Comparing Diving to Flying

[Stu S.]

There's a term in flying called "go-itis". It is when you are in West Virginia and gotta-go back to Baltimore, even though the weather is bad. Gotta-go back to work on Monday. Gotta-go take this airplane back. Let's just take off and go. That condition caused more than one pilot to fly into freezing drizzle. It has killed families. It launched a Space Shuttle into disaster.

Pilots know the urge to get that airplane moving. Sometimes you must fight that "gotta-go" feeling. Does this happen in diving?

 

[MasterFritts]

I am sure it does. Imagine spending a lot of $$ on a dive trip and you get there and do not feel well but dive anyway. That is the same as get-there-itis. More like Get-Under-Itis thou.

 

[cavew0man]

You've never flown a Pitts.

I'll skip the obvious stuff and add a bit more commentary on the complacency issue...

That was really perfectly put, DA Aquamaster.

Does a few hours in a Citabria count for anything?

 

[TSandM]

Pilots know the urge to get that airplane moving. Sometimes you must fight that "gotta-go" feeling. Does this happen in diving?

One of the hardest things I've ever done was to refuse to dive off a charter boat. It was a private charter, with four of us on it, finishing up a wreck penetration class. Weather conditions were bad, and the water was really rough. Plus, the Sound was chocolate brown from runoff from the rains, so viz was going to be horrible. I was very worried about getting back on the boat in the waves, and after a lot of soul searching, I told the rest of the class that I wasn't going, but they were welcome to go ahead and dive. Everybody else backed out, too; to this day, I don't know if they didn't want to dive, or if they were just being kind to me.

I felt enormous pressure to dive that day: the cost, which was sunk; my classmates, who I suspect would not dive if I didn't; the instructors, whose good opinion I wanted to retain; and my own desire to go down and practice the skills I had been learning over the last two days.

So yes, there is go-itis in diving. I beat it down that time.

 

[Stu S.]

So yes, there is go-itis in diving. I beat it down that time.

I suppose so. The closest thing I can think of is on a wreck. Some divers just naturally want to penetrate in there. They may even signal you to go in, too. Do you go, or hang outside alone? We know going in on an unplanned event is wrong, wrong, wrong. Be a macho and go on in, or a wuss and keep out?

We know the right answer.

 

[obsession600]

I think that there are so many similarities since both activities involve a prolonged stay in an inhospitable environment.

For those unaided/unhindered by equipment here is a fun comparison:
Free diving is ruled by how far you can descend and still make a safe ascent. "Free flying/jumping" is ruled by how high you can descend from and still make a safe landing.

 

[Gary D.]

Both have their Highs and Lows or Up's and Downs..

Gary D.

 

[ChunksJR]

I keep telling my classmates this very fact...I think procedurally, it's an identical thought process.

As a 2500-hr helicopter pilot, I enjoy HOVERING above AND below the surface.

One of the biggest things for me, though, is compartmentalization. This is a HUGE part of my enjoyment of flying AND diving. Being able to leave every problem/person/issue at the surface of the earth and totally disappear into the realm of flight or diving.

Additioinally, taking in "the big picture" is huge. Being able to say where you are, where everyone else is, where you need to go (or don't need to go) and how to get there is key...

Just my $.02.
~d

 

[Colliam7]

It is interesting to see the thread re-juvenated. Since the OP made his first observation about flying and diving last August, he has apparently gone quite a way in diving. It be be great to see his thoughts now, about the similarities.

There apparently are more than a few SB members who are pilots - Private, Commercial, ATP. The responses to the OP point out there are a LOT of similarities in the disciplines, including but not limited to: training procedures, importance of attitude, gear dependency, accident chains, consequences of bad decisions / behaviors, unfortunate role of alcohol, etc. I found that a piloting background was helpful in learning to dive in many ways, and I regularly use aviation analogies in discussing diving, in diving and in teaching diving.

 

[The Kraken]

CG also comes into play with both.

Adjusting the internal and external loads (weights) in order to keep the aircraft (body) in proper trim.

the K