RULES OF THE AIR(from Australian Aviation Magazine)

- Every takeoff is optional. Every landing is mandatory.
- If you push the stick forward, the houses get bigger. If you pullthe stick back, they get smaller. That is, unless you keep pulling thestick all the way back, then they get bigger again.
- Flying isn't dangerous. Crashing is what's dangerous.
- It's always better to be down here wishing you were up there than upthere wishing you were down here.
- The ONLY time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire.
- The propeller is just a big fan in front of the plane used to keepthe pilot cool. When it stops, you can actually watch the pilot startsweating.
- When in doubt, hold on to your altitude. No one has ever collidedwith the sky.
- A 'good' landing is one from which you can walk away. A 'great'landing is one after which they can use the plane again.
- Learn from the mistakes of others. You won't live long enough tomake all of them yourself.
- You know you've landed with the wheels up if it takes full power totaxi to the ramp.
- The probability of survival is inversely proportional to the angleof arrival. Large angle of arrival, small probability of survival andvice versa.
- Never let an aircraft take you somewhere your brain didn't get tofive minutes earlier.
- Stay out of clouds. The silver lining everyone keeps talking aboutmight be another airplane going in the opposite direction. Reliablesources also report that mountains have been known to hide out inclouds.
- Always try to keep the number of landings you make equal to thenumber of take offs you've made.
- There are three simple rules for making a smooth landing.Unfortunately no one knows what they are.
- 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 ofluck.
- Helicopters can't fly; they're just so ugly the earth repels them.
- If all you can see out of the window is ground that's going roundand round and all you can hear is commotion coming from the passengercompartment, things are not at all as they should be.
- In the ongoing battle between objects made of aluminum goinghundreds of miles per hour and the ground going zero miles per hour,the ground has yet to lose.
- Good judgment comes from experience. Unfortunately, the experienceusually comes from bad judgment.
- It's always a good idea to keep the pointy end going forward as muchas possible.
- Keep looking around. There's always something you've missed.
- Remember, gravity is not just a good idea. It's the law. And it'snot subject to repeal.
- The three most useless things to a pilot are the altitude above you,the runway behind you, and a tenth of a second ago.