RED Friday
As the test pilot climbs out of the experimental aircraft, having torn off the wings and tail in the crash landing, the crash truck arrives, the rescuer sees a bloodied pilot and asks, “What happened?” The pilot’s reply: “I don’t know, I just got here myself!”
– Attributed to Lockheed test pilot Ray Crandell
“Try to stay in the middle of the air. Do not go near the edges of it. 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.”
– Basic flight rules
“The Piper Cub is the safest airplane in the world; it can just barely kill you.”
– Attributed to Northrop Aviation test pilot Max Stanley
“When a prang (crash) seems inevitable, endeavor to strike the softest, cheapest object in the vicinity as slow and gently as possible.”
– Advice given to RAF pilots during WWII
“If something hasn’t broken on your helicopter, it’s about to.”
“If the wings are traveling faster than the fuselage, it’s probably a helicopter — and therefore, unsafe.”
“The only time you have too much fuel is when you’re on fire.”
“Never fly in the same cockpit with someone braver than you.”
“Flying the airplane is more important than radioing your plight to a person on the ground incapable of understanding or doing anything about it.”
“Though I Fly Through the Valley of Death … I Shall Fear No Evil. For I am at 80,000 Feet and Climbing.”
– At the entrance to the old SR-71 operating base, Kadena, Japan
“You’ve never been lost until you’ve been lost at Mach 3.”
– Test pilot Paul F. Crickmore
“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.”
“When one engine fails on a twin-engine airplane you always have enough power left to get you to the scene of the crash.”
The three most common expressions (or famous last words) in aviation are: “Why is it doing that?” “Where are we?” and “Oh Shit!”
“Blue water Navy truism: There are more planes in the ocean than submarines in the sky.”
– From an old carrier sailor
“Never trade luck for skill.”
“Just remember, if you crash because of weather, your funeral will be held on a sunny day.”
“There is no reason to fly through a thunderstorm in peacetime.”
– Sign over squadron ops desk at Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz.
