes. Also, thanks for your military and law enforcement service here in St. Tammany. As a retired LEO, the best advice I can give to new men and women officers is “Complacency kills cops”. There is no such thing as a “Routine” traffic stop or a simple serving of a subpoena to someone to appear in court on a misdemeanor. Keep your head on a swivel and always be prepared for the worst.
Many years ago, I stupidly confided to a medical examiner for the Air Force Academy that I had suffered from “car sickness” as a kid. He responded that I’d never make it as a fighter pilot, and I was deeply traumatized. Did ultimately get on the waiting list, but then went for another option. Lesson: don’t confess anything to the medical folks!
True. Let them find what's wrong with you in that case; otherwise you're good to go, specially when chasing your dream. Made kind of the same mistake in the past; it wasn't my dream but it kept me from securing a job. Actually, life's been much more fun right after that slip. But, NEVER, be honest when you're after your lifetime dream.
James Currie about 7 years ago i told my airforce recruiter that i had severe dermatitis as a kid and she stopped speaking to me after this even though i provided my entire medical history from birth to 2012. 10 months after trying to speak with her again, I then went to an army recruiter and made it to meps in 3 weeks and didnt tell them and now i just hit 6 years in service and it has only flared up a few times and not nearly as bad as it was when i was younger
I can definitely relate. When I took Aircraft Maintenance we were taken up in a Buffalo for bush spotter training as part of a survival course. After half an hour of this I was well and truly green.
Nothing specific about jets but I used to get sick in the car when I was a child on a 1+ hour trip. Worse thing to do was to read a book (head and eyes down) but once the motion sickness kicked in, putting the book down didn't help and I had to vomit. Anyhow many years later as an adult, I was in a boat below decks (choppy sea) and copped motion sickness. I was the only one of the dozen people on board who felt crook. The owner got me up on deck and put me behind the wheel steering the boat and guess what ... motion sickness went away in about 10 mins. All that gels with your comment about motion sickness not being an issue when you are the one at the controls.
Hey mover, I watched this a couple years ago and it gave me more confidence to make them tell me no. Now I'm going to UPT in October. I'll sit in that rotation chair every day if I have to lol. Thanks for putting stuff like this out there for young bucks like me
Thanks for the shout out to the LEOs. Stay safe as well. Love your vids. Makes me wish I knew someone like you 20 years ago that wouldnt have let people tell me your crazy if you think you can be a military pilot...lol.. Long time fighter pilot day dreamer here and aviation fan.
Wow thank you so much this is perfect timing for a video like this. Just yesterday I had a flight lesson and we had some pretty serious turbulence and I got super queezy and was scared that I would never be able to achieve my dream of being a fight pilot because of how miserable I was. This video helped me see that I will over come that and it also helped me realize that that has never happened before even in much worse turbulence and I think the real cause was my extreme worry about the inexperienced instructor
Great video Sir. I am 45, I wish there was info. Like what you are giving back then. I began flying in high school, because I talked myself out I quit. Keep motivating these young people to fly. I envy you guys that completed and never gave up.
I just wanted to thank you for this video, I started my private license like you at 13, but got motion sickness. I got really discouraged and stopped training. Im 36 now and its gotten better. All these years I thought that I was the only one as my other friends that fly did not experience this. Thanks again for the encouragement. !
Make sure your helmet fits correctly....my motion sickness on my very first fam flights was discovered to be caused by a a tight fitting helmet which should have been discovered if I had followed my instructors advice and taken more time to insure my custom fit helmet actually fit....the only way to do that is to wear it for a couple of hours in your hootch while studying or watching TV instead of trying it on for a couple of minutes and checking yourself out in the mirror then hanging it up till you go flying.
Back in the 90s I was taking aerobatics training from a competitive pilot here in AZ. I discovered that after about an hour I would get queasy when I wasn't flying but when I was flying I was fine. Just like you said. That said it was intense and after an hour or so I was tired, hot, and thirsty. I remember being suprised at how thirsty i was my first time doing real aerobatic flying and not just unusual attitude recovery that they teach for your license. Pretty much as was explained in the video. If anyone gets the chance to fly with and get training from a competitive pilot do it. It is a whole new world compared to ppl or instrument training. I discovered I am a 6g pilot. I could and did pull more but I seemed to always pull to 6 Gs when recovering from a dive or other really fun maneuvers. My favorite is the tail slide. What a rush.
I always thought that motion sickness was the end of my dream to be a fighter pilot. Thank you for this video! I'll be switching from Army ROTC to Airforce ROTC, hopefully before this week is over.
