An Old Pilot Once Told Me...

  

Every takeoff is optional. Every landing is mandatory!
If you push the stick forward, the houses get bigger. If you pull the stick back, they get smaller. Unless you keep pulling the stick back, then they get bigger again.
The probability of survival is inversely proportional to the angle of arrival. Large angle of arrival, small probability of survival and vice versa!
You know you've landed with the wheels up if it takes full power to taxi to the ramp!
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!
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!
There are old pilots and there are bold pilots . . . but there are no old bold pilots.
Good judgment comes from experience. Unfortunately, the experience usually comes from bad judgment!
The three most useless things to a pilot are the altitude above you, runway behind you, and a tenth of a second ago.
Flying isn't dangerous. Crashing is dangerous!
A good landing is one you can walk away from. 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 to make all of them yourself!
Remember, Gravity is not just a good idea. It's the law! And it's not subject to repeal.
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!
Convert altitude to airspeed, and airspeed into altitude!
Never let an aircraft take you somewhere your brain didn't get to five minutes earlier!
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!
Keep looking around. There's always something you've missed!
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!
When in doubt, hold on to your altitude. No one has ever collided with the sky!
It's always a good idea to keep the pointy end going forward as much as possible!
There are three simple rules for making a smooth landing. Unfortunately no one knows what they are!
The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire!
Always try to keep the number of landings you make equal to the number of take offs you've made!
It's always better to be down here wishing you were up there than up there wishing you were down here!
Helicopters can't fly; they're just so ugly the earth repels them!
Watch your Six . . .