Definition
The antidote thought used to counter the hazardous attitude of Macho. A pilot recognizing macho tendencies — the urge to prove they can do something, take a risk, or show off — deliberately replaces that thought with this corrective statement to restore sound judgment.
Plain English
When you catch yourself thinking 'I can pull this off,' you stop and remind yourself that gambling with an aircraft is not brave — it is foolish. It is the mental switch that turns off the show-off impulse.
Context Anchor
Seen in hazardous attitude training, especially when discussing the macho attitude and its antidote during flight instruction or preflight decision-making.
Derivation
Chance comes through Old French from a Latin word meaning “to fall,” as in how something happens or turns out. That helps here because the phrase warns the pilot not to let the flight depend on luck when a safer choice is available.
Why Pilots Care
Internalizing this attitude reduces the likelihood of show-off behavior that contributes to loss-of-control or controlled-flight-into-terrain accidents.
Grounding Statement
If a pilot is about to take an unnecessary risk mainly to prove they can handle it, this phrase is the cue to stop and choose the safer option.
Intuition Check
Do not read this as “all flying is too risky.” In FAA hazardous attitude training, it means unnecessary risk-taking for pride, pressure, or overconfidence is poor judgment.
Example Sentence 1
When the student felt the urge to attempt the low pass for his friends, he recalled the antidote — 'taking chances is foolish' — and flew the normal pattern instead.
Example Sentence 2
Reviewing the accident report, the CFI noted that the pilot had ignored the principle that taking chances is foolish.