This has made me feel so much better! Thanks a lot man. I don’t fly enough to get used to it yet. However sometimes I still get that feeling if we do too much. This has made my day!!
If I had access to your videos back when I was in high school, I would probably be a fighter pilot today... oh well. I’m still a pilot and I am so thankful for the opportunity and privilege to fly. Thanks for inspiring pilots and future pilots!
As a kid, I was pretty immune to getting motion sickness. I could go on coasters, any of those crazy state fair rides or read in the backseat of the car for hrs. No problem. Once I hit my late 20’s, I noticed that even reading a road map as a passenger would start to get me. Now I don’t think I could read in a car for longer than a couple minutes before starting to feel queasy. I can empathize with the G spin, as the only time as a teenager that I got really green was riding one of those G rides where they spin you around & the floor drops while you’re stuck to the wall. After doing that ride 6 or 7 times in a row, I thought, “So THIS is what motion sickness is..That sucks!” 🙂
Ozzstar Was just eating lunch, thought “hey this is just a video about a guy talking about his experiences”. Now I’m laying in bed, staying far away from my food. What a bad idea
I had always prided myself on handling any roller coaster, turbulence, aerobatic sequence etc and no motion problems at all. Then I took my young son to the carnival and rode the Tilt A Whirl. That thing kicked my ass! I couldn't eat or go on any more rides. I didn't puke but it was like the worst hangover ever.
My kryptonite was 4wding in the desert in dubai. The driver was crazy , i puked many times and had to lay down for a couple of hrs. Never felt like that before and i hope i never do again.
terry boyer Yep, I just posted a comment on here stating much the same. Never any problems, then I did one of those G rides where it spins & the floor drops. The crowds were really light that day, so we rode it like 6 or 7 times in a row. I was completely green..Just the smell of the carnival food after that was enough to make me wanna hurl. I’ve never felt that bad, before or since!
terry boyer Exactly the same here. There isn’t a roller coaster on Earth that bothers me in the least, and I’ve done aerobatics with zero problems. In fact, I flew sailplanes for a number of years, which involves a lot of steep banks with the horizon spinning round and round while thermaling, and never any problem at all. I do agree completely with the comment in the video that there is a big difference between being pilot in command versus passively sitting there as a passenger. Some of my passengers who had to just sit there watching the horizon spin got very sick after a while. However, I never had an issue as a sailplane pilot, even when flying in thermals filled with other sailplanes required looking above and below for traffic while simultaneously circling in a steep bank (that combination of movement does make your head feel a little funny, but never got sick). All that said, same as you the Tilt a Whirl kills me every time. And, similar to the ride shown in the video, I rode a “hammer ride” (or some such name) at an amusement park once. It was just like the ride shown in the video, with cars at the end of two arms that looped over and over, but the difference was on the one I rode the cars didn’t roll to stay upright at the top of the loop. They were fixed, so it was just like doing a normal inside loop over and over. And if that had been all it did I would have been fine. The problem was that it would go upside down and stop, causing the blood to rush into my head, then it would move again going through the bottom and creating positive Gs, which would cause the blood to rush back out of my head. This stopping and starting, switching from negative Gs to positive Gs, which caused the blood flow to alternate directions, caused everything to look and feel like it was bouncing up and down several feet once I exited the ride. In pretty short order, that led to puking and I didn’t feel right for hours afterward. Maybe the Air Force should just put pilots through the Tilt-a-Whirl and the “hammer ride”, because if you can somehow handle those there’s no doubt in my mind you can handle anything.
If possible, I always try to let passengers who might be concerned about air sickness ride in the right seat next to me, or at least as close to the cockpit windshield as I can so they're looking forward and not to the side . I also try to involve them in what's going on during the flight and that has worked in the past to keep their minds occupied. Turning the air vents on their face will help too. This also works for car sickness because rarely does the person driving suffer from car sickness, it's usually the ones sitting in the backseat.
I had sea-sickness a few times (not always) and I hated it, however I really like the experiences related to it (roller coasters, sailing, glider flying, etc), so your video was most encouraging. Thank you.
Thanks for doing these videos Mover. I had these same questions getting into the career and this will definitely help others out. That T-6 dollar ride was one heck of an experience for my stomach. Thank goodness I never had to go to the chair though!
For me, like you said, it has a lot to do with control... If my brain knows whats coming from its own inputs, no problem... Looking at my phone riding in a car, forget it...
