Believe it or not, I had never, ever, been in a plane before. Yes, I know, it's the 21st century and I'm a bit behind the times. I suppose I'd just never got round to it, with all our family holidays being motoring trips at home and abroad and in recent years I've travelled all over Europe by train. The closest sensation I had to flying was aboard the Star Wars simulator ride at Disneyland Paris - not exactly realistic but I still felt very queasy! Enough was enough - there are so many places I've been wanting to visit which would be impossible - or very inconvenient - to get to without flying. My big ambition is to visit New York. So, I booked my place on the Flying Without Fear course at Birmingham Airport. Arriving early, I met with my fellow nervous flyers, there were around 60 of us in total. Most had flown before, but hated the experience and, like me, wanted to overcome it.
 | | Sarah relaxes and enjoys the view. |
The day was split up into three parts. In the morning, a talk from two pilots, David and Dominic, who explained in the most basic terms how a plane flies, what turbulence is, how so-called 'air pockets' do not exist and answered our questions. The main emphasis was on safety: how the pilots and crew are tested frequently, how the plane itself undergoes checks before flight and how much safer we are in a plane than driving our cars. I must say, after all this information I probably felt even more nervous than before, especially as some of my fellow passengers seemed very knowledgeable on past plane disasters! After lunch, we met the pilot and crew of our specially chartered plane. After a talk by one of the cabin crew safety training team, it was time to tackle our collective fear with the help of expert psychotherapist David Landau, who offered us great advice on overcoming claustrophobia and feelings of panic during flight. | "I probably felt even more nervous than before, especially as some of my fellow passengers seemed very knowledgeable on past plane disasters!" | | Sarah Wale |
His motto being "if you believe then you will achieve". After a soothing relaxation session, it was time to board the coach to take us to the airport and check in for our short flight. It was at this point my nerves really started to kick in. I felt extremely sick and shaky and honestly thought I could not go through with it. Things got worse as we boarded the plane - it was a lot smaller than I expected and I felt very claustrophobic. With one of the team reassuring me, we taxied down the runway. Take off was a bit bumpy and we soon hit the dreaded turbulence which was not a pleasant experience. But before I knew it, we were above the clouds and flying smoothly. Within minutes, I'd got up out of my seat, moved to the window and was admiring the view and taking photos! A slight hitch meant we were actually in the air for longer than expected - but I could have stayed up there for hours! By the time we came into land, it had got dark and the lights of Birmingham twinkled below us. The landing was perfect and was followed by a huge round of applause. We did it! Now I'm ready for my next flight and will be booking my tickets soon. Perhaps I won't make it to New York just yet but Paris and Edinburgh will be my next ports of call. I can't wait! | 
