Captain Ron Nielsen gestures while conducting a fear of flying class at Air Hollywood. Nielsen retired after almost 40 years as a pilot for US Airways and teaches the flight classes once a month. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Captain Ron Nielsen talks to “passengers” in an airplane simulator, which provides the occasional bit of turbulence, during a fear of flying class at Air Hollywood. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Anna Eliav, foreground, hasn’t visited her parents in Greece for four years due to her flying phobia.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Student Matthew Patterson, right, is wanded by Joe McHugh, acting as a TSA agent, while Patterson’s wife, Kalani, collects her possessions after passing through a metal detector on their way to Air Hollywood’s flight simulator. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
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Captain Ron Nielsen and other volunteer pilots tell students about aircraft engineering, maintenance, and the unusual noises that can unhinge some passengers, in a fake airport waiting area at Air Hollywood. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Erin Christie exits the cabin of a Boeing 767 at Air Hollywood, which is best known for its terrorizing movie flight scenes. “We scare people in one building and help them in the other,” founder Talaat Captan has quipped.
