12 Rules of Model Aviation

[SDF newsletter, winter 2002]

1. Perfection in model building is a desirable goal, unless completion of the airplane within your lifetime is important.
2. Airspeed is life to your model, altitude is life insurance.  No airplane ever collided with the sky.
3. Always fly your airplane with your head, not just your hands. Never let your model go somewhere your brain didn't get to five seconds earlier.
4. The probability of model survival is equal to the angle of arrival.
5. Flying a model airplane is not dangerous; crashing it is dangerous.
6. Good judgment comes from experience and experience comes from bad judgment.
7. There are three simple rules for making a smooth landing. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.
8. It's a good landing if you can still bend the landing gear back to its normal position.
9. A fool and his money are soon flying a more aerobatic model than he can handle.
10. The nicer an airplane looks, the more likely it is to crash.
11. A model airplane may disappoint a good pilot, but it won't surprise him.
12. If God meant for man to fly model jets, He'd have given him more money.