Which Service Has Better Pilots
Departing from all the humour I agree with bandaid.
It’s easy to be the ace in space when you’re flying the top bit of kit against a Sopwith camel. The time, the place and the operation all play a factor. Good pilots come from all areas.
Experience is gained from doing it, failures and success’. Knowledge is being smart/mature enough to use someone else’s experience to only have successes.
You start with a bag full of luck and an empty bag of experience. The trick is to fill the bag of experience before you empty the bag of luck
Truly superior pilots are those who use their superior judgment to avoid those situations where they might have to use their superior skills.
Speed is life, altitude is life insurance.
Navy carrier pilots regards Air Force pilots:
"Flare to land, squat to pee."
Air Force pilots regards Navy carrier pilots:
"Next time a war is decided by how well you land on a carrier, I'm sure our Navy will clean up. Until then, I'll worry about who spends their training time flying and fighting."
Navy pilots regards Air Force formation flying skills:
"Same way, same day."
It’s easy to be the ace in space when you’re flying the top bit of kit against a Sopwith camel. The time, the place and the operation all play a factor. Good pilots come from all areas.
Experience is gained from doing it, failures and success’. Knowledge is being smart/mature enough to use someone else’s experience to only have successes.
You start with a bag full of luck and an empty bag of experience. The trick is to fill the bag of experience before you empty the bag of luck
Truly superior pilots are those who use their superior judgment to avoid those situations where they might have to use their superior skills.
Speed is life, altitude is life insurance.
Navy carrier pilots regards Air Force pilots:
"Flare to land, squat to pee."
Air Force pilots regards Navy carrier pilots:
"Next time a war is decided by how well you land on a carrier, I'm sure our Navy will clean up. Until then, I'll worry about who spends their training time flying and fighting."
Navy pilots regards Air Force formation flying skills:
"Same way, same day."
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Seeing as we seem to be knucklehead centric.
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; and, 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 perform.
b. The only real objective of a check ride is to complete it and get the *#%@&* 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 community.
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 LTC, 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 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 night weather flight on the wing.
19. One of the most important skills to 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. 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 the rudder still works the same way but hopefully your IP never taught you "Pull stick Back, Plane go Up."
25. Mastering the prohibited maneuvers in the dash-10 is one of the best forms of aviation life insurance you can get.
26. A tactic done twice becomes a procedure. (Refer to unpredictability discussion above)
27. The aircraft G-limits are only there in case there is another flight planned for 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.
To para 30, the only thing that can be added, though once again knuck centric, really applies to all who have had the good fortune to strap on an airframe.
You love a lot of things if you live around them. But there isn’t any woman, and there isn’t any horse, nor any before nor any after, that is as lovely as a great airplane. And the men who love them are faithful to them even though they may leave them for others. Man has one virginity to lose in fighters, and if it be a lovely airplane he loses it to, there is where his heart will forever be.
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; and, 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 perform.
b. The only real objective of a check ride is to complete it and get the *#%@&* 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 community.
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 LTC, 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 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 night weather flight on the wing.
19. One of the most important skills to 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. 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 the rudder still works the same way but hopefully your IP never taught you "Pull stick Back, Plane go Up."
25. Mastering the prohibited maneuvers in the dash-10 is one of the best forms of aviation life insurance you can get.
26. A tactic done twice becomes a procedure. (Refer to unpredictability discussion above)
27. The aircraft G-limits are only there in case there is another flight planned for 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.
To para 30, the only thing that can be added, though once again knuck centric, really applies to all who have had the good fortune to strap on an airframe.
You love a lot of things if you live around them. But there isn’t any woman, and there isn’t any horse, nor any before nor any after, that is as lovely as a great airplane. And the men who love them are faithful to them even though they may leave them for others. Man has one virginity to lose in fighters, and if it be a lovely airplane he loses it to, there is where his heart will forever be.
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Departing from all the humour I agree with bandaid.
It’s easy to be the ace in space when you’re flying the top bit of kit against a Sopwith camel. The time, the place and the operation all play a factor. Good pilots come from all areas.
