Flying Without Fear

by Duane Brown

Flying Without Fear shows you how to confront your fear, take it on, and stop letting it constrict your life. You'll learn how fear affects your body and crucial techniques for coping with your own anxiety. You'll hear the real facts about airline safety and be guided through a program of steps to take to get yourself ready for your maiden flight. And once on board, you'll have the support of your own personal "flight plan": a carry-on, package of tips and strategies for making it through your first takeoff and later flights with confidence and success.

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help

180 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1996

About the author

Duane Brown is professor of education at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. He is the author or coauthor of twenty-four books and one hundred research studies, articles, and book chapters. He was the editor of the journal Counselor Education and Supervision and has served on editorial boards of three other journals. Brown has consulted widely for businesses, governmental agencies, and educational agencies and is a former president of the National Career Development Association.

Reviews

[Josh · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you have a fear of flying, you should do yourself a favor and read this book. Duane Brown has spent years working with fearful fliers and understands the fears and thinking of those who are afraid (and the various underlying causes). He does a good job of answering the questions that people who are afraid of flying wonder about. He does a good job of addressing things like turbulence, aerodynamics, and fears of terrorism. He has a detailed description of what happens on a flight and the various sensations you feel in the air (I found this to be one of the most valuable parts of the book). If you're afraid of flying, give this book a try. Don't fall into the trap of thinking nothing will work for you.

[Jennifer DuBose · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm still terrified of flying but this book was still a good start. If you have an actual phobia, this book won't necessarily "work" but it can point you in the right direction as far as what to know when seeking a therapist. I can see it being very helpful for people who are just scared or nervous of flying.

[Luís Branco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book!

[Hesbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seriously changed my life. Thank you.

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been afraid to fly my entire life. Although I have managed a dozen or so round trip flights, each one was very difficult and caused undue anxiety for weeks preceding the flight. Until recently, I had not flown for 11 years. During those 11 years there were numerous moments when I thought I might never get on a plane again, might never see Europe, etc. Even the sight of a plane overhead was enough to make my heart race and my palms perspire. Always, always I was thankful that it was not me on that plane!

I recently had the opportunity to fly to Florida with my husband for a business trip, and I desperately wanted to go. I have missed many events because of my reluctance to fly, and I felt it important to confront my fear. A friend's husband recommended this book after finding it helpful. This is the first "fear of flying" book I've read, and so I have nothing else to compare it to, but honestly, it changed my life. Having a better understanding of the mechanics of the plane, how pilots are trained, redundancies built into the plane's operating systems, specifics about turbulence, etc., helped tremendously in calming my fears. It also provided strategies for calming yourself (mostly by deep breathing), which made me feel confident that I could manage on the plane if I started to feel panicky. There were moments while reading the book when I felt so anxious that I had to put it down, but when I finished reading it I felt very calm, as though I had successfully completed a flight already. I also used other strategies to distract myself during the flight that I read about on blogs, etc., but this book provided the foundation for helping me to realize the irrationality of my fear.

I noticed that a few comments noted that the book was not updated post-9/11, but my edition was. I highly recommend it for anyone who is afraid to fly. I plan to reread it periodically, and I plan to continue flying.

[Brianna · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best books I've consulted about my fear of flying (which only resulted from a very brief encounter with wind shear while landing at a Midwest airport... I was fine with planes before that). Dr. Brown isn't a pilot but is a counselor who has led over 100 fear-of-flying seminars. For this book he interviewed a good number of pilots. I most appreciated the sections where Dr Brown explained what noises and sensations to expect at all stages during the flight, and where he suggests what to do to combat anxious thoughts and physical symptoms - it helped to know that my thoughts were "normal" ones resulting from my anxiety, not reality. I also liked the "Developing a Valid Information Base"/FAQ section - although the book is older, it still provides good information. I've taken this book on my past six flights to visit family members, and this book (paired with a glass or two of wine) is slowly helping me become better at flying. While I hope someday I can manage without it, it's not leaving my carry-on bag for the foreseeable future.

[Matthew Turner · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really great and very helpful resource for fearful flyers. I wouldn't say my fears were totally healed by this book... mostly because flying was just one of my anxieties. I'd also strongly recommend Freeing Yourself from Anxiety The 4Step Plan to Overcome Worry and Create the Life You Want. I read Freeing Yourself for a totally unrelated reason, but found it really helped with flying too.

[Megan Spooner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes, I am terrified of flying. This book helped me significantly because it gives me answers to all my questions and a few techniques for staying calm. I've gotten better thanks to hypnosis and having a few cocktails before getting on the plane. A couple of my friends have or are getting their pilots license so I hope to be able to fly with them so I have an opportunity to have everything explained to me and hopefully that will make flying easier for me.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found it a little difficult to believe all of the information in this book because it is a bit out of date. For example, the chapter on terrorism was written pre-9/11, and the part about emergency water landings is before the Hudson River landing. However, this book provides great coping techniques, such as breathing exercises and knowledge about the plane's mechanics that are very reassuring. Overall, if you have any anxiety about flying, I recommend reading this book.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is very informative about everything you could possibly want to know about flying , airplanes, and ways to cope with the fear. It explains a lot of factors that contribute what causes the fear. I have never flown but after reading this book it has lessened my anxiety about flying and look forward to conquering my fear.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was written pre-9-11 and has some repetition in it (for cross referencing), but it is persuasively well-written - with lots of logical research and information to back up it's points. If you have a fear of flying and need some reassurance or if you're just interested in understanding how planes and the airline industry operate, this is a very useful book.

[Pablo Gallardo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clearly aimed to USA readers and very influenced by the 9/11 events (it was issued in 2009), but it is still very useful. Very complete and straight-forward with explanations, techniques, exercises and pieces of advice.
It only lacks the analysis of psychological and neurological part of phobias, but I guess this is not required by all anxious fliers to overcome his/her fears.

[Zack Rock · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit out of date, but still very helpful book for people like me who are terrified of flying. Lots of information about the mechanics and physics of flight that not even my barn-storming, fly-happy wife knew.

[Elizabeth Black · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was immensely helpful in helping me conquer my phobia. You can guaruntee I carried it with me on my first couple of solo flights. And while I'm still not completely comfortable up in the air, I no longer let my fear keep me from crossing things off my bucket list

[Paula · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book in anticipation of our upcoming trip to DisneyWorld. I found many great tips and advice for helping to overcome my recent fear of flying. I especially enjoyed the intricate details about everything related to the flight, pilots, turbulence and safety ratings.

[Antoinette Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Invaluable if you're scared of flying.

[Jonathan]

None

[Tricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick read. Good information. Click here for my full review.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have not taken my first flight yet but this is the first fear of flying book that actually has me looking at flights and knowing I can do this!