Yep - valium and gin and tonic .... I think about those sort of things as well, but not to the point of it being a real fear. You can look on the web and get the statistics on how unlikely any of those things are, but that probably won't convince you. Thing is, you have to control your fear yourself - no one else can do it. There are plenty of self help books on relaxation techniques etc, or maybe make an appointment with someone who can get you started. If you are into natural therapies, then a herbal relaxation formula or Bach Flowers rescue remedy is good (I use this for my daughter who does get quite anxious). But really, the key is to get your brain to believe what is true - you have more chance of being injured on your way to the airport!

Wello is absolutely right eternal, there is more chance of you being injured on the way to the airport then on the plane.

Maybe you could read some information about what the planes are capable of or as wello suggested some statistics (for example more people die in car crashes each year then in plane crashes). I myself have some of those trepidations, again like wello - not to the point of an actual fear. But everytime I go on a plane with my Dad, we always talk about whats happening at the moment (i.e. oh thats just the leading edges going down, that noise is the hydraulics equalising between sides etc.) So maybe if the person you are going with know's a fair bit about aircraft they could talk to you about some of the stuff going on - or research it yourself maybe?

Remember, the A340 has 4 engines, a spare 3 if one goes so you'll be right mate. Think positive.
Oh and direct quote from Wikipedia here: "As of January 2010, the A340 has not had a fatal incident, but there have been five hull-loss accidents."

Have fun on your flight mate, enjoy it. I wish I was going on an A340

Cheers guys, every bit of advice helps. And that quote from wiki makes me feel a bit easier

Erm Ahem. .

Well I should have yanked out my camera this arvo, a jetstar flight was on approach from the south, coming into some fresh Easterlies, It did the whole straight drift approach to the runway, amazing to see a quad engined beast like that fly straight on such a unusual angle. The people on the left must have had a good view of the runway on approach .

Sorry Eternal Rain.

Wait what? Are you in Townsville at the moment Adam?

was watching a Dash-8 from cairns stuggle on approach the other evening into the winds as it swung around to the face runway 01. was impressive to watch!

Youre more likely to die in a car accident than on an aircraft.. ive flown numerous from pencilprops to jumbos, had some serious hard landings, crosswind landing, tailstrikes (727's notorious for that) but im still here!

PS Adam, JQ dont operate quad engined aircraft. A320, 321 & 332s only.

I love planes and flying but i still am scared aye. Its like we are not meant to fly and like things go wrong and yeah. Worst part is just after takeoff for me at townsville. They have a very fast turn to the south as they throttle back and the feeling is that big sinking feeling.

I saw some of those giant jumbos the other week. Watched one land while we waited to cross the runway at Melbourne, and two more were parked nearby. they don't look big until you see them with a normal sized plane.

i should crack out some video i shot on landing on a JQ flight a few months back..by far the most aggressive flying ive felt on anything the size of an A320....pilot must have been a frustrated fighter pilot..;)

i do like the E170 and E190's that Virgin operate..totally different feel then the A320's and 727's im use to....

i still love the way regional turbo props feel... haven't had the opportunity to fly in one for a while now though..

I wish 727s were still in passenger service. Yes the regionals are fun, expecially the smaller ones like the SAAB 340 and Metroliner.

Here are some pics of a Japnese Air force 747 that came to adelaide recently.

http://myaviation.net/?pid=01816816
http://myaviation.net/?pid=01816819
http://myaviation.net/?pid=01816821
http://myaviation.net/?pid=01816824
http://myaviation.net/?pid=01816827
http://myaviation.net/?pid=01816835
http://myaviation.net/?pid=01816831

went in a E170 from tville to canberra last year. was a lovely flight. first time i had been on one and really enjoyed it.
i love watching the dash 8's and q400's from the qantaslink fleet landing. been many a moon since i was on one of them too. had a chance to earlier this year when booking some flights, but choose to fly a leg on a 767 instead, we dont get them up here!

on friday as part of a polictal stunt here in townsville i went on this seaplane to do some filming for the local news,

the plane was in the phantom movie and does tourist flights over tville and magnetic island. was a great time. did a few quick dives and sharp turns, great feeling in an open cockpit at 90knots.

mate ring qantas reservations ask to be put through to pr and ask for the fear of flying course its expensive around$1000 includes a return flight at the end
or talk to synopig

A few pictures from Frankfurt International Airport, taken on July 20, 2010:

Thai / HS-TGM / Boeing 747-400 / delivery 1992



Lufthansa / D-ABEP "Naumburg (Saale)" / Boeing 737-300 / delivery 1992



Iberia / EC-JXJ / Airbus A319-100 / delivery 2006



Air Berlin / D-ABGS / Airbus A319-100 / delivery 2009




Greetings
Leon

This guy accompanied the Roulettes on a recent visit to Hamilton Island.

I'm having fun. Foggy down in Canberra this morning, and we realised the airport was unusually quiet and still.

A few minutes ago though, the sun peeped through and it was like the end of Die Hard II here, they all came in landing in lines. Tehy're using some big jets (737s?) while they fix the issues with the Bombardier dash 8s, so that was pretty spectacular. Mostly Qantas planes, too.

But you can literally stand there watching, waiting for the next one.. I just turned to look and a VB jet was landing.

Gates area is chockers, planes shuffling around everywhere.

willow thats there dedicated rescue chopper that goes everywhere they do and does a analysis of the area before display rehersals start

+ it can be used as a rescue bird as well As Far As I Know. Last year's Airlie Airshow they did a bit of a demo with their thermal optics, and how they would hover over area and drop someone in.

I've got an awesome video of it taking off here, blew everyone's hats off.

Hey..ive got an Airshow photography question..

Whats the best easy settings for daytime shots useing a Canon 40d and the pre-USM Canon 75-300?

i use Pentax but this is on behalf of a Canon shooter..any help would be good guys..the results do matter!

Well i just had a poothepants experience, sitting in bed relaxing watching tv and digging through the forums when the noise of a planes engine grabbed my attention, in all honestly i thought we had a plane coming down in very close proximity, spluttering along low and loud.. Bolted out the front but to my surprise 1 tigermoth passed overhead, then another, shortly followed by a third. gracefully spluttering along in formation circled back from where they were coming from, i havent seen one in the skies for many a year let alone 3 of them,. i managed to get the camera out in time to snap a few photos that'll ill upload shortly if worthy.. nice experience though all the same.. I had thought i let the upcoming williamtown raaf show go a miss but i just checked up and still have 10days of anxious wait..