PilotEdge Forums

I had an uncle that used to captain large sea tankers when I was growing up. I remember him trying to explain a way to train your body to be able to handle the effects of sea sickness. It was something like "stand up, tilt your head down, touch your finger to your nose, spin around in a circle, ten times this way, switch your gaze from the floor to straight ahead... to the end of your hand, ten times the other way, ?? etc....???

Yes, I know it sounds like he was making fun of this little kid at the time... but he really was being serious. He said if you did that religiously for a few minutes every day, after about a month you wouldn't ever suffer from balance/travel nausea again. Wish I'd paid more attention now.

Apart from "you'll eventually get used to it", are there any pro tips from the trenches along the lines of the above?

I use to have motion sickness problems when I started flying. Eventually I got use to it, however until that happened ginger pills helped immensely.

Cyrus, I suffered heavily from nausea during every flight I did in a 172 while I was growing up in Australia....hurled nearly every time. In each case, I was in the back seat on a hot, bumpy day. I eventually got the chance to fly right seat in a Piper Arrow on a 2 hour trip. I faired better, but ultimately had the same result.

It wasn't until I started my PPL training in the DA-20 on a cool, smooth winter day that I truly enjoyed my first GA flight. As time went on, I was sure that it was the DA-20 that made the difference, and I avoided the 172 at all costs. Eventually, the time came to fly in a 172 and it was a total non-event. I'd built up a tolerance by then.

So, other than "you'll eventually get used to it", that's all I have. To maximize the enjoyment for infrequent travelers, be diligent about picking days which are not going to have moderate turbulence.