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"Though I Fly Through the Valley of Death, I Shall Fear No Evil.
For I am at 80,000 Feet and Climbing."
- At the entrance to the old SR-71 operating base Kadena, Japan
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"You've never been lost until you've been lost at Mach 3."
- Paul F. Crickmore (test pilot)
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"The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire."
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"Blue water Navy truism: There are more planes in the ocean than
submarines in the sky." - >From an old carrier sailor
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"If the wings are traveling faster than the fuselage, it's probably a
helicopter -- and therefore, unsafe."
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"When one engine fails on a twin-engine airplane you always have
enough power left to get you to the scene of the crash."
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"Without ammunition, the USAF would be just another expensive flying
club."
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"What is the similarity between air traffic controllers and pilots?
If a pilot screws up, the pilot dies; If ATC screws up, .... The pilot
dies."
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A slipping gear could let your M203 grenade launcher fire when you
least expect it. That would make you quite unpopular in what's
left of your unit."
- Army's magazine of preventive maintenance.
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"Aim towards the Enemy." - Instruction printed on US Rocket Launcher
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"When the pin is pulled, Mr. Grenade is not our friend. - U.S. Marine
Corps
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"Cluster bombing from B-52s is very, very accurate. The bombs are
guaranteed to always hit the ground." - USAF Ammo Troop
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"If the enemy is in range, so are you." - Infantry Journal
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"It is generally inadvisable to eject directly over the area you just
bombed." - U.S. Air Force Manual
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"Whoever said the pen is mightier than the sword obviously never
encountered automatic weapons." - General MacArthur
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"Try to look unimportant; they may be low on ammo." - Infantry Journal
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"You, you, and you ... Panic. The rest of you, come with me."
- U.S. Marine Corp Gunnery Sgt.
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"Tracers work both ways." - U.S. Army Ordnance Manual
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"Five second fuses only last three seconds." - Infantry Journal
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"Don't ever be first, don't ever be last, and don't ever volunteer
to do anything."
- U.S. Navy Swabbie
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"Bravery is being the only one who knows you're afraid." - David
Hackworth
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"If your attack is going too well, you're walking into an ambush." -
Infantry Journal
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"No combat-ready unit has ever passed inspection." - Joe Gay
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"Any ship can be a minesweeper. Once."
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"Never tell the Platoon Sergeant you have nothing to do." - Unknown
Marine Recruit
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"Don't draw fire; it irritates the people around you." - Your Buddies
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"If you see a bomb technician running, follow him." - USAF Ammo Troop
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"Never trade luck for skill."
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The three most common expressions (or famous last words) in aviation
are:
"Why is it doing that?", "Where are we?" And "Oh Shit!"
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"Weather forecasts are horoscopes with numbers."
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"Progress in airline flying: now a flight attendant can get a pilot
pregnant."
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"Airspeed, altitude and brains. Two are always needed to successfully
complete the flight."
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"A smooth landing is mostly luck; two in a row is all luck; three in a
row is prevarication."
(Of course, the real pilot's version of this one is, "One greaser is
skill. Two in a row is luck. Three in a row, and somebody's lying.")
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"I remember when sex was safe and flying was dangerous."
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"Mankind has a perfect record in aviation; we never left one up
there!"
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"Flashlights are tubular metal containers kept in a flight bag for the
purpose of storing dead batteries."
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"Flying the airplane is more important than radioing your plight to a
person on the ground incapable of understanding or doing anything
about it."
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"The Piper Cub is the safest airplane in the world; it can just barely
kill you."
- Attributed to Max Stanley (Northrop test pilot)
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"A pilot who doesn't have any fear probably isn't flying his plane to
its maximum."
- Jon McBride, astronaut
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"If you're faced with a forced landing, fly the thing as far into the
crash as possible."
- Bob Hoover (renowned aerobatic and test pilot)
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"Never fly in the same cockpit with someone braver than you."
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"There is no reason to fly through a thunderstorm in peacetime."
- Sign over squadron ops desk at Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ, 1970
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"If something hasn't broken on your helicopter, it's about to."
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Basic Flying Rules: "Try to stay in the middle of the air. Do not go
near the edges of it. The edges of the air can be recognized by the
appearance of ground, buildings, sea, trees and interstellar space. It
is much more difficult to fly there."
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"You know that your landing gear is up and locked when it takes full
power to taxi to the terminal."
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As the test pilot climbs out of the experimental aircraft, having torn
off the wings and tail in the crash landing, the crash truck arrives,
the rescuer sees a bloodied pilot and asks "What happened?".
The pilot's reply: "I don't know, I just got here myself!"
- Attributed to Ray Crandell (Lockheed test pilot)
Sunday, February 24, 2008
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Good evening, Deb.
ReplyDeleteHere are a couple of rules of flying I learned.
If your barf isn't coming up, you're pulling way too many G's.
If you see a mountain in front of you that's not on the map you've been looking at, put down the map.
Take care of your plane better than your car; a car that's acting up can be pulled over to the side of the road. The plane can't.
When you land, if you taste fart, lay off the flaps next time.
Older planes are like older women: they might not be as fancy as the new things, but the fact that they're still around means they've proven they're trustworthy.
Never get in a plane with an aerobatic pilot who says, "I want to try something new, today."
Crop duster pilots are insane.
People who go to airshows to watch stunt pilots are just like people who go to stock car races: they go to see sport; they hope to see death.
Dropping a thousand feet real fast creates a sensation men cannot adequately describe to women.
Dying in an airplane crash isn't so bad. It's getting to the crash site that sucks big time.
The Dark Wraith has provided enough thoughts on flying for one evening.
I sounded like Snidely Whiplash when I read your list.
ReplyDeleteOf course, it's probably due to the asthma, or more likely, that your list was funny.
Dropping a thousand feet real fast creates a sensation men cannot adequately describe to women.Probably because the idea of one's own chest preventing oxygen from trying to enter the excess flappage around the lungs isn't as important. :)
Between your list Deb and Dark Wraith..I have been cackling like a crazy person. ;)
ReplyDeleteHere's another for your list, the definition of helicopter...
ReplyDeletehelicopter - A collection of nuts and bolts flying in close formation.
What a pity Chimpy, Shooter, Wolfie, Kristol, Nugent, or nearly all of those other war-loving cowards never got close enough to a uniform to hear any of these.
ReplyDelete