In God we trust, every thing else we check.

PS the good old T-53 will run for about 2 minutes at cruise power with no oil before it goes on holiday, and the main gear box will still run OK after fifteen minutes with no oil.

The aim of every flight is to walk back into the office - some days you can accomplish this aim by not going to the helicopter...

Never be tempted to commence a difficult approach or task just because you are told, "Well, so and so got in/ did it before you", so bloody what!

Was once being pressed by a Tool Pusher to lift a slung load he claimed had been lifted before, the truth was rather different, it had never been weighed and was outside the limits of the helicopter, he just wanted it moved!

When I had about 5,000 hrs a fellow with about 20,000 hrs commented to me that he and I were really good pilots, to which I agreed. But then he said that being so good we might one day take a mission tougher than could be flown, so that he had decided that he would use as a rule of thumb "what would I tell my son to do, if he were a pilot in the same situation?"

In the last 5,000 hrs I've thought of that bit of advice often, and it has been one tool to help me get over my ego and let sound judgement prevail.

Some great advice here!

My favourite; "Rule number 1 - Do Not Fcuk Up"

PS - Brian, I saw a sign in a bar once that read, "In God we trust - everyone else pays cash"

Experience is something you have about five minutes after you needed it.

J

I think I read it in PPRuNe some year ago: "I am going to kill you because you will allow me to do so".

Rwy in Sight

Another way of looking at this....."Would I rather be up there or down here with a cup of Tea in my grubbly little mitts?"

Flying is like creeping along the edge of a very deep vertical precipice that has snow and ice where you are walking. One mis-calculation and you go from being a bit uneasy to being in some very serious trouble.

my personal favorites

- never let a machine know your in a rush

- "ahh houston, we have a problem"

- "that wont look good on a resume"

When doing something you shouldn't be doing try an imagine how the accident report will read-“It is undetermined why the pilot …”

A couple common ones working in very remote areas in Canada...

Salutation/Send-off: "keep your nose into wind and your tail out of the
bushes"

Philosophy of flight : 1) "Prepare for each flight like something is going to go terribly wrong. Then when you land you've had a good day!"

2) " You never want to come off a flight and kiss the ground....it usually means you were kissing your ass goodbye...FLY THE AIRCRAFT!"

Customer Relations: " If you answer the customers statement of requirements with a question it probably means you shouldn't be doing it!" ie You want me to lift THAT? or Excuse me?

On PDM and WX (VFR) : "If you 'think' you can see, I 'think' you could die. If you can't see, you should have known better and what I think doesn't matter. " A Chief Pilot.

BWB

Almost forgot this one from my Boss. " A boring flight is a good flight"

In the words of a famous pilot in Nigeria....."Always be on time for your takeoff....and never argue with the Chief Pilot!"

There are old pilots and there are bold pilots. But there are no old, bold pilots. :ok: