I live in Phoenix, Arizona. So the picture isn’t of English stinging nettles, but the top of a big prickly saguaro cactus. However, Shakespeare’s line from 1591 still rings true today: “’Tis dangerous to take a cold, to sleep, to drink; but I tell you, my lord fool, out of this nettle, danger, we pluck this flower, safety.”
“We must remember that the sea is no respector of ships or persons. The sea is always ready, at the first sign of failure, to rush in and destroy the very craft it so readily supports upon the surface of the water. The sea is only safe and harmless so long as the ship is safe and seaworthy and ably handled.” Felix Riesenberg, Standard Seamanship for the Merchant Service, 1922.
“Pilots take no special joy in walking: pilots like flying. Pilots generally take pride in a good landing, not in getting out of the vehicle.” ~ Neil Armstrong
During WWII, the Royal Navy expanded at a great clip, which required staffing hundreds of ships with new officers. The shore training camp that turned civilians into Royal Navy officers was HMS King Alfred, in Hove, Sussex. It was commanded by one Captain John Noel Pelly, who was recalled from retirement at the start of the war. A few years later, in September 1943, he wrote a short book titled Officer’s Aide Memoire that distilled hundreds of years of sea-going knowledge from the Royal Navy into words. It was widely read among the over twenty-two thousand naval officers that eventually … Continue reading Officer’s Aide Memoire
The senior FO I flew with yesterday had a great acronym for what’s important to protect, and in what order, when flying: A Arse. T Ticket. P Paycheck. Keep me safe, keep me legal, and keep me employed. Sounds about right! And actually kinda follows our official flight standards priority philosophy of: 1 Safe. 2 Legal. 3 SOP. .
