[OT] Military Advices

[Paolo Tagliaferri]

Quite off topic, but fun :D

"A slipping gear could let your M 203 grenade launcher fire when you least expect it. That would make you quite unpopular in what's left of your unit." -Army's magazine of preventive maintenance.

"Aim towards the Enemy." -Instruction printed on US Rocket Launcher

"When the pin is pulled, Mr. Grenade is not our friend. - U.S.Marine Corps

"Cluster bombing from B- 52 s is very, very accurate. The bombs are guaranteed to always hit the ground." -USAF Ammo Troop

"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." -Gen. MacArthur

"Try to look unimportant; they may be low on ammo." -Infantry Journal

"You, you, and you . . . Panic. The rest of you, come withme." -U.S. Marine Corp Gunnery Sgt.

"Tracers work both ways." - U.S. Army Ordnance

"Five second fuses only last three seconds." -Infantry Journal

"Don't ever be the first, don't ever be the last, and don't ever volunteer to do anything." -U. S Navy Swabbie

"Bravery is being the only one who knows you're afraid." -David Hackworth

"If your attack is going too well, you're walking into an ambush." -Infantry Journal

"No combat ready unit has ever passed inspection." -Joe Gay

"Any ship can be a minesweeper... once."-Anon

"Never tell the Platoon Sergeant you have nothing to do." -Unknown Marine Recruit

"Don't draw fire; it irritates the people around you." -Your Buddies

"If you see a bomb technician running, follow him." -USAF Ammo Troop

[GregP]

If forced to travel on an airplane, try and get in the cabin with the Captain so you can keep an eye on him and nudge him if he falls asleep or point out any mountains looming up ahead. - Mike Harding, The Armchair Anarchist's Almanac

You define a good flight by the negatives: you didn't get hijacked, you didn't crash, you didn't throw up, you weren't late, you weren't nauseated by the food. So you're grateful. - Paul Theroux

There are only two reasons to sit in the back row of an airplane. Either you have diarrhea, or you're anxious to meet people who do. - Henry Kissinger

The probability of survival is equal to the angle of arrival. - Great Aviation Quotes

What's the hurry? Are you afraid I won't come back? — Manfred von Richthofen, 'The Red Baron,' last recorded words, in reply to a request for an autograph as he was climbing into the cockpit of his plane.

I have a feeling that there is just about one more good flight left in my system and I hope this trip is it. Anyway when I have finished this job, I mean to give up long-distance "stunt" flying. — Amelia Earhart, departing from Los Angeles, California, for Florida on 21 May 1937. Start of her last flight.

Did he not clear the runway - that Pan American? — Flight Engineer William Schreuder, KLM, 27 March 1977, just prior to the worst aviation crash ever, the collision of two B-747's on the ground in the Canary Islands.

Hey - what's happening here? — Captain Robert Loft, Eastern Air Lines flight 401, 29 December 1972, last recorded words before crashing into the Florida everglades.

God, look at that thing! That don't seem right, does it? That's not right. — First Officer Roger Pettit, during takeoff roll, Air Florida Flight 90, 1982.

Larry! We're going down, Larry! I know it. — First Officer Roger Pettit and Captain Larry Wheaton, last words recorded on Air Florida Flight 90, close to the 14th Street Bridge Washington D.C., 1982.

Portland Tower, United 173, Mayday! We're . . . the engines are flaming out -- we're going down. We're not going to be able to make the airport. — First Officer Rodrick Beebe. The DC-8 was ran out of fuel in an accident that started the assertiveness training that is now part of Crew Resource Management (CRM). 28 December 1978.

Yes -- don't worry. — Captain Michel Asseline, Air France, last recorded words, in reply to copilot Captain Pierre Mazieres alerting him to watch out for the pylons ahead. Ten seconds the A-320 crashed into trees during an airshow. 26 June 1988.

I've got a problem [uttered at an altitude of 3,000 feet while in an inverted flat spin] I've really got a problem [at an altitude of 1,500 feet]. — Art Scholl, last recorded words before fatal crash while filming a stunt sequence for the movie 'Top Gun.' It is speculated that camera equipment affixed to the plane altered its weight and balance envelope, making recovery from the flat spin impossible. The film is dedicated to his memory, which you can see if you sit through all the credits.

The most frequent last words I have heard on cockpit voice-recorder tapes are, 'Oh Shit,' said with about that much emotion. There's no panic, no scream, it's a sort of resignation: we've done everything we can, I can't think of anything else to do and this is it. — Frank McDermott, partner in McDermott Associates, specialists in cockpit voice recorders.
Once committed to an attack, fly in at full speed. After scoring crippling or disabling hits, I would clear myself and then repeat the process. I never pursued the enemy once they had eluded me. Better to break off and set up again for a new assault. I always began my attacks from full strength, if possible, my ideal flying height being 22,000 ft because at that altitude I could best utilize the performance of my aircraft. Combat flying is based on the slashing attack and rough maneuvering. In combat flying, fancy precision aerobatic work is really not of much use. Instead, it is the rough maneuver which succeeds. — Colonel Erich 'Bubi' Hartmann, GAF, aka Karaya One, worlds leading ace, with 352 victories in W.W.II.Jagdgeschwader 52.

