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By pec1985
#399298
Hi all!

I realized I don't like getting very high; when looking down, I can very easily freak out. What seems to help is knowing that if I get low, I won't make it to wherever I'm going, or if I don't get higher, I won't be able to make the jump, so no issues there. It seems as if I don't like getting "higher than needed". Why is this? Does it happen to you? How do you deal with it?

Happy flying!
Pedro
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By remmoore
#399300
I think of myself as "normally" afraid of heights. If I stand near the edge of launch at Funston (without my glider) I get the willies, but launching from it is no problem.

Given that you recognize that being low while flying is limiting, perhaps thinking of increased altitude as freeing might help. I know that the higher I get, the happier I am, since my options keep increasing. When I'm getting high to leave for XC, I get really stoked! Perhaps as you get more XC experiences you'll feel the same...

RM
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By lizzard
#399303
Ditto.... scared shiftless of looking over a sheer clif or building and was 1 reason i taught my self to fly (no instructors back then)1975
I figured that it would cure me of my phobia....but no im still screwed but have no issue with height flying off cliffs as long as i have a hooked in glider attached..perhaps its a but lonely above 10k and the reference is far less .

Its all about knowing that you cant fall ..but the phobia remains ....some don't have it at all.

its part of the buzz of launching in lift .


I wise man once said that my fear is based on falling to my death in another life ..but lets keep the worm cans closed.
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By red
#399306
pec1985 wrote: Mon Jun 26, 2017 4:36 pmHi all! I realized I don't like getting very high; when looking down, I can very easily freak out. What seems to help is knowing that if I get low, I won't make it to wherever I'm going, or if I don't get higher, I won't be able to make the jump, so no issues there. It seems as if I don't like getting "higher than needed". Why is this? Does it happen to you? How do you deal with it? Happy flying!
Pedro
Pedro,

I do not see this as a problem. It will certainly change as your experience grows. Altitude will become your best friend. For now, I would recommend flying with others on the higher flights, and maybe with a radio comm link, so you can talk with those other pilots up there.

You can lose references to the ground and airspeed when higher, so it helps to have an expert HG pilot (who is the same weight as you) take your glider for a flight, and fly the glider hands-off for a while. When the HG ace comes down and tells you that the glider flies at the correct airspeed hands-off, you will be much more relaxed when you fly, even allowing the glider to fly itself for a while, now and then. This process will greatly improve your confidence levels, as will flying high with others, and maybe having a radio in-flight for conversation.

Nobody was ever born as an expert HG pilot. We all grow, and it's no problem if others might grow slower, or faster. Take flying at your own pace, as you gain more confidence and skills.

:D
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By paicolman
#399310
lizzard wrote: Mon Jun 26, 2017 7:28 pm scared shiftless of looking over a sheer clif or building and was 1 reason i taught my self to fly ...
It's funny to see I'm not the only one. When I tell people that I'm afraid of heights, but do hanggliding, they allways get that look on their faces:

Image
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By magicpotato
#399311
I have never had this experience, however my father has had this same problem when flying powered planes and sailplanes. He said that as the years went on, he got more and more afraid of flying. Soon, he was too afraid of going flying, and he back off of flying almost entirely for a long time. How did he get over this? He kept flying, and flew with other people a lot. Now, I am sure that there is some sort of phobia therapy/ exercises that you could do to help overcome it, but don't ignore the problem. Maybe keep flying and take it easy for a while, and stretch your boundaries slowly, all while reaffirming that you are not in danger.

I'm not an expert, but hopefully this helps.
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By Nigel Hewitt
#399313
Grief yes. There is a selfie on the web of some steeplejack standing on the star on top of a church that makes my stomach want to curl up in a knot and hide under the bed. At the same altitude on a hang glider I'd be eyeing up my landing target and thinking I was getting a bit low.
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By RobertKesselring
#399314
Yes, when I'm not attached to my wing.

