RULES OF THE AIR

RULES OF THE AIR

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 judgement comes from experience. Unfortunately, the experience usually comes from bad judgement.

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.

What is the Safest Way to Travel? – Planes, Trains or Automobiles

The means that you use for travelling depend on several factors – one of which is safety. However, there are many other things one considers before travelling. The most important among these are the travel budget and also where you want to travel. In case of travelling within the city, trains and automobiles are used. However if you want to go to another city or country, you have the choice of travelling in a plane, train or automobile.

If you compare the three means just from the point of view of safety (leaving out variables such as the destination, distance, budget etc), then planes without a doubt are the safest way to travel. Over the decades, plane safety has considerably increased, and it is now six times better than what it used to be about 20 years ago. These improvements in safety can be credited to the advanced technology, tough competition and strict and regular industry audits and quality control checks. According to the Aviation Authorities, planes are the safest way to travel also because they have the least number of fatalities on per kilometre basis.

In spite of the safety, accidents do occur – but these are rare, and the annual number of deaths in plane accidents has decreased over the past ten years. There are many cases when fatal accidents have occurred and people became frightened of travelling in planes, but at the end of the day, planes still remain the safest means of travelling.

Trains are a convenient way of travelling and transporting goods. The number of accidents involving trains has increased over the past years. The major causes of accidents for trains are derailment, driver’s error, explosions, and collapsing of bridges. One of the important factors contributing to the increasing train accidents is the increased speed of trains.

As compared to planes and trains, automobiles have the greatest statistics for accidents and fatalities all around the world. More than half the car accidents occur due to negligence on the driver’s part. The most common causes of automobile accidents are drug intake, reckless driving and intoxication.

In case of trains and planes, there is less room for any negligence on the driver’s part because it is the driver who is responsible for hundreds of lives. The authorities keep a close check on the driver’s alcohol intake and other health factors. According to research, in the case of plane accidents that have occurred all around the world over the last five decades, 30% of accidents were caused wholly due to pilot error, while all the other accidents were caused due to mechanical, weather or some other condition.

Ultimately, it is not always safety that we think about while travelling. Automobiles are the least safe means of travel, but they are still most widely used. The way people travel depends on their own choice, resources and preferences.

Funny Airplane Etiquette Video

Some airline humor for the soul. This funny video demonstrates the rules of etiquette when flying on a major aircraft….enjoy! Enter your email to the right of this note to receive our daily feed of aviation related articles…..do it now before you forget!