- Gentlemen,
that reminds me....
Gentlemen, that reminds me....
(Or,
Pull up a sandbag lad, I wanna tell you a story!)
(Continued)
This section was borrowed from the Radomes,
Inc web site, http://www.radomes.org.
Thanks to Gene and Tom!
(click
on the Radomes logo to go there, but don't forget to come back!)
Aircraft Warning and Control ...
Rules of the Sky:
1. Every takeoff is optional. Every landing is mandatory.
2. If you push the stick forward, the houses get bigger. If you pull the stick back, they get smaller. That is, unless you keep pulling the stick all the way back, then they get bigger again.
3. Flying isn't dangerous. Crashing is what's dangerous.
4. It`s always better to be down here wishing you were up there than up there wishing you were down here.
5. The ONLY time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire.
6. The propeller is just a big fan in front of the plane used to keep the pilot cool. When it stops, you can actually watch the pilot start sweating.
7. When in doubt, hold on to your altitude. No one has ever collided with the sky.
8. A "good" landing is one from which you can walk away. A "great" landing is one after which they can use the plane again.
9. Learn from the mistakes of others. You won't live long enough to make all of them yourself.
10. You know you've landed with the wheels up if it takes full power to taxi to the ramp.
11. The probability of survival is inversely proportional to the angle of arrival. Large angle of arrival, small probability of survival and vice versa.
12. Never let an aircraft take you somewhere your brain didn't get to five minutes earlier.
13. Stay out of clouds. The silver lining everyone keeps talking about might be another airplane going in the opposite direction. Reliable sources also report that mountains have been known to hide out in clouds.
14. Always try to keep the number of landings you make equal to the number of takeoffs you`ve made.
15. There are three simple rules for making a smooth landing. Unfortunately no one knows what they are.
16. 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.
17. Helicopters can't fly; they`re just so ugly the Earth repels them. (I always thought it was the Power of Prayer that kept them up! - Ed)
18. If all you can see out of the window is ground that's going round and round and all you can hear is commotion coming from the passenger compartment, things are not at all as they should be.
19. In the ongoing battle between objects made of aluminum going hundreds of miles per hour and the ground going zero miles per hour, the ground has yet to lose.
20. Good judgment comes from experience. Unfortunately, the experience usually comes from bad judgment.
21. It's always a good idea to keep the pointy end going forward as much as possible.
22. Keep looking around. There's always something you've missed.
23. Remember, gravity is not just a good idea. It's the law. And it's not subject to appeal.
24. The three most useless things to a pilot are the altitude above you, runway behind you, and a tenth of a second ago.
From: Gary Jacobs
Free Delivery:
Apparently a Minuteman missile crew has painted the massive concrete door atop one of their ICBM silos to look like a pizza box. It has the logo: "Delivery anywhere in the world within thirty minutes or the second one's free."
Gene,
I was a Combat Crewmember
with the 44th Missile Wing at Ellsworth AFB in South Dakota. The blast door
leading into one of the underground launch control centers (LCCs) did have the
graphic. It was a MMII with large dominos on each side, with colors of the fast
pizza delivery chain that inspired the 'artists'. I believe the top read,
Worldwide delivery in 30 minutes ...
and at the bottom,
... or the next one's free!
We had a blast door at another site showing Wile Coyote in the foreground, a mushroom cloud in the distance, and the words, "Beep beep my ...".
Another site had a fine example of WWII 'cheesecake nose art' . We used to pat her for luck when we arrived on alert.
Hope you find this useful, or at least entertaining. Keep up the good work.
Leon 'Lee' Lipinski
Capt, USAF
(Ret)
[Air Traffic Controllers are to civil aviation what our Air Weapons Controllers were to military interceptor aircraft - very closely related. In fact, more than a few of the military operations guys went to work for FAA as ATC-types after their military service.]
The following are accounts of actual exchanges between airlines and control towers from around the world:
=====
The controller, working a busy pattern told the 727 on downwind to make a three-sixty (do a complete circle, usually to provide spacing between aircraft).
The pilot of the 727 complained, "Do you know it costs us two thousand dollars to make a three-sixty in this airplane?
Without missing a beat the controller replied, "Roger, give me four thousand dollars worth!"
=====
A DC-10 had an exceedingly long roll out after landing with his approach speed just a little too high.
