[simpits-tech] Fighter pilot truths...

[Al]

oh god...

long but good... that was a beauty.

Thanks

Al
Sydney, Oz
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Gene Buckle" <geneb at deltasoft.com>
To: <simpits-tech at simpits.org>
Sent: Wednesday, March 31, 2004 4:33 AM
Subject: [simpits-tech] Fighter pilot truths...


> 1. As an aviator in flight you can do anything you want... As long as it's
> right... And we'll let you know if its right after you get down.
>
> 2. You can't fly forever without getting killed.
>
> 3. As a fighter pilot only two bad things can happen to you and one of
> them will:
>
> a. One day you will walk out to the aircraft knowing that it is your last
> flight in a fighter.
>
> b. One day you will walk out to the airplane not knowing that it is your
> last flight in a fighter.
>
> 4. Success is being able to walk to your F.E.B.
>
> 5. There are Rules and there are Laws. The rules are made by men who think
> that they know better how to fly your airplane than you. The Laws (of
> Physics) were made by the Great One. You can, and sometimes should,
> suspend the rules but you can never suspend the Laws.
>
> 6. More about Rules:
>
> a. The rules are a good place to hide if you don't have a better idea and
> the talent to execute it.
>
> b. If you deviate from a rule, it must be a flawless performance.
>
> (e.g.: If you fly under a bridge, don't hit the bridge.)
>
> 7. The fighter pilot is the highest form of life on earth.
>
> 8. The ideal fighter pilot is the perfect blend of discipline and
> aggressiveness.
>
> 9. About check rides:
>
> a. Having someone climb into your fighter to grade how you fly is just
> like having someone come into your bedroom to grade how you screw.
>
> b. The only real objective of a check ride is to complete it and get the
> bastard out of your airplane.
>
> c. It has never occurred to any flight examiner that the examinee could
> care less what the examiner's opinion of his flying ability really is.
>
> 10. The medical profession is the natural enemy of the aviation
> profession.
>
> 11. The job of the Wing Commander is to worry incessantly that his career
> depends solely on the abilities of his aviators to fly their airplanes
> without mishap and that their only minuscule contribution to the effort is
> to bet their lives on it.
>
> 12. Ever notice that the only experts who decree that the age of the pilot
> is over are people who have never flown anything? Also, in spite of the
> intensity of their feelings that the pilot's day is over I know of no such
> expert who has volunteered to be a passenger in a non-piloted aircraft.
>
> 13. It is absolutely imperative that the fighter pilot be unpredictable.
> Rebelliousness is very predictable. In the end, conforming almost all the
> time is the best way to be unpredictable.
>
> 14. He who demands everything that his aircraft can give him is a pilot;
> he that demands one iota more is a fool.
>
> 15. If you're gonna fly low, do not fly slow!
>
> 16. It is solely the pilot's responsibility to never let any other thing
> touch his aircraft.
>
> 17. If you can learn how to fly as a Lt. and not forget how to fly by the
> time you're a Lt.Col you will have lived a happy life.
>
> 18. About night flying:
>
> a. Remember that the airplane doesn't know that it's dark.
>
> b. On a clear, moonless night, never fly between the tanker's lights.
>
> c. There are certain aircraft sounds that can only be heard at night.
>
> d. If you're going to night fly, it might as well be in the weather so you
> can double count your exposure to both hazards.
>
> e. Night formation is really an endless series of near misses in
> equilibrium with each other.
>
> f. You would have to pay a lot of money at a lot of amusement parks and
> perhaps add a few drugs, to get the same blend of psychedelic sensations
> as a single engine night weather flight on the wing.
>
> 19. One of the most important skills that a pilot must develop is the
> skill to ignore those things that were designed by non-pilots to get the
> pilot's attention.
>
> 20. At the end of the day, the controllers, ops supervisors, maintenance
> guys, weather guessers, and birds; they're all trying to kill you and your
> job is to not let them!
>
> 21. The concept of "controlling" airspace with radar is just a form of FAA
> sarcasm directed at fighter pilots to see if they're gullible enough to
> swallow it. Or to put it another way, when is the last time the FAA ever
> shot anyone down?
>
> 22. Remember that the radio is only an electronic suggestion box for the
> pilot. Sometimes the only way to clear up a problem is to turn it off.
>
> 23. It is a tacit, yet profound admission of the pre-eminence of flying in
> the hierarchy of the human spirit, that those who seek to control aviators
> via threats always threaten to take one's wings and not one's life.
>
> 24. Remember when flying low and inverted that the rudder still works the
> same old way but hopefully your IP never taught you "pull stick back,
> plane go up".
>
> 25. Mastering the prohibited maneuvers in the dash-1 is one of the best
> forms of aviation life insurance you can get.
>
> 26. A tactic done twice is a procedure. (Refer to unpredictability
> discussion above)
>
> 27. The aircraft G-limits are only there in case there is another flight
> by that particular airplane. If subsequent flights do not appear likely,
> there are no G-limits.
>
> 28. One of the beautiful things about a single piloted aircraft is the
> quality of the social experience.
>
> 29. If a mother has the slightest suspicion that her infant might grow up
> to be a pilot she had better teach him to put things back where he got
> them.
>
> 30. The ultimate responsibility of the pilot is to fulfill the dreams of
> the countless millions of earthbound ancestors who could only stare
> skyward and wish.
>
> 31. Any flight over water in a single engine fighter will absolutely
> guarantee abnormal engine noises and vibrations.
>
> g.
>
>
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