A close friend and mentor of mine once taught me an important lesson about aviation ethics, that is particularly important for safety.

He's so shy and withdrawn that I dare not give him credit publicly or mention his name but suffice it to say that those who have heard the brief lecture I am about to relate, will know him.  I will follow the Eastern style and respectfully refer to him simply as, "Master."

"Metal Remembers."

These words mark the beginning of the lecture, which I have repeated many times over the years as a flight instructor, and the listener is given some time to puzzle over what these enigmatic words could possibly mean.

When the student finally works up the courage to ask what is meant by these two words, a conversation something like this ensues:

"If I take a spoon and bend it back and forth repeatedly, what will eventually happen?"

The student invariably replies, "It will break."

"Correct!  How many times can I bend it back and forth before it will break?"

"Well it depends on the spoon but maybe about 20 times?" the student guesses, his rising inflection making it a question.

Whatever number the student offers, the Master accepts and says, "Good.  Let's assume now that we can bend the spoon and bend it back twenty times before it breaks.  Now let me ask you this:

"What happens if I bend the spoon once, and bend it back.  How does the spoon look?"

"It looks fine, Master, as if it had never been bent at all."

"Exactly, Grasshopper!  Your vision is clear."

"Thank you, Master."

Now, for the most important question of all, my student, "How many MORE times can I bend that spoon before it breaks?"

"I see, Master.  You can only bend it 19 more times before it would break."

"Excellent!  And if I don't tell you that I bent it the first time, you might still assume you had 20 bends before it would break.  What would you say if we were talking about the wing spars of the plane we are about to go fly?"

"You are wise, Master."



A discussion of this article has been started in the Diatribe Forum.  Click here to discuss.