Getting on a giant tin can firing you towards your chosen destination at epic speeds is a  daunting experience for many people but alot of the time it comes from not really understanding what’s happening while you’re up there at 35,000 Feet gripping the arm rest with every bit of energy you have.

At the moment my knowledge is at a basic level and not at the level of experienced airline pilots but the basic principles of flight are the same either way. Some basic info knowledge i’ve built up so far is:

Air has the same effect on a plane as water has on a boat:

All of those bumps, shakes and drops you experience in the air work in the same way as what you would experience on a boat. Currents move the water up and down which you feel while you’re on the boat and it works the same way in the air when you’re on a plane. The only difference is air is invisible.

Bumpy Landings!

As the plane touches down it performs what’s known as a flare. (the nose is pulled up so the plane touches down smoothly on the runway without too much force) 90% of the time landings are carried out manually by the pilots (no autopilot) and so no two landings will ever be the same.  Some might have a bit of a bump and others might be really smooth but either way you have absolutely nothing to worry about.

Top Tip: If you’re normally jumpy as the plane touches down listen for the engines becoming really quiet and the front of the plane raising slightly.  This happens right before the wheels touch down so you have a bit of warning for those bumps!

The “Go Around”

This happens when the pilots deem the landing conditions to be unsuitable to continue and decide to have another go with better conditions. Pilots have a point on the runway they aim to have the wheels down on and if they think they might miss that point they won’t even attempt the landing. Planes normally land two minutes apart at most airports but if it hasn’t left the runway in the time expected the aircraft behind will perform a Go-Around to give him more time.