“Aviate. Navigate. Communicate.”
Every pilot hears those words in that order during their initial training. They hear them again and again throughout their flying career. This is, after all, the order of operations for any situation you might find yourself in while airborne.
Then one day, out of the blue, we find ourselves sharing this exact lesson with newer, less experienced pilots. Somehow, each of us becomes the old hand. A respected elder. The experienced flyer who has wisdom to share. So we do our best to fulfill that role.
Fortunately for the easily tongue tied, the less than verbose, or the not particularly witty speaker, the industry has collected an enormous number of aviation-centric expressions to pass along at the drop of a hat. With that in mind, let’s review a few to see if they might come in handy around the ramp or coffee pot.
“Always remember, you fly the airplane with your head, not your hands.”
There are variations on this one, as there are with so many of the practical lessons we learn. But it’s a good way to remember an important truism.
Powered, human flight is more about intellect than brawn — which is exactly why there are follow-ups to this saying that back up the message: “Never take the airplane somewhere your brain didn’t go five minutes earlier.”
Of course, the art and science of aviating comes with a unique set of contradictions, which may be why so many news reporters and movie scripts get it wrong.
“To go up, pull the stick back. To go down, pull harder.” That seems wrong somehow, but every fixed wing pilot knows it’s 100% true. The irony of the idea that creating lift is good, creating more lift is better, but trying to create too much lift is bad — well, that takes a bit of digging to understand the nuance of what lift is and how we get it. Maybe more importantly, how we lose it. Most important of all, how we get it back.
“There are three key rules to making the perfect landing. Unfortunately, nobody knows what they are.” Truer words were never spoken.
Like most CFIs, I can explain how to land an airplane. I can demonstrate how to land the airplane. I can even walk my students through the science of the various phases of the landing process. But I can’t guarantee the next landing I make won’t involve an embarrassing bounce or a last-minute ballooning just before touchdown, or a wing lifting up unexpectedly due to a rotor of wind spilling over the tree line that parallels the runway. It’s always something.
Now 30 years in, I’m still trying to perfect my technique. Frankly, I’d be a little worried about anyone who thought they had the landing process nailed down to the point they didn’t have to work at it every single time.
Some expressions have a dark subtext to them, but that doesn’t make the lesson any less important.
“The probability of survival is equal to the angle of arrival” is a good example. Not only does it rhyme, it’s demonstrably true.
It’s the reason a gear up landing at the end of a normal, stabilized approach is more or less a non-event, even if the local news channel insists on treating it like a life-or-death struggle. On the other hand, a stall/spin from low altitude at low airspeed is generally fatal.
A 3° glideslope allows the airplane to act as a sled on snow. It just slides down the runway until friction slows the hulk to a stop. The stall/spin results in an abrupt conclusion of the flight. That sudden stoppage isn’t just bad for the engine. It’s life threatening to the pilot and passengers. Which is why this particular expression is a great reminder to avoid any attempt to stretch a glide or to lose focus on your airspeed in an emergency.
And it’s that situation that leads us to the next folksy pilot saying: “Fly it until the last piece is done moving.”
No matter what, keep flying the airplane. If the electrical system fails, fly the airplane. If a fire breaks out, fly the airplane. If an engine quits, a window blows out, a spring pops out of your seat to poke you in the butt, and your passenger loses his/her lunch in your lap…fly the airplane. To do anything less can only lead to a worse outcome than the one you’re already dealing with.
And as we round out this edition of Random Thoughts with Jamie, I’ll share my personal favorite flying expression with you. This is the one I have held near and dear to my heart throughout the majority of my career. It’s a front-of-mind thought before every flight I make and a checklist item for me every time I plan a flight for the following day. “The only time the airplane has too much fuel is when it’s on fire.”
