Jack None wrote:
I am learning to fly gliders and I struggle with motion sickness.

I have tried:
- Ginder tablets, it helped but I was still a bit nauseaus.
- Motion sickness tablets, they affect my awareness and concentration.
- Chewing various things, best was beef jerky (not a joke) it helps but
still not good enough.

I really feel for you. I have struggled with motion sickness as well,
although from your description it seems that mine is not as much of a
problem.

When I first started taking lessons it worried me a lot because I had a
history of motion sickness. At the time I had even given up on
long-distance bus travel because they simply made me feel terrible. But I
wanted to fly enough that I decided to give it a shot, and everything was
fine.

Later on I started flying a 1-26 and for some reason this started making
me feel bad again. Fortunately for me it seems that it's *only* the 1-26
that regularly makes me feel sick. I have been sick in other gliders, but
it's rare and there's always some reason for it, like being overly tired,
or that one exciting time my canopy completely frosted over in rotor.

I don't know what it is about the 1-26, but I theorize that it's related
to the very upright and squished (I'm pretty tall) posture I have in it,
and the very large instrument panel that covers up my view.

I decided to simply not fly the 1-26 anymore, because I have lots of other
good options. But before I decided that, I spent some time trying to solve
the problem in other ways, partly because it took me some time to realize
that I was only getting sick in the 1-26, and partly because I really
enjoyed flying it. Keep in mind that motion sickness is largely
(entirely?) psychological, and so that to an even greater extent than many
other medical problems, it varies greatly depending on the individual.
Here's what I tried:

- Crystallized ginger. Highly recommended. Works pretty well, tastes good,
and makes a good snack even if you don't need it in the air. I know you
mentioned ginger tablets, but this may have an advantage simply because
you get to taste the stuff, and the taste may help.

- Drinking more. Getting dehydrated in flight was not helpful! Of course
this is bad anyway. I started carrying a camelbak along with me, and that
helped.

- Eating more/less/differently. I played around with what I ate, and when,
and how much, both for lunch around flight time and for breakfast in the
morning, and this helped as well.

- Contact lenses. I normally wear glasses, and I found that I'd often get
distracted by the frame of my glasses and this would make things get worse
fast. Wearing contacts gets rid of the frame, and I found a pair of
gigantic cheap sunglasses for when it's sunny that keeps the frame safely
out of view. This made a big difference.

- Sleep more. I found that for me, fatigue was a huge factor. I once got
very rapidly sick in a Grob 103 (which was normally just fine for me)
after a busy week at a technical conference.

- Follow the controls if somebody else is flying. This obviously wasn't a
make-or-break for me since I mainly had problems in a single-seater, but
it still seems like a good thing to do. If the other guy is flying, keep
your hand lightly (lightly!) on the stick and follow what he's doing.
Above all else ensure that you never interfere with his flying, but a
light touch can help ensure that you keep your brain informed of what
movements are coming.

And once again, just remember that these were my personal experiences and
yours may (probably will) vary. But I hope that might give you some ideas.

Lastly, you'll probably simply get better with time, as you acclimate. In
the lesson you desrcibe, you say that you were doing fine until the
instructor took over and flew some steep thermalling turns. This can be
pretty hard on the inner ear! It's no surprise that this caused you to
feel bad. Rather than focusing on how you got sick in these pretty trying
conditions, think about how well you were doing up to that point.
Eventually you should be able to do these more extreme maneuvers without
any trouble either, but just work up to it.

You asked about the electronic wristbands. I tried one of those as well,
it didn't do anything for me. I borrowed one from a club-mate for a try,
you may want to ask around and see if anyone in your area has one you
could borrow. It actually belonged to his wife, and she absolutely swears
by it. From what I've read, they have highly variable success depending on
the individual. It's certainly worth a shot if you can borrow one, or buy
one from a place with a good return policy.

--
Mike Ash
Radio Free Earth
Broadcasting from our climate-controlled studios deep inside the Moon