 Time is important to each of us. It affects our lives in many different ways. Today, Ralph Aims, horse trainer by profession, finds time working against him. As soon as Ralph can get away from the track, he and his family are leaving on their first vacation in two years. 3-6, Quebec. Thank you. Now further ado, let's send much time before the weather closes in. Ralph took it to Charlie's gas station intending to pick it up first, guess I forgot. I guess you did. Well, since we can't fit all this stuff in my car, Billy, go call the garage and tell them to make it quick. I'm looking forward to getting in a good round just as soon as I got here. But, uh, oh, I guess I'm just not in the mood. Oh, really, an avid golfer not in the mood because of your landing? You saw. Yes, I saw. Listen, those things can happen. Not too often, I hope. More often than you think. The number of mistakes I've seen private pilots make over the years is astonishing. Mistakes that often cause accidents. Yeah, when it's no fault of the plane. That's right. About 80% of the time, it's no fault of the plane. The fault is generally not with a pilot's skill. It's more often psychological. It's really his emotional state that really does him in. You're beginning to sound more like a psychologist than a man in the aviation business. Maybe so. That's because practical psychology figures in. Pilot errors like the one you made generally spring from something I call an itis. It is that nearly racked you up on my runway. These ease of general aviation pilots. They feel they must get there. Frequently, they kill themselves trying. Get there, itis. I guess I had it. Don't let it get you, Mr. Ames. You won't make the same mistake again. Take the professional or successful businessman, for instance. They frequently suffer from what I call give order itis. They're used to giving orders, not taking them. Fred Jorgensen there, he's a good example. I'm in the construction business. One afternoon, I had planned across country to check out some property I wanted to buy. But before I could leave, I had to straighten out a few problems. When I finally got away, I phoned ahead to the airport and told them to have my plane ready when I got there. The flight service station pointed out the location of some weak funnel activity that could cause me trouble, or so the kid said. He was polite, of course, and could only offer suggestion. But his suggestion was clear, stay on the ground. What did he know? I've been flying for 30 years. Guess he thought I was too old or something. While I didn't take his advice, the weather looked all right to me, so off I went. I was landing the wrong way. I made a mental note to find out who the guy was, telling what I thought of his flying, wondering what could have gone wrong. And then suddenly, in my mind's eye, I saw it all. My approach to the active runway. I had made the wrong turn and taken off downwind. After realizing my mistake, things seemed to settle down. I decided to check the weather at my destination. The weather was down and the entire area was closing in fast. Yet there I was, flying right into the teeth of it and for no real reason. I kept thinking about what the kid at the flight service station tried to tell me. That close call ended my career as a bold pilot. You see, Mr. Ames, there are old pilots and there are bold pilots. But there are no old bulls. Very well put, Mr. Weitzel. Call me Bill, please. Fine, I'm Ralph. About your golfer, Ralph, I'm going to meet Wally Gray this afternoon. Would you like to join me? Is that the Wally Gray, the golfer? Yes, he's the one. Why don't you meet me at the clubhouse at 2 o'clock? Sounds great to me. Fine, see you then. Too bad Bill couldn't make it today. Sure is, he's a great guy. I almost landed with my gear up. I don't know why, but I can't seem to get it out of my mind. I know exactly how you feel all once. I'd been involved in several big tournaments and hadn't flown for several months. One afternoon after shooting a few landings, I decided to try some slow flight, so far so good. Then I started a power on stall. The stall broke, stronger than I expected, and I found myself in a steep power on spiral. I pulled the power off and started my recovery, or so I thought, as the plane leveled out and my airspeed dropped, I eased in on the throttle. But nothing happened. I gave it full throttle and still nothing happened. Man, those trees were coming up mighty fast. Back to the airport. I didn't have a clue as to what had gone wrong. I was shaken by my close call. I started my landing check. And then, just as I pulled on the carburetor heat, I realized what had gone wrong. I had forgotten the carburetor heat. The result? Carburetor icing, which had effectively killed my engine and nearly killed me. I had allowed my skills to become so rusty that my reactions were no longer instinctive. My procedures had become sloppy. You can be sure it won't happen again. Final approach. And we had no idea anything was wrong until we passed the end of the runway. When that gear horn sounded, I almost jumped out of my skin. I know exactly how you feel. When I was back in college, there was a certain Romeo I used to know. We were both from the same hometown, but he was a big man on campus and never paid much attention to me. Well, anyway, one day he invited me to go flying with him. Wait a second. Wait. I know what she's going to say. So let me tell you what the way it really happened. Now I know the problem where you started during my senior year. I was a big man then, all conference half-backs, for you enjoyed being the center of attraction. The next year, I was taking postgraduate work in engineering and spending most of my time in the library. It sure didn't take long for the roar of the crowd to fade away, and I became just another graduate student. One afternoon, Sally, a girl from my hometown, introduced me to a new transfer student named Lois. It was clear that Lois thought I was just another guy. During the weeks that followed, I tried to line up for date. No. No. I decided to try once more, but this time with something even Lois couldn't resist. My plan was to invite her to the homecoming game and dance in a very special way, one that would separate me from the rest of those fellows that were beating a path through her door. My idea was to personally drop the invitation right into Lois' lap. Sally came along just for the ride. When we were near Lois' house, I started my plan. My first pass was to see if she was home and to get her attention. I was in luck. She was outside by the pool. I came in more slowly, dropped the invitation, and banged a little more to get a better view. The stall warning caught me completely by surprise. Things happened so fast, I don't remember exactly what I did, but I'll never forget those trees. That little incident taught me one thing, never use an airplane to prop up a deflated ego. That little incident opened Andy's eyes to several things. But it wasn't until we were married for almost two years before I'd fly with him again. Andy, you never told me that before. I always thought you were a careful pilot. Bill, it only took once. You think I can take, Carl? How many nights can I go without sleep? And all I have to do is sit here and think about the bills that aren't paid. There goes Carl Stevens again. That woman never runs out of gas. But Carl did once. What about these things? All you go do is go up flying in that crazy plane, up in space, wherever you are. How do I know what you're doing? They had just had one of their routine arguments, and Carl couldn't get away with that argument. He was half an hour late getting to the airport. He was in no mood to do a proper checkup. It was the busiest time of the day. There were several planes ahead waiting to take off, and several more were in the pattern. Mad to start with, this added loss of time only made matters worse. What to do, and the activity kept him busy. So his personal problems were forgotten for the moment. But once the plane was on course, his personal problems came back again. You're nothing but a mouse. That's what you are. It took him a while. He didn't know how long to pull himself out of it. We've seen before takeoff. Quickly, he switched to the other fuel tank, and with wife troubles on his mind.