Of all my accomplishments I may have achieved during the war, I am proudest of the fact that I never lost a wingman. — Colonel Erich 'Bubi' Hartmann, GAF.

I opened fire when the whole windshield was black with the enemy . . . at minimum range . . . it doesn't matter what your angle is to him or whether you are in a turn or any other maneuver. — Colonel Erich 'Bubi' Hartmann, GAF.

It was my view that no kill was worth the life of a wingman. . . . Pilots in my unit who lost wingmen on this basis were prohibited from leading a [section]. The were made to fly as wingman, instead. — Colonel Erich 'Bubi' Hartmann, GAF.

You can have computer sights of anything you like, but I think you have to go to the enemy on the shortest distance and knock him down from point-blank range. You'll get him from in close. At long distance, it's questionable. — Colonel Erich 'Bubi' Hartmann, GAF.

Up there the world is divided into bastards and suckers. Make your choice. — Derek Robinson, 'Piece of Cake.'

My habit of attacking Huns dangling from their parachutes led to many arguments in the mess. Some officers, of the Eton and Sandhurst type, thought it was 'unsportsmanlike' to do it. Never having been to a public school, I was unhampered by such considerations of form. I just pointed out that there was a bloody war on, and that I intended to avenge my pals. — Captain James Ira Thomas 'Taffy' Jones, RFC, 37 victories in 3 months W.W.I.

Fight on and fly on to the last drop of blood and the last drop of fuel, to the last beat of the heart. — Baron Manfred von Richthofen.

The first time I ever saw a jet, I shot it down. — General Chuck Yeager, USAF, describing his first confrontation with a Me262.

The duty of the fighter pilot is to patrol his area of the sky, and shoot down any enemy fighters in that area. Anything else is rubbish. — Baron Manfred von Richthofen, 1917. Richtofen would not let members of his Staffel strafe troops in the trenches.

I had no system of shooting as such. It is definitely more in the feeling side of things that these skills develop. I was at the front five and a half years, and you just got a feeling for the right amount of lead. — Lt. General Guenther Rall, GAF.

As long as I look into the muzzles, nothing can happen to me. Only if he pulls lead am I in danger. — Captain Hans-Joachim Marseille, Luftwaffe.

I'm waiting to be told how cobras, hooks, or vectored thrust help in combat. They're great at air shows, but zero energy is a fighter pilot's nightmare. Shoot your opponent down and his number two will be on your tail thinking it's his birthday -- a target hanging there in the sky with zero energy. — Ned Firth, Eurofighter

Aggressiveness was a fundamental to success in air-to-air combat and if you ever caught a fighter pilot in a defensive mood you had him licked before you started shooting. — Captain David McCampbell, USN, leading U.S. Navy ace in W.W.II.

If you're in a fair fight, you didn't plan it properly. — Nick Lappos, Chief R&D Pilot, Sikorsky Aircraft.

The British were sporting. They would accept a fight under almost all conditions. — Gunther Rall, Luftwaffe, 275 victories.

We train young men to drop fire on people. But their commanders won't allow them to write "fuck" on their airplanes because? It's obscene! — Colonel Walter E. Kurtz in the 1979 movie 'Apocalypse Now.'

No guts, no glory. If you are going to shoot him down, you have to get in there and mix it up with him. — General Frederick C. 'Boots' Blesse, USAF.

There are only two types of aircraft -- fighters and targets. — Doyle 'Wahoo' Nicholson, USMC.

Things which do you no good in aviation:
Altitude above you.
Runway behind you.
Fuel in the truck.
A navigator.
Half a second ago.
Approach plates in the car.
The airspeed you don't have.

As a pilot only two bad things can happen to you and one of them will be:
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 is your last flight.


The average pilot, despite the sometimes swaggering exterior, is very much capable of such feelings as love, affection, intimacy and caring. These feelings just don't involve anyone else.

Helicopters are really a bunch of parts flying in relatively close formation; all rotating around a different axis. Things work well until one of the parts breaks formation.

Flying is better than walking. Walking is better than running. Running is better than crawling. All of these however, are better than extraction by a Med-Evac helicopter, even if this is technically a form of flying.

Basic Flying Rules:
1. Try to stay in the middle of the air.
2. Do not go near the edges of it.
3. The edges of the air can be recognized by the appearance of ground, buildings, sea, trees and interstellar space. It is much more difficult to fly there.

[Paolo Tagliaferri]

quote:”The first time I ever saw a jet, I shot it down.” General Chuck Yeager, USAF, describing his first confrontation with a Me262.
ROTFL

[GregP]