WT Forums

This is
LONDON
30/11/04 - News and city section

Commuting 'more stressful than flying a jet fighter'
By Mark Prigg Science Correspondent, Evening Standard

The true level of stress faced by commuters in London is revealed today.

A major new study claims the average journey by train or bus is more stressful than being a fighter pilot in combat, or a police officer in a riot. The researchers also say that as passengers' stress levels rocket, their brains switch off, leading to a condition they identified as "commuter amnesia".

Psychologist Dr David Lewis, who led the research, warns that commuters-could suffer serious heart problems. He also says staff are arriving at their offices less able to work. "People's productivity is damaged. The stress levels harm their ability to concentrate when they make it in."

Researchers measured the blood pressure and heart beats of more than 125 commuters, on a variety of routes. More than 800 people were also interviewed.

The normal resting heartbeat on a healthy young person is about 60 beats per minute.

However, as they battled to and from work, the volunteers' heartbeats reached peaks of more than

double that - comparable with the rate during strenuous exercise.

Dr Lewis said: "Getting to this rate during physical exercise is good but commuters get this from purely psychological reasons and it puts them at risk of serious heart problems."

He compared the commuters' stress levels with that of fighter pilots and police in training. He said: "The levels experienced by commuters were higher. It's pretty shocking. We found spikes in the heart rate that corresponded with changing trains. The key for commuters is the feeling they are not in control, this is what makes them lose their temper. The phenomenon of "commuter amnesia" discovered by the study, conducted on behalf of Hewlett-Packard, was found by studying volunteers' brain patterns.

Dr Lewis said: "It's a form of self-hypnosis. It's a defence mechanism for the brain, and it's very effective."

Digby Jones, director general of the CBI, said: "This confirms that

... urgent delivery of an improved transport system must become a government priority."

Londoners could also be suffering from the winter blues. Doctors say that the vast majority of us will have increased lethargy, sleeplessness, depression and low self-esteem caused by the lack of sunlight. About a million people in Britain will suffer an extreme version known as Seasonal Affective Disorder.


Find this story at http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/arti ... ?version=1
©2004 Associated New Media

Great study. It was always my contention that the promoted advantage of "mass transit" was a big lie. Everyone knows it sucks. I prefer my Hemi Magnum with a kick ass sound system and Sirius radio. No muss, no fuss, my own inner sanctum, the luxury of not having a potential serial killer seated nest to you. Commuter bliss.

THE RAMPTOR ENGINEERING TEAM <img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>
"Who cares if it works? Does it look good on the ramp?"

_________________
????

How ya like the Magnum Stress?

Pretty sharp looking cars.

"One should die proudly when it is no longer possible to live proudly."
~ Friedrich Nietzsche

The grass is greener on the other side. Of course commuting is more stressfull than being a pilot..to a commuter.

NO BLOOD FOR COCOA!

_________________

What about commuter pilots?

~Thud

It doesn't surprise me. I think fighter pilots are trained well enough and believe themselves to be in complete control of most every situation therefore the relatively low heart rates, blood pressure, etc. What they do on a daily basis would cause many folks to respond in a way similar to those in this study but since they're accustomed to it I can honestly say I don't think my heart rate goes much above resting unless I'm pulling G's for an extended period of time...and then it's not because my body is responding to stress but because it's working so hard to stay awake. I did think it was funny that the study referred to 120 BPM as equivalent to "strenuous" exercise. Maybe to a Brit...but 120 is just getting started for most folks. "Strenuous exercise" is probably a sustained HR above 170 for a middle-aged person...for Mudd 120 is probably "strenuous" since he's so wicked old...

ATTACK!!!!!!!

<img src=newicons/anim_bannana.gif border=0 align=middle><img src=icon_smile_wink.gif border=0 align=middle><img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle><img src=newicons/anim_lol.gif border=0 align=middle>

ATTACK!!!!!!!

I need to find the article arguing that pilots (and other thrill seekers) are calm not so much because they are brave, but because they lack the imagination necessary to fully appreciate, comprehend, and rightfully be scared of a dangerous or stressful situation. lol

Brainwashing couldn't get the tough stains out.

