<p>For the “ear popping/not popping” problem: my BIL bought some gadget earplugs that are SUPPOSED to help with ear clearing. He used it in his flight from CA to HI & said it was helpful & comfortable. It can be used for up to one round-trip it says. We’re not sure how it works but it has a tube in it.</p>
<p>I guess most of the folks I know have flown to get anywhere from HI, so we are all pretty used to it & most of us seem quite comfortable with it (or they just stay on our small island forever).</p>
<p>The woman with the prayer card in her purse might want to make a few xerox copies & put them on posterboard & laminate them, just to have spares.</p>
<p>I guess if I had the anxiety some of you have described, I’d seriously try something to relax me, perhaps a very small dose of Xanax. Some find antihistimes to be helpful for allergies & to make them drowsy so they can sleep more easily. Would always try it at home BEFORE trying it on any flight.</p>
<p>OK, the earplugs my BIL used & thinks works are called “EarPlanes.” They are on the web & at some pharmacies and not too expensive (under $10 for 2-3 pairs). Might be worth exploring for those who have ear pain or stuffed ears on the plane. I have no personal experience with this. For H, he benefits from taking a antihistimine & a decongestant to help him with allergies he inevitably experiences on his flights.</p>
<p>I’ve tried Earplanes but didn’t like the way they made my ears feel. I have a lot of problems with my ears when I fly. I even ruptured an eardrum one time on a small plane.</p>
<p>What works best for me is to take Sudafed before takeoff. Then I chew gum during the ascent and descent. And I clear my ears by holding my nose and blowing. Often, I have to work really hard at clearing my ears in order to keep my Eustachian tubes open during the descent. Going up isn’t usually as much of a problem.</p>
<p>I’m with Ellebud, I take half a xanax 20 - 30 minutes before a flight and I am “good to go”. Before this, I used to have full blown panic attacks while flying. Now, I read magazines, nap or watch a movie! Better living through chemistry…love it. We fly about 4 times a year and will start going more in 2012 when youngest son is off to college (kuna hura/god willing).</p>
<p>I get ear pain that radiates down my neck and jaw and it can be excruciating. I did try the ear plugs and they help. They sell them at the airport in the convenience stores. You have to put them in a half hour before take off and landing.<br>
I have also been cursed with catching a bad cold so many times while on vacation that I take precautions in that area, too. When I get on the plane, I wipe the chair arms, lap tray and light button with an anti bacterial wipe. I also clean my hands frequently and drink a lot of water to stay hydrated. I’m sure the people around me think I’m a nut but…well,they’re not far off.</p>
<p>I wondered if other parents do the flight tracking thing! I also felt that it was “slightly creepy” (when I did it to track my daughter’s flight to Grinnell and back, last week) (but, there WERE those tornadoes occurring out there!), but understood that: I was doing it as a kind of “pacifier”; that it was privately done, so I wouldn’t be passing on any flight fear to my kids; that the fear was a manifestation, to some degree, of my daughter’s passage into the larger world, where I couldn’t protect her anymore. When I realized the deeper source of my fear, the fear left quite a bit, and I felt the joy for her…although I continued to track her flight until I had to leave for the airport.</p>
<p>MomLive - I’ve also had an eardrum rupture in flight. I don’t know if there’s anything more excruciating than an eardrum that’s about to rupture. But I had a cold, and could not avoid flying. For two-three days prior to the flight, I’d used Sudafed, Mucinex, a steamer, etc.</p>
<p>One important lesson I did learn, though, afterwards - when I went to my ENT the next day and told him what happened, he said in the future, if I absolutely have to fly with a cold and cannot pop my ears before the flight, I could call him and he’d perform a minor procedure on me the day before the flight (he says he has a couple of patients who are pilots that he has to do this with sometimes). He uses a small needle to place a small hole in the eardrum to help stabilize the pressure between inner ear and outer ear. He says it really doesn’t hurt (yea, right), but once you have it done, swimming is off limits wherever you are going. I almost did it last year when I got a cold right before we went to Key West, but when I went to his office, he encouraged me to pop my ears while sitting there (I was afraid to try to hard on my own, thinking I might rupture an eardrum) and with some effort I was able to. Because I wanted to swim in Key West, he held off on the procedure and told me I could call him on Sunday, before I left Monday morning and he’d be willing to come in and do the procedure on Sunday if I needed it. It bought me some time to try to keep the ear open, which I was able to do. I was incredibly appreciative of his offer, as I will say it was the one time I was petrified to fly!</p>
