1. Every takeoff is optional. Every landing is mandatory.
2. If you push the stick forward, the houses get bigger. If
you
pull the stick back, they get smaller. That is, unless
you keep
pulling the stick all the way back, then they get
bigger again.
3. Flying isn't dangerous. Crashing is what's dangerous.
4. It's always better to be down here wishing you were up
there
than up there wishing you were down
here.
5. The ONLY time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire.
6. The propeller is just a big fan in front of the plane
used
to keep the pilot cool. When it stops, you can
actually watch
the pilot start sweating.
7. When in doubt, hold on to your altitude. No one has
ever
collided with the sky.
8. A 'good' landing is one from which you can walk away.
A
'great' landing is one after which they can use
the plane
again.
9. Learn from the mistakes of others. You won't live
long
enough to make all of them yourself.
10. You know you've landed with the wheels up if it takes
full
power to taxi to the
ramp.
11. The probability of survival is inversely proportional
to
the angle of arrival. Large angle of
arrival, small probability
of survival and
vice versa.
12. Never let an aircraft take you somewhere your brain
didn't
get to five minutes earlier.
13. Stay out of clouds. The silver lining everyone
keeps
talking about might be another airplane
going in the opposite
direction. Reliable
sources also report that mountains have
been
known to hide out in clouds.
14. Always try to keep the number of landings you make equal
to
the number of take offs you've
made.
15. There are three simple rules for making a smooth
landing.
Unfortunately no one knows what they
are.
16. You start with a bag full of luck and an empty bag
of
experience. The trick is to fill the bag of
experience before
you empty the bag of
luck.
17. Helicopters can't fly; they're just so ugly the
earth
repels them.
18. If all you can see out of the window is ground that's
going
round and round and all you can hear is
commotion coming from
the passenger
compartment, things are not at all as they
should
be.
19. In the ongoing battle between objects made of
aluminum
going hundreds of miles per hour and
the ground going zero
miles per hour,
the ground has yet to lose.
20. Good judgment comes from experience. Unfortunately,
the
experience usually comes from bad
judgment.
21. It's always a good idea to keep the pointy end
going
forward as much as possible.
22. Keep looking around. There's always something
you've
missed.
23. Remember, gravity is not just a good idea. It's the
law.
And it's not subject to
repeal.
24. The three most useless things to a pilot are the
altitude
above you, runway behind you,
and a tenth of a second ago.