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Chapter X.-AXIOMS FOR THE PILOT

1. The competent and properly trained pilot will always fly by "feel" and airspeed and not allow extraneous sensations to warp his judgment. (Instrument flying, of course, is another matter.)

2. No competent or properly trained pilot will ever approach a stall or spin during the execution of any normal maneuver.

3. No careful, well-trained, competent pilot will ever be caught in a position from which a reasonably safe emergency landing cannot be made.

4. The careful and competent pilot will know his personal limitations and ability and will not take a chance in getting into a position where the demands of safety might exceed them. 

5. The competent pilot will know the limitations of the particular aircraft he is flying and be careful to stay well within them. Under no circumstances will he attempt to force performance.

6. The careful and competent pilot will exhibit due regard for the rights of others both on the ground and in the air.

7. Safety and altitude go hand in hand, particularly during periods of emergency. Many a pilot has come to grief by ignoring this rule. The desire to get close to the ground, and to stay under weather has caused many a crash.

8. The old saying "Pride Goeth Before a Fall" really applies to flying.
  Cockiness, being too proud to turn back when the weather is too bad or to go around again when a landing is bungled, and susceptibility to dares, all have a large list of nonsurvivors, as well as sadder and wiser survivors.

9. The competent and well-trained pilot will realize that the "normal instincts for self-preservation" are utterly opposed to safe flying and will subdue them and substitute trained actions. These normal instincts are such as the desire to get down which seizes a pilot in an emergency, or to fly low at such a time, the instinct to "haul" back hard on the stick when the nose is down in stall or spin, and tenseness and the desire to grip and hold to something in a period of apprehension. All such normal self-preservation instincts, if given full sway, will almost inevitably result in disaster.

10. The capable and competent pilot will never allow an airplane to crack up.
  If a crack-up is inevitable, he will control it by sizing up the situation and deliberately maneuvering the ship into such crack-up in a manner to insure that no injury will result to himself or his passengers. This can almost always be done. However, if the aircraft is allowed to crack up, anything may be the result.

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