<p>jrothkoo – I track my kids for pretty much the same reasons you do. But I don’t find it creepy and since both of my kids know I do it they have mentioned that it is kind of reassuring to know that I am tracking them.</p>
<p>Probably the most useful thing you can do if you are stuffed up or have a cold, is purchase some Afrin (nasal spray) and use it before the flight. Afrin’s nickname is “the pilot’s friend.” I always bring the 12hr Afrin bottle with me at all times, just in case. You can generally get it at an airport if you forget. It will prevent the painful sinus blocks and relieve congestion and pressure. I try to not fly when I have a cold, but you never know if something is going to happen on a trip. Even if I’m mildly congested, I use it, just in case. Sometimes you don’t realize you’re going to have a problem until it’s too late.</p>
<p>Good suggestion about Afrin–will recommend H add it to his travel kit, as he is the one who frequently has nasal/ear issues when he flies. It can provide prompt relief if taken in a timely manner.</p>
<p>I love flying; the bumpier the better. I can remember a flight I took on a Dash 8 turboprob into LGA a few years ago, left in the middle of winter, freezing rain/snow falling, in clouds the entire trip, 300’ ceiling at LGA so we didn’t see the ground until we were pretty much right on top of the runway. It was a thrill. </p>
<p>Most dangerous flight I’ve been on was a French Air Force Twin Otter flight going between multinational military bases in Egypt. Beautiful flight, absolutely gorgeous scenery, but all photography was forbidden because they didn’t want the Egyptians to think that they were using the utility plane for spy purposes. About 6 months after I left Egypt, that plane crashed doing the run I was on, needless to say it didn’t end too well for the passengers. That said, flying is completely safe. I’d much rather be 30,000 feet up several miles from other traffic than be on the interstate going 70 next to someone texting, for example.</p>
<p>Well Cuse, you should think about aviation as a career if you really love flying. Even though things have been ugly, hiring wise in the aviation world in the last several years, these old guys are eventually going to retire or medical out, and the airlines are going to be way short.</p>
<p>Most of us take a deep breath and do what we’re trained to do, but very few of us actually relish the harrowing situations as you might.</p>
<p>I’ve thought about it, and took a few lessons, but it is just too expensive for me right now. Experimented with the military/ROTC a little bit but didn’t sign the dotted line because no one can guarantee pilot slots at the moment. Plan as of now is to just get a job following graduation, and maybe use that income to finance flight training. </p>
<p>I keep hearing about the looming pilot shortage, since the recession kept a lot of people out of training. Problem is, I’m one of the people that got pushed out!</p>
<p>Skyhook…I find it so interesting you chose that for your name on CC.</p>
<p>I tracked my kids until last trip. Watching D take off from DC to Spain…saw plane head out over Atlantuc…THEN turn around!!! Felt like eternity for it to return and land inBoston, and so so long to get any answer from the airline. All turned out fine-- emergency landing due to mechanical noise which I only learned when D called me from Logan airport. But lordy, no mother should have to endure that. Not like I could have helped! Some things are just best not known (one good reason for kids to be off at college too! ).</p>
<p>“I’ve thought about it, and took a few lessons, but it is just too expensive for me right now. Experimented with the military/ROTC a little bit but didn’t sign the dotted line because no one can guarantee pilot slots at the moment. Plan as of now is to just get a job following graduation, and maybe use that income to finance flight training.
I keep hearing about the looming pilot shortage, since the recession kept a lot of people out of training. Problem is, I’m one of the people that got pushed out!”</p>
<p>It is really expensive to pay for it yourself, I never would have. And you’re right about ROTC, I’ve heard even those with pilot slots (and you could find out whether you get a slot before you are totally committed, though) after UPT half of them fly the drones. Which in todays generation, you’d think would be a prime assignment, like playing video games, but after you’ve done all that training, it is probably frustrating.</p>
<p>There will have to be a shortage sooner or later. People like you stopped pursuing it because of lack of opportunity and huge paycut/loss of benefits. There are still a few that are hiring and paying well, though. At my airline, people are starting to retire like crazy, hiring is too slow and they’ll never keep up. It’s always being at the right place at the right time.</p>
<p>We know at least two young men who trained to be pilots (got degrees in aviation engineering) but couldn’t get civilian jobs, so they went back to school. One is getting a degree in another engineering field while another went to law school. It’s indeed a tough job market.</p>