A word of explanation: the ‘FAA’ is the Federal Aviation Authority, the national regulatory body for aviation in the USA; here in the UK we have the CAA – Civil Aviation Authority. These national regulatory bodies are often seen by many pilots and aviation enthusiasts as barriers to the free enjoyment of the skies. They do a lot of good, though – modern aviation wouldn’t work without them – but they are also largely bureaucratic in their mindset. Here in the UK, some pilots even refer to the CAA as the ‘Committee Against Aviation’.

The diagram is a spoof of the ‘Four Forces of Flight’ diagram that normally illustrates the four main forces acting on an aeroplane in flight:

But of course everyone knows that what really holds those huge airliners up in the sky is all the passengers clinging on tight to the armrests. Without those forces, the plane would just drop out of the sky….. 😉