The fear of flying is one of the most common phobias and also one of the most natural. Sitting thousands of feet in the air in a metal tube is not a natural place to be, but it is a necessity if you want to see the world. Flight Without Fear aims to tackle the problem in a variety of ways, but the main focus is on arming the sufferer with knowledge that will make the flying experience easier. From an interface perspective, the app is incredibly simple and simply involves choosing which of the seventeen sections you want to play plus a single information page explaining why Michael Katz is qualified to deliver the course.

The seventeen sections cover every aspect of flying from preparing for a flight through to descending and landing and an emphasis is placed on reassuring the listener so that they understand what is happening, and more importantly why it is safe. You realise that the course is comprehensive when a subject as diverse as ‘How we choose the landing runway’ is covered and this is why we would recommend playing the course through a few times so that the information sticks and is ready in your mind when you next take a flight.

All you have to do is press play next to each section and then pause if you need to stop for a moment. Pleasant music is piped behind the vocals and every part works perfectly. The only small niggle we found was that if you scroll through the sections while one is playing the pause button disappears and you have to press the play button twice to pause. It is far from a major problem, but a small software tweak would be welcome in the future.

There is little in this app that is innovative, but it would be missing the point to expect that. It is all about training the listener to understand what flying is about and why it is so safe. The fear comes from a lack of control and a little bit of knowledge helps bring confidence to the experience. When you have a lot of knowledge, the confidence grows even more and this could be the perfect app for anyone who has a fear of flying.

Shaun McGill

www.pda-247.com