El Chupacabra, This one is for you.
The A-4M, a great craft. Time to lighten things up guys.
Pilot Truths
The only three things a wingman should ever say are:
1. Two's up.
2. Lead, you're on fire.
3. I'll take the fat chick.
And in a multi-place aircraft, there are only three things the copilot
should ever say:
1. Nice landing, Sir.
2. I'll buy the first round.
3. I'll take the fat chick.
--------------------------------
About Pilots
1. As an aviator in flight you can do anything you want... As long as it's
right... And they will let you know if it's right after you get down.
2. You can't fly forever without getting killed.
3. As a 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.
b. One day you will walk out to the airplane not knowing that it was your
last flight.
4. Any flight over water in a single engine airplane will absolutely
guarantee abnormal engine noises and vibrations.
5. There are Rules and there are Laws. The Rules are made by men who think
that they know how to fly your airplane better 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 pilot is the highest form of life on earth.
8. The ideal pilot is the perfect blend of discipline and aggressiveness.
9. About check rides:
a. The only real objective of a check ride is to complete it and get the
bxxtard out of your airplane.
b. It has never occurred to any flight examiner that the examinee
couldn't 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 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 2nd Lt and not forget how to fly by the
time you're a Major 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 fly at night, 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 non-prescription drugs, to get the same blend of
psychedelic sensations as a single-engine night weather formation flight.
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 are 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 pilots to see if they're gullible enough to swallow it.
Or to put it another way, when's 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 preeminence 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 Aircraft's Operations Manual
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 by that aircraft 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. Amen