When people tell me that they could never fly because they're afraid of heights I tell them "good. It's the people who aren't afraid that get careless and get hurt."
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By DMarley
#399329
I believe that advancing age has a lot to do with fear of what could possibly hurt.
When in my late teens, I'd jump off the +100' tall Scudder's grain elevator on Pelee Island (NW Lake Erie, Canadian side) that overlooked a concrete pier with a deep shipping channel. The edge of the pier was 20 ft beyond the bottom of the elevator, so you had to clear that distance. First time off, I dove head first, perfectly, but with some reservation and lots of mental calculation. It was somewhat surreal being on top and looking down at tall treetops. It was even better vaulting off into the horizon for a perfect trajectory.
In my forties, I stood on a ledge of the Grand Canyon with a 3000 ft shear drop-off. And pissed off the edge with my toes hanging off.
Just a few days ago I ran up Pilot Mountain (NC) and ventured out toward a rock ledge with only a few hundred feet vertical drop, around 1100 ft above the fields below. Not very high. I got the willies.
"But I don't get the willies! Ever! What the heck!?"
I was able to get to perhaps three feet from the edge. Not much closer. I would hope I could get back to my younger self's fearlessness with more exposure and most definitely hooked into a glider. I wonder if it's being aware of one's own degradation of perfect balance and slower, less positive physical responses. Perhaps it's an inner ear thing. I also am aware of my recent uneasiness of vaulting over downed trees and such on my runs as well.
Anyway, it could be it's a self-preservation instinct that grows stronger as we age. I hope that with more practice and more exposure I can cure myself of that ailment. I don't want to grow old!
"Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light."
- Dylan Thomas
:shock:
By Soarcerer
#399363
My fear of heights was so gripping that it took me forever to earn my H2 rating. I was fine with launching 100-foot hills and flying around, but whenever I went higher I would freeze on launch. I remained on training hills for a few years and then transitioned to scooter-towing. I noticed that while towing I didn't seem to mind climbing from the ground upward to altitude and then flying around, so narrowed the problem strictly to the launch phase. After spending a week towing up to higher altitudes, I went to a 500-foot launch and went with no problems. After that, I went to a 1200-foot site and launched without apprehension. So for me, I just need to get higher and fly around.

Tandem flights didn't help me because I wasn't actually flying the glider during the launch and climbing phases of the flight.

Ironically, now the thought of launching from a 100-foot hill gives me the willies. Too low and prone to twisting my ankle, or so my thinking goes :)
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By flybop
#399365
Personally I have never had a fear of heights... but a respect for them. I once knew a competition and air show aerobatic pilot who was afraid to climb a ladder in the hanger to change a light bulb though.

Then again, my last flight the other day was really turbulent. In the back of my mind I was sure I could climb up, over the mountain and into what I was told was smoother air. After getting tossed for ten minutes the LZ looked more appealing than the rough air. Half an hour later a friend launched into a magnificent glass off while I finished breaking down.
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By Sford
#399388
I like Robert's answer to non-pilots asking the "fear of heights" question and agree with his assessment that a healthy level of fear in our activity is appropriate. (IMO, no fear is dangerous and a deer-in-the-headlights fear is equally dangerous. In the first case it can lead to rash decisions. In the second it leads to inaction when positive control action is required).

Like many respondents to the thread, I have difficulty in standing at the edge of a tall building or cliff.....while it is easier at a familiar cliff launch, it is still done with a great deal of caution. When attached to my glider however, I can walk to the cliff and gleefully launch. Go figure.

After having thought about it for many years, I have come to the conclusion that the majority of us have a fear of falling rather than a fear of heights. 'might come from all the times we fell as children and teens (and adults), receiving bumps, bruises, or worse? And seeing others in precarious situations with no fall protection, perched on the edge of the precipice, elicits that uneasy feeling in me as if it were me on the edge with no safety net.

I never feel that I will fall from, or in, my glider though (note that my verbal check list always starts with "I am hooked in" and then "two leg loops"...... etc). And I have experienced 2000 ft/min down for an extended period once or twice but never felt as though I was falling uncontrollably. Perhaps that is why the height is not scary but instead welcoming, particularly for the several reasons that other respondents have stated (like having the leisure of time and thus the freedom of choice in where to go next).

Good topic. Great one to take up with new pilots as they embark on this journey!

SF
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By Jason
#399519
flybop wrote: Wed Jun 28, 2017 6:39 pm Personally I have never had a fear of heights... but a respect for them. I once knew a competition and air show aerobatic pilot who was afraid to climb a ladder in the hanger to change a light bulb though.
its perfectly normal.....

I've always thought that what people call a "fear of heights" is a misnomer, what you are really afraid of is.....FALLING

I climb ladders for a living these days and I'd much rather be dangling from my HG with one finger on the control frame at 17,999 feet, than be 40 feet off the ground on a ladder......one is safe, the other is terrifying

the same is true rockclimbing.....in the image below i'm sitting on about a 6 inch ledge about 200 feet up, but i'm roped in and know im safe, so i'm not afraid of falling, and happy to take a picture
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By Takeo77
#399524
Yep. Without a wing my knees knock in high places. Now after learning to hang glide I can control it better than I used to. When I'm up in a hang glider or airplane I'm mostly ok, because my higher brain functions tell my reptilian brain to STFU.