San Jose Tower: "American 51 heavy, turn right at the end if able. If not able, take the Guadeloupe exit off of Highway 101 and make a right at the light to return to the airport.
=====
Unknown Aircraft: "I'm f***ing bored!".
Air Traffic Control: "Last aircraft transmitting, identify yourself immediately!!"
Unknown Aircraft: "I said I was f***ing bored, not f***ing stupid!"
=====
Tower: "Eastern 702, cleared for takeoff, contact Departure on 124.7." (124.7 would be the radio frequency for Departure Control).
Eastern 702: "Tower, Eastern 702 switching to Departure... By the way, after we lifted off, we saw some kind of dead animal on the far end of the runway."
Tower: "Continental 635, cleared for takeoff, contact Departure on 124.7; did you copy the report from Eastern?"
Continental 635: "Continental 635, cleared for takeoff. Roger; and yes, we copied Eastern and we've already notified our caterers."
=====
O'Hare Approach Control: "United 329 Heavy, your traffic is a Fokker, one o'clock, 3 miles, eastbound."
United 329: "Approach, I've always wanted to say this... I've got that Fokker in my sights."
=====
The German air controllers at Frankfurt Airport are a short- tempered lot. They not only expect one to know one's gate parking location but how to get there without any assistance from them. So it was with some amusement that we (a PanAm 747) listened to the following exchange between Frankfurt ground control and a British Airways 747 (call sign "Speedbird 206") after landing:
Speedbird 206: "Top of the morning Frankfurt, Speedbird 206 clear of the active runway."
Ground: "Guten Morgen! You vill taxi to your gate!"
The big British Airways 747 pulled onto the main taxiway and slowed to a stop.
Ground: "Speedbird, do you not know vare you are going?"
Speedbird 206: "Stand by a moment Ground, I'm looking up our gate location now."
Ground (with some arrogant impatience): "Speedbird 206, haff you never flown to Frankfurt before?!?"
Speedbird 206 (coolly): "Yes I have, Ground - in 1944. In another type of Boeing....I didn't stop."
How To Build an FPS-26.........
Tom Page opines that: "Aircraft maintenance techs must be a lot like radar maintenance techs ...."
Here are some actual maintenance complaints submitted by US Air Force pilots and the replies from the maintenance crews. "Squawks" are problem listings that pilots generally leave for maintenance crews to fix before the next flight.
(P)= PROBLEM (S)=SOLUTION
(P) Left inside main tire almost needs
replacement.
(S) Almost replaced left inside main tire.
(P) Test flight OK, except autoland very
rough.
(S) Autoland not installed on this aircraft.
(P) #2 propeller seeping prop fluid.
(S) #2 propeller seepage normal - #1, #3 and #4 propellers lack normal seepage.
(P) Something loose in cockpit.
(S)
Something tightened in cockpit.
(P) Evidence of leak on right main landing
gear.
(S) Evidence removed.
(P) Distance Measuring Equipment volume
unbelievably loud.
(S) Volume set to more believable level.
(P) Dead bugs on windshield.
(S) Live
bugs on order.
(P) Autopilot in altitude hold mode produces
a 200 fpm descent.
(S) Cannot reproduce problem on the ground.
(P) IFF inoperative.
(S) IFF always
inoperative in OFF mode.
(P) Friction locks cause throttle levers
to stick.
(S) That's what they are there for.
(P) Number three engine missing.
(S) Engine found on right wing after brief search.
(P) Aircraft handles FUNNY.
(S) Aircraft
warned to straighten up, "fly right" and be serious.
(P) Target radar hums.
(S) Reprogrammed
Target Radar with the words.
GI Insurance:
Airman Jones was assigned to the induction center, where he was to advise new recruits about their government benefits, especially their GI insurance. It wasn't long before Captain Smith noticed that Airman Jones had almost a 100% record for insurance sales, which had never happened before. Rather than ask about this, the Captain stood in the back of the room and listened to Jones's sales pitch. Jones explained the basics of the GI Insurance to the new recruits, and then said. "If you have GI Insurance and go into battle and are killed, the government has to pay $200,000 to your beneficiaries. If you don't have GI insurance, and you go into battle and get killed, the government has to pay only a maximum of $6000." "Now," he concluded," which bunch do you think they are going to send into battle first?"
