Subject: Rules of Flying
Keep the aeroplane in such an attitude that the air pressure
is directly in
the
pilot's face.
* Horatio C. Barber, 1916
When a flight is proceeding incredibly well, something was
forgotten.
* Robert Livingston, 'Flying The
Aeronca'
The only time an aircraft has too much fuel on board is when
it is on fire.
* Sir Charles Kingsford Smith, sometime before his death in
the 1920's
Flexible is much too rigid, in aviation you have to be
fluid.
* Verne Jobst
If you can't afford to do something right, then be darn sure
you can afford to do it wrong.
* Charlie Nelson (Good advice for construction)
Just remember, if you crash because of weather, your funeral
will be held on a sunny day.
*
I hope you either take up parachute jumping or stay out of
single motored
airplanes at
night.
* Charles A. Lindbergh, to Wiley Post, 1931
Never fly the 'A' model of anything.
* Ed Thompson
Never fly anything that doesn't have the paint worn off the
rudder pedals.
* Harry Bill
Keep thy airspeed up, less the earth come from below and
smite thee.
* William Kershner
When a prang seems inevitable, endeavor to strike the
softest, cheapest
object in
the vicinity, as slowly and gently as possible.
* advice given to RAF pilots during
W.W.II.
Instrument flying is when your mind gets a grip on the fact
that there is
vision
beyond sight.
* U.S. Navy 'Approach' magazine circa W.W.II.
Always keep an 'out' in your hip pocket.
* Bevo Howard
The Cub is the safest airplane in the world; it can just barely
kill you.
* attributed to Max Stanley, Northrop test pilot
A pilot who doesn't have any fear probably isn't flying his
plane to its
maximum.
* Jon McBride, astronaut
If you're faced with a forced landing, fly the thing as far
into the crash
as possible.
* Bob Hoover
It occurred to me that if I did not handle the crash
correctly, there would
be no
survivors.
* Richard Leakey, after engine failure in a single engine
1993.
If an airplane is still in one piece, don't cheat on it. Ride
the bastard
down.
* Ernest K. Gann, advice from the 'old pelican'
Though I Fly Through the
80,000 feet and Climbing.
* sign over the entrance to the
SR-71 operating location on
You've never been lost until you've been lost at Mach 3.
* Paul F. Crickmore
The emergencies you train for almost never happen. It's the
one you can't
train for
that kills you.
* Ernest K. Gann, advice from the 'old pelican'
If you want to grow old as a pilot, you've got to know when
to push it, and
when to
back off.
* Chuck Yeager
Never fly in the same cockpit with someone braver than you
* Richard Herman Jr, 'Firebreak'
There is no reason to fly through a thunderstorm in
peacetime.
* Sign over squadron ops desk at Davis-Monthan
AFB, AZ, 1970.
An airplane might disappoint any pilot, but it'll never
surprise a good one.
* Len Morgan
To most people, the sky is the limit. To those who love
aviation, the sky is
home. Life
is simple. Eat, sleep, fly.