I am a little bit, but in a healthy way such that it causes me to avoid doing stupid things like standing too close of the edge of a cliff. Interestingly looking down from a very high bridge is not a problem for but close to the hand rail on the platform of a tall tower I get a little bit wary. But why do I feel nothing at all in a shaking high-wing microlight plane with nothing but a panel of 2mm polycarbonate between me and the ground 2 kilometres below?
I feel the same as you do. I don’t find it surprising. It has all to do with instincts, not rationality.
Same here, and also puzzled about it. I also note that standing on an edge makes my muscles tremble a bit, and that feed-forward effect makes it even worse. Being seated and strapped in takes away that effect but not entirely. Still felt a bit awkward flying in a heli with the door off and on a trike. Those silly 2mm do the job. Maybe we have a shrink on the forum to enlighten us.
Interesting question. A friend of mine is terrified of heights, to the point that she cannot drive across some bridges here. And yet, she’s perfectly happy flying over the Sierra Nevada in a Cessna. Happily looking out, taking pictures. Go figure.
A nice Q for the psychologists … I don’t know, but am having trouble with heights too. Maybe best not to understand, but only do?
Definitely uncomfortable with heights. I wouldn´t necessarily say “afraid” of height – but that´s probably just a a matter of definition. As others have said, I also have never been uncomfortable while onboard an airplane.
I’ll share a funny story. In 2019 just after getting my PPL (on DA40 VFR and IFR), I subscribed to another club with good old DR400 120hp. After been checked on this, I went from Cannes to Gap other the Verdons mounts (2000m max) with this underpozered plane, in the high temperature of July. Leaving Cannes to gain some altitude, I reached 6500ft and starting to experience fairly convective weather while still feeling high in altitude and very uncomfortable with either the height, the shaky attitude of my little plane, and the fact that with just over 200fpm at 70kias, I was completely to the mercy of the elements… I continue flying while being really nervous, but reached the end by just rolling back to the essential. I had only 55hours… One the best “experiene” in my pilot life, but I discovered that after the flight, because during it, I just wanted to land somewhere and breath…
Me too, although I am quite happy with no door on a helicopter an my feet outside.
I once had to do some filming on a building site. There was a platform, and when I say a platform I mean the width of your average country road. It was around 200ft in the air with no hand rails either side. The only way I could walk along it was by sticking in the middle and grasping for the support columns that lined the middle of the platform each about 10 feet apart.
On another occasion I had to transfer from an exterior metal walkway to an internal one. They were around 300ft up. The walkways were no problem because they had handrails but there was a gap between ext and interior of less than 2ft which needed to be stepped over. On the ground I wouldn’t have thought twice about it but up there! I found I couldn’t do it, no matter how many people stepped back and for to show me how easy it was.
Are there any physcologists on here?
Someone told be about an article on why humans experience that, and it worsens when you tilt your head (try looking down when lying down – apparently it should be better). And the reason in the article was stated that we’ve got this from certain monkesys (apes?) – they are ground-walking monkeys and that was a mechanism that was preventing the monkeys from climbing the trees and falling to death; the article even named the primates…
Are you afraid of heights or are you afraid of falling? Because that’s the difference between standing on a high ledge like a tower or mountain or tree or being strapped to a chair in a plane. Your perception is that you can’t fall out of the plane while you could fall from a tree for example.
