Riding A Bike Is Just Like Flying
A couple of quotes about flying - just substitute the words “fly” for “ride”, or “aircraft” for “bike” etc.:
“Flying in itself is not inherently dangerous. But to an even greater degree than the sea, it is terribly unforgiving of any carelessness, incapacity or neglect.”
Captain A. G. Lamplugh, British Aviation Insurance Group, London. c. early 1930’s.
“In flying I have learned that carelessness and overconfidence are usually far more dangerous than deliberately accepted risks.”
Wilbur Wright in a letter to his father, September 1900.
“We fooled ourselves into thinking this thing wouldn’t crash. When I was in astronaut training I asked, ‘what is the likelihood of another accident?’ The answer I got was: one in 10,000, with an asterisk. The asterisk meant, ‘we don’t know.’”
Bryan O’Connor, NASA deputy associate administrator Space Shuttle, interview in Space News, 10 January 1996
“There is no problem so complex that it cannot simply be blamed on the pilot.”
Dr Earl Weiner
“You land a million planes safely, then you have one little mid-air and you never hear the end of it …”
— Air Traffic Controller, New York TRACON, Westbury Long island
Let brisker youths their active nerves prepare
Fit their light silken wings and skim the buxom air.— Richard Owen Cambridge, ‘Scriblerad,’ 1751