Military - Then & Now
1945 - NCO's had a typewriter on their
desks for doing daily reports.
1999 - everyone has an Internet access computer,
and they wonder why no work is getting done.
1945 - we painted pictures of girls on
airplanes to remind us of home.
1999 - they put the real thing in the cockpit.
1945 - if you got drunk off duty your
buddies would take you back to the barracks to sleep it off.
1999 - if you
get drunk they slap you in rehab and ruin your career.
1945 - you were taught to aim at your
enemy and shoot him.
1999 - you spray 500 bullets into the brush, don't
hit anything, and retreat because you're out of ammo.
1945 - canteens were made of steel, and
you could heat coffee or hot chocolate in them.
1999 - canteens are made
of plastic, you can't heat anything in them, and they always taste like plastic.
1945 - officers were professional soldiers
first and they commanded respect.
1999 - officers are politicians first
and beg not to be given a wedgie.
1945 - they collected enemy intelligence
and analyzed it.
1999 - they collect your pee and analyze it.
1945 - if you didn't act right, the sergeant
major put you in the stockade until you straightened up.
1999 - if you don't
act right, they start a paper trail that follows you forever.
1945 - medals were awarded to heroes who
saved lives at the risk of their own.
1999 - medals are awarded to people
who work at headquarters.
1945 - you slept in barracks like a soldier.
1999 - you sleep in a dormitory like a college kid.
1945 - you ate in a mess hall, which was
free, and you could have all the food you wanted.
1999 - you eat in a dining
facility, every slice of bread or pat of butter costs, and you better not take
too much.
1945 - we defeated powerful countries
like Germany and Japan.
1999 - we come up short against Iraq and Yugoslavia.
1945 - if you wanted to relax, you went
to the rec center, played pool, smoked and drank beer.
1999 - you go to
the community center, and you can play pool.
1945 - if you wanted beer and conversation
you went to the NCO or Officers' Club.
1999 - the beer will cost you $2.75,
membership is forced, and someone is watching how much you drink.
1945 - the Exchange had bargains for soldiers
who didn't make much money.
1999 - you can get better and cheaper merchandise
at Wal-Mart.
1945 - we could recognize the enemy by
their Nazi helmets.
1999 - we are wearing the Nazi helmets.
1945 - we called the enemy names like
"Krauts" and "Japs" because we didn't like them.
1999
- we call the enemy the "opposing force" or "aggressor"
because we don't want to offend them.
1945 - victory was declared when the enemy
was defeated and all his things were broken.
1999 - victory is declared
when the enemy says he is sorry.
1945 - a commander would put his butt
on the line to protect his people.
1999 - a commander will put his people
on the line to protect his butt.
1945 - wars were planned and run by generals
with lots of important victories.
1999 - wars are planned by politicians
with lots of equivocating.
1945 - we were fighting for freedom, and
the country was committed to winning.
1999 - we don't know what we're fighting
for, and the government is committed to social programs.
1945 - all you could think about was getting
out and becoming a civilian again
1999 - all you can think about is getting
out and becoming a civilian again.
NPR Interview
This is an exact recount of US National Public Radio (NPR) interview between a female broadcaster, and US Army General Reinwald who was about to sponsor a Boy Scout Troop visiting his military installation.
FEMALE INTERVIEWER: "So, General Reinwald, what things are you going to teach these young boys when they visit your base?"
GENERAL REINWALD: 'We're going to teach them climbing, canoeing, archery, and shooting."
FEMALE INTERVIEWER: "Shooting! That's a bit irresponsible, isn't it?"
GENERAL REINWALD: "I don't see why, they'll be properly supervised on the rifle range."
FEMALE INTERVIEWER: "Don't you admit that this is a terribly dangerous activity to be teaching children?"
GENERAL REINWALD: "I don't see how, ...we will be teaching them proper rifle range discipline before they even touch a firearm."
FEMALE INTERVIEWER: "But you're equipping them to become violent killers."
GENERAL REINWALD: "Well, you're equipped to be a prostitute, but you're not one, are you?"
The radio went silent and the interview ended.
The section above was borrowed from
the Radomes, Inc web site, http://www.radomes.org.
Thanks to Gene and
Tom!
(click on the Radomes logo
to go there, but don't forget to come back!)