I don't know if everyone gets over it. I flew with another B-1 WSO (navigator) who puked on every ride even after 3-4 years of flying in B-1s. Heard of another B-1 WSO who continued to puke every sortie for years until it got to the point that his dentist thought he was anorexic/a purger (his teeth were so rotten). Saw yet another B-1 WSO who got airsick so badly that he had to transfer to the RC-135. 'Course WSOs in the B-1 have it bad because we're not controlling the jet and the windows in the back are tiny so you have no visual references.
During ocean races, if I had a crew member that felt queezy, I'd put them to work. Most of the time they would forget about being motion sick. As a crew member myself, in really rough seas, I can put myself to work and ignore the motion sickness. After a couple days of rough seas, getting back on land and stable ground made me feel nauseous. I remember one time, coming off the water for 5 days, I got home and took a shower. Washing my hair with my eyes closed, I slammed my head up against the shower head. Almost fell in the shower, until I could open my eyes to get my balance back
I didnt finish my PPL at 19 because of motion sickness. I was concerned I'd encounter turbulence, throw up and lose control. I also get ms as a passenger in cars. But, as you said, if in control, it seldom happens, as I've roadraced and autocrossed for 40 years. I also have 300 or so hours of dual/cross country time, usually with a friend who is one of the few Master CFI's. I guess I may have stopped flying too soon, and it was so cheap back in the '60's and '70's. Thanks for all the vids!
One has to let the body over come it. Adapt and overcome as we used to say in the military in the the 90’s. Instrument training is when it will happen most because your under the hood training blind. All you can see are the instruments. Took me about 5 flights to overcome it. It just got less and less each time. If your flying, as PIC, and get I’ll, hand the controls over to the CFI/Instructor an dfocua on a spot in the distance and stare at it.... Don’t go with an empty stomach, dry heaves are much worse and will last 2x longer than getting some food out of there.
Could you do a Mondays With Mover video on the different hand signals with ground crew and other pilots? I've been watching your older flying videos and some marshaling videos and I don't understand all the different signs and thought it would be a cool video.
Would love to hear you talk about air-to-air combat and just dogfighting in general. How does it stack up against the movies and the games in terms of the "oh shit" factor.
Just a quick fact, you get motion sickness because your brain thinks you are intoxicated with something and the natural reaction is to eliminate whatever you might have ingested that is making you sick, just like being drunk. When your eyes are seeing one thing and the inner ear are sending a different and conflicting signals to the brain, the brain understands that as a natural symptom of being poisoned and triggers the throw up reaction. Give it enough time and the brain will recognize those conflicting signals as normal, and you will not feel as bad as the first times. The exact same thing happens when using a VR headset, but in reverse... the brain is expecting a signal from the inner ear, but what the inner ear sends is conflicting with what the eyes are seeing, and that triggers the motion sickness.
Last year I did one of those dogfight packages, we did ACM for half an hour and then some heavy acrobatics with flat spins, tumbles, inverted spins and hammerheads. I felt fine the whole time, was having a blast, came back and landed and hopped out - 10 minutes later in the lounge I just got sick as a dog, couldn’t even drink the post flight beer with the other pilots My instructor said - that’s the “adrenaline sickness” from your adrenaline boiling over for so long and then the action stopping... always wondered if there was any truth to that
Dave 'Bio' Baranek talked about how airsick he got during one of his first flights and it was so bad he almost wanted to quit. He eventually got over it, however. I myself never experienced motion sickness, but when I worked in the Merchant Marine, I got pretty queasy at times. I sometimes get that same feeling during rides in the backseat of a car. I'm not sure what the issue is, but I guess we go through changes in life and sensitivity to motion is one of them.
Another excellent video, you’re advice is invaluable to aspiring pilots to be. The clip of the out of control F-16 and recovery was very interesting. I am curious whether there has ever been a compressor stall or flame-out while recovering from the stall ?
My first PPL flights (in a C172) were a terrible experience, I almost gave up. Without turbulence I was fine, but when the "bumps" started... Awful. Took me a while to realize I had motion sickness, I got sick almost everytime. BTW, I also have a pretty annoying aerosinusitis everytime I fly airliners (always when the plane starts to descend) sometimes it feels as if my nerves are being crushed, other times as if someone is sticking needles in my face, it varies from mild to bad. Thankfully, aerosinusitis was never a problem in the C172, since it's low atmosphere flying. But anyway, back to my PPL, after flying a couple of days, it was as if my body got used to it. Then, I didn't get too sick. I also started to took dimenhydrinate before flying and it seemed to help, I never felt sleepy or any of the side effects of it, but of course, as a student pilot my instructor was always beside me. I'll probably start to fly again this year, hopefully everything turns out fine, I'll try ginger this time! Also, I learned that you should never fly with an empty stomach, it is as bad as flying just after you had a big meal, if not worse.