Experience is gained from doing it, failures and success’. Knowledge is being smart/mature enough to use someone else’s experience to only have successes.
You start with a bag full of luck and an empty bag of experience. The trick is to fill the bag of experience before you empty the bag of luck
Truly superior pilots are those who use their superior judgment to avoid those situations where they might have to use their superior skills.
It’s easy to be the ace in space when you’re flying the top bit of kit against a Sopwith camel. The time, the place and the operation all play a factor. Good pilots come from all areas.
Experience is gained from doing it, failures and success’. Knowledge is being smart/mature enough to use someone else’s experience to only have successes.
You start with a bag full of luck and an empty bag of experience. The trick is to fill the bag of experience before you empty the bag of luck
Truly superior pilots are those who use their superior judgment to avoid those situations where they might have to use their superior skills.
However, there IS more to it than just being a fighter jock. For example, the chaps who undertake CSAR or other special ops in relatively slow, relatively large, lightly armed (or even unarmed) aeroplanes/helos are deserving of special mention in my opinion (and NO, I wasn't ever one of them).
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Errr...............no! I know what he was saying, I was just trying to make a pun-based joke upon the FAA (Federal Aviation Authority) and FAA (Fleet Air Arm) sharing the same initials. Clearly it fell upon deaf ears/blind eyes/stony ground. Oh well, it was worth a try.
Last edited by moggiee; 14th Mar 2011 at 05:31.
FAA v RAF, let's get down to the nub of all this, the social life: RAF, Friday night happy hour in the Officers' Mess in some forlorn, flat and dull part of the UK drinking beer in your flying suit, talking to other people drinking beer in their flying suits about how good you were that week.
FAA, cocktail party in some warm, exotic part of the world, in your bush jacket, gold stripes and wings on your chest talking to a very interesting young lady about how much you have always been interested in (insert country) and does she know anyone who might be able to take you on a tour up country for a few days?
So what's it to be, RAC Patrolman lookalike, or Tom Cruise, but taller and much more entertaining?
FAA, cocktail party in some warm, exotic part of the world, in your bush jacket, gold stripes and wings on your chest talking to a very interesting young lady about how much you have always been interested in (insert country) and does she know anyone who might be able to take you on a tour up country for a few days?
So what's it to be, RAC Patrolman lookalike, or Tom Cruise, but taller and much more entertaining?
Matt
Given this report :
Ministry of Defence sinks navy’s cocktail parties - Times Online
I would suggest your second paragraph best reworded as:
"FAA, miles from anywhere. Stuck on a grey tub and shunned by the ships company. Go ashore, meet young "ladies", find out they are the local RM detachment. Finally meet young lady who takes me up country. Return to grey tub and request tour extension until rash goes away".
So what's it to be, RAC Patrolman lookalike or a star from a gay flick?
Given this report :
Ministry of Defence sinks navy’s cocktail parties - Times Online
I would suggest your second paragraph best reworded as:
"FAA, miles from anywhere. Stuck on a grey tub and shunned by the ships company. Go ashore, meet young "ladies", find out they are the local RM detachment. Finally meet young lady who takes me up country. Return to grey tub and request tour extension until rash goes away".
So what's it to be, RAC Patrolman lookalike or a star from a gay flick?
Chief Bottle Washer
Since our cockersP's were paid for by the Wardroom members, I fail to see how they could be a drain on the Defence budget 
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Coincidentally, moggiee to add to your post 25, there is the Fuerza Aérea Argentina. I know that they only downed the unfortunate Westland Scout, though.
Last edited by Cameronian; 14th Mar 2011 at 12:11.
A USAF Colonel once told me;
" If you guys (RAF) had our airplanes, we'd still be a colony"
" If you guys (RAF) had our airplanes, we'd still be a colony"
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The IDF/IAF wasn't listed as it's pretty obvious that they are the best...
..Clearly the IDF / IAF that I have had dealings with
(and there are a lot - in a multitude of different platforms) are different to those that you have Jane...
The IDF/IAF wasn't listed as it's pretty obvious that they are the best...