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote><font size=1 face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>
How ya like the Magnum Stress?
<hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote></font id=quote><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size=2 id=quote>

Only had it a few days, but it definitely gets the thumbs up from my 20 yr old son. He is even volunteering to do car pooling driving for his teenage sister's activities. Believe me, that is a testamonial.

THE RAMPTOR ENGINEERING TEAM <img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>
"Who cares if it works? Does it look good on the ramp?"

_________________
????

"Only had it a few days, but it definitely gets the thumbs up from my 20 yr old son. He is even volunteering to do car pooling driving for his teenage sister's activities. Believe me, that is a testamonial."

I bet he is.

Raced a few of these. For station wagons they flat hual ass.

"One should die proudly when it is no longer possible to live proudly."
~ Friedrich Nietzsche

Hey now W30!


The only stress I had was missing my "T Times"

I have currently learned that I now need to to take a full glass of water with the Viagra or I end up with Morning "Stiff neck" Sometimes that Snooze Button is difficult to get to!


"The power to Destroy the planet, is insignifigant to the power of the Air Force----Mudd Vader

Edited by - mrmudd on Dec 01 2004 12:05 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote><font size=1 face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>
Hey now W30!


The only stress I had was missing my "T Times"

I have currently learned that I now need to to take a full glass of water with the Viagra or I end up with Morning "Stiff neck" Sometimes that Snooze Button is difficult to get to!


"The power to Destroy the planet, is insignifigant to the power of the Air Force----Mudd Vader

Edited by - mrmudd on Dec 01 2004 12:05 PM
<hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote></font id=quote><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size=2 id=quote>

So your back to drinking water then? Those Government checks must be affording you a steady supply of Depends? <img src=icon_smile_tongue.gif border=0 align=middle> <img src=newicons/anim_lol.gif border=0 align=middle>

NO BLOOD FOR COCOA!

_________________

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote><font size=1 face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>
What about commuter pilots?

~Thud
<hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote></font id=quote><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size=2 id=quote>

Been there, done that, got the tee shirt but wish I could give it back.

The most stressful flying I did was commuter airline flying. It was stressful because of asshole old codger captains who had years-old grudges about not making it to the majors, old female Eastern airline retread flight attendants that smoked 20 packs a day and had B.O., and male flight attendants who loved to describe in graphic detail on the crew van going to the airport in the morning how they had to go to the E.R. last night to get stitches because some guy had ripped their ass wide open.

It was enough to make Jeffrey Dahmer want to puke.

The stories I have to tell...some I wish I'd never heard. The flying itself kinda sucked, too, because you went to all the same airports during the big pushes and even though you were paid anytime you were off the gate it was still annoying to sit on the taxiway for hours and not go anywhere. Speaking of pay, often times I would stress over trying to pay off the college loan, for food, etc. The pay was absolutely incredibly low, and hasn't gotten much better.

Plus, there wasn't any GAU-8/A to hose the idiot major airline jet who 'accidentally' pulled out in front of you at LaGarbage (that's LaGuardia to the uninitiated) and cause you another 30 minutes of ground time. The GAU-8/A is MAJOR stress relief!

I fly for a corporation now, primarily single pilot at night in the crappy northeastern U.S. weather and LOVE IT. We operate BE-58 Barons, TBM-700 single engine turboprops, and two different King Air series airplanes for corporate transport. Fly the A-10 in the Guard a few times a month, and my stress factor is at an all time low.

By the way, I HATE driving on the road - too many idiots, and the cops get pissed if you start blasting them with your .45.

ATTACK!

sounds like your one of those pilots who likes to occationally scare the shit out of passengers.

When I was working off shore people would talk about the helicopter pilot who would site in work cloths in the back back off the chopper. Waiting a while then act pissed off for being late then clime into the pilot seat fumble around trying to find the switches while everyone watched wondering what the hell was going on and if he was a qualified pilot. 100 miles out over the gulf of mexico is a hell of a time to find out.

Or the pilots I was flying with to get back injury off of lay barge. Flying basic instruments, no night vision, and no radar in about 200ft visability at night. I was in back when the pulled hard left to miss crane on the barge. I knew it was the crane as I saw the blinking beacon light out the window. Dont think it phased them one bit, I on the other hand was having serious career doubts.