Watching this as I started playing a VR game called Worlds at War and it's a flying simulation that puts into the seats of military aircrafts. Playing the game for a short while for the first time alone gave me motion sickness but I got better gradually and I'm really enjoying the game now.
When I was in training, they always told us, if you're gonna barf, unzip your flight suit, and puke in your flight suit... because whilst you're going to look like sh!t with barf in your flightsuit, you can wash that, and have a shower to clean yourself. Easy.... and generally the groundies appreciate you wearing it, rather than messing up the aircraft. That, and they don't clean up your spew. They'll make you come back and do it... and it gets in eeeeverywhere.
I would get airsick when I first started flying. After several flights I got used to it. Also when I was in control I knew what was going to happen so I never got sick.
Hey C.W., think you could make a video about which branch to join and why? Like about the different cultures of each branch, what the people are like and stuff, mentalities, motivations and what not? Not just for becoming a pilot but in general...
When Bob Hoover started flying he would get airsick. How he overcame it was to fly each flight a little more extreme than the last flight to make himself airsick.
I had a flight in my pilot selection program and all I was thinking about is not get sick with the aerobatics, so as seen in this vid, I got sick, did not vomit but did not have fun up there. Starting pilot training in the Air Force next week btw
dr. evil Hahahahahhaha hilarious! Currently pursuing my PPL, I’ve been getting sick right before landing during the descent. Gonna push through it. Thanks Mover! I’ll be applying to units soon! ANG
If you have never been seasick, you ether haven't been sailing long enough or you're lying. The same probably goes for pilots. Thanks for the video. I will be downloading it on Audible. Are you going to put more on there?
I got motion sickness from some roller coasters types, not all, and during my first flights, in the right seat of a C152, with my cousin flying during the late 90s. Then a couple of years later, I got to fly myself an intro flight in the 152, I flew a couple of circuits and I did not feel any sickness at all. So I agree, in my case it was just that.. I got sick only when I wasn't the one doing the inputs on the controls (that cause the motion). Just when I was a passenger this happens. But I never got sick on an airliner though as a passenger ( as I am not a pilot).
One of my instructors would get sick doing aeros. I never did. You have to BELIEVE that everything is SO safe that you know only TWO things will break the a/c. Exceeding the Vne, and not holding the stick firmly when going backwards.(can snap off the elevators). Always wear parachute, and make sure finished by Transition altitude plus 1000 ft. Practise getting out. Do your checks OUT LOUD. CAVU skies, all!
Interesting, I got motion sick driving to karts. I'd driven and raced for years with no issues. Went to an indoor place with electric karts and was feeling really bad after the sessions. Just thought it was something I'd eaten. The next time I went back to the same place...I was driving and started to feel hot. Then started sweating. I knew then that it was motion sickness. I was shocked. I tried again and within 1 lap I was feeling sick. I was obviously in control. This was and still is a mystery to me. I've also experienced motion sickness on boats. Working offshore in the oilfield you end up on a lot of boats. Definitely got sick when the water got rough. Same symptoms. Get hot...begin to perspire....lose your lunch. But...I wasn't in control of the boat. I was down below and had no idea when the waves would come or from what direction. In a kart, I'm in full control and still got sick. Not sure if this has something to do with aging or not...but I'm not that old so......
Growing up around small planes, the challenge is the weird smells of the upholstery and electronics after sitting out in the hot sun. As Bugs Bunny said, "easy stomach, don't turn over now."
I can't use piddle packs, trying to pee through the ejection handle while feeling turbulence and having my instructor sitting impatiently behind me gives me serious shy bladder. Now i actually get pretty bad anxiety when i need to pee near the beginning of the flight. I always pee right before the flight, but now i'm carefully cutting back how much water i drink in the morning
You'll get used to it and eventually become a piddle pack professional. In EOR. In formation. On the tanker. Between BFM setups. It'll be second nature. 👍
When are you going to do a RON at macdill? We would love to show you around and get you some sim time in the mighty Tanker. And seeing how you have experience with both boom and the Iron Maiden could make for a great video! Oh and being in the guard/reserve it’s not to hard to make an inter fly.
