Any landing you can walk away from….
 

Or Aviation Aphorisms & their validity… Sorry for the title; just trying to draw people in!

There are many aviation aphorisms floating around and I thought it would be interesting to collect them and see if they have any validity as an aviation heuristic. So here are a few off the top of my head:

“Runway behind you, altitude above you, fuel in the bowser.” Things that you always need an abundance of. Reasonable short way of keeping those things in mind.

”KISS” Keep It Simple Stupid. A way of telling pilots to simplify things when things get complex - focus on the essentials.

”There are old pilots and there are bold pilots. But there are no old & bold pilots.” Emphasising risk averse attitude. A reminder to keep ego in check.

”A superior pilot uses his superior judgment to avoid situations requiring demonstrations of his superior skill.” A witty way of reminding pilots to remain risk averse. Always a useful thing to keep in mind.

“Takeoffs are optional. Landings are mandatory." This emphasises the importance of a safe landing in aviation. About as useful as third nipple.

"The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire." Emphasizing the importance of having sufficient fuel reserves for safety. Fuel is good.

"Aviate, Navigate, Communicate." A reminder of the priorities in emergency situations for pilots: first, fly the aircraft, then navigate, and finally communicate with air traffic control. Not sure if it’s an aphorism or an aide memoire?

"A good landing is one you can walk away from. A great landing is one you can use the airplane again for." Underlining the significance of a safe and well-executed landing. Not very helpful.


I would be very much interested in other languages than English for aviation aphorisms too.

Thanks!

“All white, outta sight. All red, you’re dead” -how use the Papis.

75 taken alive, 76 need a fix, 77 going to heaven

"Never let your aircraft go where you mind hasn't been before." In other words, always think through the next manoeuvre or intended flight before doing it.

There are those that have and those that will (land gear up)

What is airmanship and where does airmanship come from? 'Airmanship derives from good judgment and good judgement comes from experience; experience comes from bad judgment'. Therefore airmanship comes from bad judgement. Although that brings survival bias to the subject 🤣

One more: 'from high to low, look out below'

I've always been a fan of good ol' CRM. The next one is invaluable for preflight crew briefings, I got the introductory line from a Bogart's movie:

"Dick (FO), I'm gonna go grab a coffee, go ahead and conduct the briefing, kindly tell the crew - on behalf of myself - that there are four ways of doing things onboard my aircraft: the right way; the wrong way; the airline's way; and My way. So long as everyone does things My way, we'll get along. I'll keep the take off briefing KISS: "whatever happens you do your bit: gear up, flaps up and shut up. ... Oh, I almost forgot, right after touchdown a "Great landing Captain!!!" will be highly appreciated, any questions? 🤣

Hi BD,

A good list, and a great thread idea, but I think you got this one backwards. Those are things you DON'T want -- or as I learned it 50 odd years ago -- "things that are of no use to you when flying".

Cheers

The one I've used the most is "Any red port left". Red is to port which is to the left - and it works on boats too!

"Check brains connected before talking" said my instructor many years ago after my first attempt at doing R/T...

"Enjoy the failure", emphasizing not to blindly rush into action without thinking when some emergency occurs.

"Happiness is V1 in Lagos". Well that's one for Jet Blast, actually.

Make that Medina during ramadan.

“Better to sign 50 pages of safety report on the ground, than just 1 page of the mortuary IN the ground”
this was my instructor way of saying that in an emergency situations you need to throw the rules and regulations out of the window (as they will not help you fly the plane) and get the A/C to a landing as safe as possible….

PPPPPP.

Priorities in emergencies
 

Skin, Tin, Flim

(from rec.aviation Usenet group, decades ago)

Quote:

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”Takeoffs are optional. Landings are mandatory." This emphasises the importance of a safe landing in aviation.

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I have always understood this one to mean not to unnecessarily put yourself in an avoidable position whereby if something goes wrong you are going to have to work hard in potentially difficult circumstances to safely complete the flight.

Indeed. A reminder also to not allow oneself to succumb to pressure (internal or external) to go. Not a saying really, but a nice little ditty I read once:
“The pilot said, ‘Sir, the weather’s not hot, I think we should wait for a spell,’ The Boss said ‘I’m tired, you’ll fly or be fired,’ The estate paid the widows quite well.

"Rather be on the ground wishing you were flying than flying and wishing you were on the ground."

At 100hrs a pilot thinks he knows it all.
At 1000hrs a pilot knows he knows it all.
At 10,000hrs a pilot knows he'll never know it all.

"Aviation is not inherently dangerous, but to an even greater degree than the sea, it is unforgiving of any carelessness, incapacity, or neglect."

- Ed

If you think that training is expensive, consider ignorance!