Aviator thoughts

[Cliff_Chambliss]

I got this emailed to me:

• 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.

• You can't fly forever without getting killed.

• As the pilot of a combat aircraft 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 aircraft not knowing that it is your last flight.

• Success is being able to walk to your Flight Evaluation Board (FEB).

• There are Rules and there are Laws. The rules are made by men who think that they know better how to fly your aircraft 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.

• 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.(i.e. If you fly under a bridge, don't hit the bridge.)

• The Cavalry pilot is the highest form of life on earth.

• The ideal Cavalry pilot is the perfect blend of discipline and aggressiveness.

• About check rides:
a. Having someone climb into your aircraft to grade how you fly is just like having someone come into your bedroom to grade how you perform.
b. The only real objective of a check ride is to complete it and get the sob out of your aircraft.
c. It has never occurred to any instructor pilot during an evaluation that the examinee could care less what the IP's opinion of his flying ability really is.

• The medical profession is the natural enemy of the aviation profession.

• The job of the Troop Commander is to worry incessantly that his career depends solely on the abilities of his aviators to fly their aircraft without mishap and that their only minuscule contribution to the effort is to bet their lives on it.

• Ever notice that the only experts who decree that the age of the pilot is over are the 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.

• It is absolutely imperative that a pilot be unpredictable. Rebelliousness is very predictable. In the end, conforming almost all the time is the best way to be unpredictable.

• He who demands everything that his aircraft can give him is a pilot; he that demands one iota more is a fool.

• If you're gonna fly high, do not fly slow!

• It is solely the pilot's responsibility to never let any other thing touch his aircraft.

• If you can learn how to fly as a WO1 and not forget how to fly by the time you're a CW5 you will have lived a happy life.

• About night flying:
a. Remember that the aircraft doesn't know that it's dark.
b. On a clear, moonless night, never fly beneath the inverted Y.
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. Tight 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 night multiship operation in poor weather.

• 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.

• 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!

• 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 is the last time the FAA ever shot anyone down?

• Remember that the radio is only an electronic suggestion box for the pilot. Sometimes the only way to clear up a problem is to pull the pin.

• 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.

• Mastering the prohibited maneuvers in the -10 is possibly one of the best forms of aviation life insurance you can get.

• A tactic done twice is a procedure. (Refer to unpredictability discussion above)

• The aircraft's -10 chapter 5 limits are only there in case there is another flight by that particular aircraft. If subsequent flights do not appear likely, there are no limitations.

• One of the beautiful things about a single-pilot aircraft is the quality of the social experience.

• 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.

• 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

[Critical AOA]

Some very good thoughts, some not so good. 

As a 30 year aircraft maintenance professional as well as being a pilot, I take exception with this one in particular.

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!

Most safety of flight defects are first noticed by the maintenance folks and not the pilots.   Most pilots who are not mechanics wouldn't recognize a problem without being told.

I do however agree wholeheartedly with this one.

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.   

With modern day EICAS systems, pilots are presented with so many warning, caution, advisory and status messages that they get easily confused.  This is especially true with regional pilots who quite frequently do not understand the aircraft systems very well and do not know what the message being presented actually means, if they should be very concerned, mildly concerned or just ignore it.  I love technology but it is too often applied in a less than appropriate manner.  Dang engineers!

Finally,

Having someone climb into your aircraft to grade how you fly is just like having someone come into your bedroom to grade how you perform.

I hate when that happens! 

[SarDragon]

The best things in a pilot's life are a good landing, a good orgasm & a good dump. Night carrier landings are the only way you can experience all three at the same time

[LGM30GMCC]

• 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.

Heh...Missiles takes it to a different level of 'Is that important' with regards to beeping.

The alarm tone for a GMR 5 - 'Hey there is something up with my diesel generator' is the same as the one for a MOSR 68 - 'Hey I may well be leaking highly corrosive and toxic hypergolics into my launch tube.'

Sitting on the crapper and you hear that tone go off and you have to decide 'Is it likely something that can wait 2-3 minutes...or should I be over there responding RIGHT THIS MOMENT'