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote><font size=1 face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>
I fly for a corporation now, primarily single pilot at night in the crappy northeastern U.S. weather and LOVE IT. We operate BE-58 Barons, TBM-700 single engine turboprops, and two different King Air series airplanes for corporate transport. Fly the A-10 in the Guard a few times a month, and my stress factor is at an all time low.
<hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote></font id=quote><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size=2 id=quote>

Who do you fly for now? Did you CFI to build time?

~Thud

Well, firstly I’m not aircrew, though I do have to work with them and I can quite honestly say that being RAF Pilot or WSO is only stressful when you’re mess bill comes in.

Arcanum Arcanorum

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote><font size=1 face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>
<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote><font size=1 face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>
I fly for a corporation now, primarily single pilot at night in the crappy northeastern U.S. weather and LOVE IT. We operate BE-58 Barons, TBM-700 single engine turboprops, and two different King Air series airplanes for corporate transport. Fly the A-10 in the Guard a few times a month, and my stress factor is at an all time low.
<hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote></font id=quote><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size=2 id=quote>

Who do you fly for now? Did you CFI to build time?

~Thud
<hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote></font id=quote><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size=2 id=quote>

I'll E-mail you and let you know who I fly for currently, I'd rather not plaster it over the net...corporations are crazy about security issues these days.

Overview of my flying career:

'92-'94 - Mercer County College in NJ, they have an excellent aviation program that is FAR Part 141 and you wind up with your Private, then Commercial and Instrument certificates upon graduating with an Associates in Aviation Flight Technology.

'94-'96 - Transfrerred to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida. Didn't do much flying there because it was so expensive, but the one flying course I did take was a multiengine program where you got your M.E.L. in a King Air C90B. My GPA went down an entire point from majoring in booze, babes, and the beach, but in retrospect it was worth it because I did get the piece of paper that says B.S. in Aeronautical Science with an area of concentration in Airline Pilot Operations (what the hell was I thinking?) I was in the Marine Corps Officer candidate program (PLC) during that time frame, but shortly before graduation I busted my leg so severely I was disqualified from military aviation.

Fall of '96 just after I graduated (I finished up in the summer) I did my CFI at Spruce Creek Fly-In community near Daytona Beach. Since military aviation was out of the picture at this point, I figured I'd do the commercial pilot thing, building time by instructing.

Winter '96 - early '97 I went back to NJ and flew for Mercer County College as a CFI (got my CFII then, too) for a few months. Got a job as an instructor at an airport closer to home, but wound up painting walls more than flight instructing, so early spring I got a job at another airport that had a 135 operation running Piper Navajos, Aztecs, and a King Air 200. Got to log the Part 91 legs, and I was a VERY busy instructor. Took a break to have an operation to have the pins and plates removed from my leg (then I requalified for military aviation), and in October '97 got a job as a freight pilot flying Cessna 402s for a company called Business Aviation Courier/Sioux Falls Aviation, based out of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. I was based in Cleveland, Ohio, and flew primarily to South Bend, Indiana, and some other spots throughout the Midwest.

July '98 - December '00 - Allegheny Airlines/U.S. Airways Express. First Officer in the deHavilland Dash 8.

I interviewed at the Niagara Falls KC-135 unit in spring of '99 just because they were having interviews and got picked. They screwed up my paperwork and lost my pilot slot, so in September '99 I interviewed with Willow Grove to fly A-10s and got hired. All works out in the end I guess.

Kept flying with Allegheny until December of 2000, when I went on active duty to do UPT, IFF, A-10 school, etc. Came off active duty in June of this year, went back to Allegheny, upgraded to captain upon my return and was downgraded to First Officer 3 days later due to reduction in aircraft. Figured I'd better get out while the gettin' was good, and contacted my first flight instructor who had recently left the corporate operation I'm at now. He recommended me to the management there, and now I'm back to flying small airplanes, but I love it, and the pay is - well, very good. I've had some medical issues over the past few months, and the corporation has been more than understanding - much more so than any airline. The flight department is one big family, and they all pull together to get the job done - very refreshing compared to Allegheny.

Not a very brief overview, but I've worked at a lot of places.

ATTACK!