By Tim Kern

When Lord Baden-Powell, founder of the Boy Scouts, once was asked what "Be Prepared" meant, he replied, "Be prepared...for any old thing." As it is with the Scout motto, so it is with flying. As one example, if the oil pressure is zero and that matches the tachometer, and you see flames peeking out from the cowling hinges, it’s not a good time to start looking for a place to land—you’d better have one already in mind, and be on short final. …