WISDOM
- FROM THE MILITARY MANUAL
"If the enemy is in range,
so are you." - Infantry Journal
"It is generally
inadvisable to eject directly over the area you just bombed." -
U.S.
Air Force Manual
"Whoever said the pen
is mightier than the sword obviously never encountered automatic weapons." -
General MacArthur
"You, you, and you ... Panic. The rest of you, come with me."
- U.S. Marine Corp Gunnery Sgt.
"Tracers work both ways."
-
U.S.
Army Ordnance
"Five second fuses only last
three seconds." - Infantry Journal
"Any ship can be a
minesweeper. Once."
"Never tell the Platoon
Sergeant you have nothing to do."
- Unknown Marine Recruit
"If you see a bomb technician running, follow him."
- USAF Ammo Troop
"Though I Fly Through
the Valley
of Death, I Shall Fear No
Evil. For I am at 80,000 Feet and Climbing."
"You've never been lost until
you've been lost at Mach 3."
- Paul F. Crickmore (test pilot)
"The only time you have too
much fuel is when you're on fire."
"If the wings are traveling
faster than the fuselage, it's probably a helicopter -- and therefore, unsafe."
"When one engine fails on
a twin-engine airplane you always have enough power left to get you to the scene
of the crash."
"Even with ammunition, the
USAF is just another expensive flying club."
"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."
"Never trade luck for skill."
The three
most common expressions (or famous last words) in aviation are: "Why is it doing
that?", "Where are we?" And "Oh S...! "
"Friendly fire - never is"
"Airspeed, altitude and brains. Two are always needed to successfully complete
the flight."
"Mankind
has a perfect record in aviation; we never left one up there!"
"Flying the airplane is
more important than radioing your flight to a person on the ground incapable of
understanding or doing anything about it."
"The Piper Cub is the
safest airplane in the world; it can just barely kill you." - Attributed to
Ma x Stanley (Northrop test pilot)
"There is no reason to
fly through a thunderstorm in peacetime." - Sign over squadron ops desk at
Davis-Monthan AFB, 1970
"If something hasn't broken
on your helicopter, it's about to."
"You know that your landing
gear is up and locked when it takes full power to taxi to the terminal."
A test pilot climbs out of a experimental aircraft, having torn off the wings
and tail in a crash landing. As the crash truck arrives, a rescuer sees the
bloodied pilot and asks "What happened?". The pilot replied: "I don't know, I
just got here myself!" - Attributed to Ray Crandell (Lockheed test pilot)