If you doubt the validity of that one, I can tell you your perspective will change quickly and with great vigor should you ever experience the sinking feeling that comes with a propeller winding down at altitude, the engine getting quiet, and the gas gauge needle suddenly banging down to the bottom peg. Once is enough, believe me. Never again. Not for me, anyway.
What’s your favorite? What have you heard over the course of your career that sticks with you? Share it. Let’s have some fun with this and learn something from each other along the way.
My all time favorite… “We are from the FAA and we’re here to help”.
Twin engine airplanes can fly on one engine… all the way to the crash site.
Not tue, Brian. I know this is a popular slogan among single engine pilots, but if a twin is properly maintained with the engines putting out correct horsepower, it should make it to the next airport safely. I’d rather lose an engine in a twin than in a single.
My father was my flight instructor. When learning to fly his Super Cub he would just say. “Get on the stick”. Or “straighten up and fly right”
One of many I learned “it’s better to be on the ground wishing you were in the air, than in the air wishing you were on the ground”
A couple of my favorites…
Located on a plaque in the little CFI “Chapel” (where local CFIs would sit while waiting for their “first solo” student to complete their first solo takeoffs & landings) near the intersection of the original Runway 26 and Runway 21 at Chino Airport when I did my first solo 37 years ago… “Let not thy airspeed fall too low, lest the ground rise up and smite thee!”. My instructor, without a word, just silently pointed it out to me just before I left him there as I departed solo on that fateful day.
“Aviation, in and of itself, is not inherently dangerous. However, to an even greater extent than the sea, it is extremely unforgiving of any carelessness, incapacity, or neglect.”
There are old pilots and bold pilots, but on old bold pilots…
Would be a great saying were it true,… but in my 70 years of flying, including 33 with a major Int’l Air Line, I’ve flown with a great many very old and quite bold pilots who were able to save themselves and thousands of passengers along the way, no thanks to the Govt. or Company managements!
There are old pilots and bold pilots, but no old bold Pilots. I enjoy this because it is a strong reminder that what we do is dangerous if done wrong. So stay humble and keep things simple!
The wise airman uses his superior judgement, in order to avoid situations that would require the use of his superior skills!
FAA MOTTO: “WE”RE NOT SATISFIED UNTIL YOU (THE PILOT) ARE NOT SATISFIED!”
Or “We’re not happy until you’re “not happy”
That’s the quote I was trying to remember! My wife says I never get anything right and can’t deny that;… I married her.
Jamie,
I enjoy your series of articles. Years ago, I ferried new Piper aircraft from either PA or FL to Washington state. After a refueling stop enroute, I was preparing another X/C leg from a very small airstrip in KS, where even one Piper PA28 was a big event. A local drove up to near where I was parked, walked over to the plane and asked me what I was doing. I replied that I was “Preparing to depart the area”. He said “Oh, you pilots! Everyone else just leaves, but you pilots have to Depart The Area!” So that is the way it has been for me ever since, I never leave, but instead I: “Depart the Area”
The three most useless things in aviation:
1) fuel at the FBO
2) runway behind you
3) approach plates in your car
My personal favorite addresses 3 elements of flight:
– Speed
– Altitude
– Brains
Be sure you always have any combination of at least 2 of those elements when the third is lacking !
My favorite: “Takeoffs are optional, landings are mandatory.”
“Bernoulli flies the airplane, not Marconi.”
(Betcha didn’t know aviation was invented in Italy!)
Variation on aviate, navigate, communicate.
Jamie, my dad gave me my first flying lesson one evening at the dinner table. He said, “Never abuse your equipment, always be mindful of the weather and don’t ever be a show-off.” Fifty-seven years latter it still rings clearly in my head everytime I go to the hangar.
My mom told me to not abuse my equipment.
I knew a very accomplished pilot (instruments, aerobatics), skydiver, and swift owner, who would say “when it all goes bad to push everything in and make it spectacular for the spectators”. It took a while before light dawned over marble head that if I was in that situation, what would make me think I was not a spectator.