Attack Aviation 101

• Takeoff's are optional.  Landings are mandatory.
• If God meant man to fly, He'd have given him more money.
• If you push the cyclic forward, the houses get bigger, if you pull the cyclic back they get smaller.  (Unless you keep pulling the cyclic back -then they get bigger again)
• Flying NVS is not dangerous; crashing NVS is dangerous.
• It's better to be down here wishing you were up there, than up there wishing you were down here.
• The rotor system is just a big fan on top of the helicopter to keep the pilot cool.  Want proof?  Make it stop; then watch the pilot break out into a sweat.
• Speed is life, altitude is life insurance. No one has ever collided with the sky.
• It's best to keep the pointed end going forward as much as possible.
• The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire.
• Flying is the second greatest thrill known to man.... Landing is the first!
• Every one already knows the definition of a 'good' landing is one from which you can walk away.  But very few know the definition of a 'great landing.' It's one after which you can use the helicopter another time.
• The probability of survival is equal to the angle of arrival.
• Always remember you fly a helicopter with your head, not your hands. Never let a helicopter take you somewhere your brain didn't get to five minutes earlier.
• You know you've landed with the wheels up when it takes full power
• Those who hoot with the owls by night, should not fly with the eagles by day.
• A helicopter is a collection of rotating parts going round and round and reciprocating parts going up and down - all of them trying to become random in motion.  Helicopters can't really fly - they're just so ugly that the earth immediately repels them.
• Hey WOJG, was that a landing or were we shot down?
• Learn from the mistakes of others.  You won't live long enough to make all of them yourself.
• Trust your stick buddy .... but keep your seat belt securely fastened.
• Any pilot who relies on a terminal forecast can be sold the Brooklyn Bridge. If he relies on winds-aloft reports he can be sold Niagara Falls.
• Good judgment comes from experience and experience comes from bad judgment.
• Aviation is not so much a profession as it is a disease.
• There are three simple rules for making a smooth landing: Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.
• The only thing worse than a PIC who never flew as copilot is a copilot who once was a PIC
• Be nice to your Platoon Leader, he may be your Commander at your next unit.
• Any attempt to stretch fuel is guaranteed to increase headwind.
• A thunderstorm is never as bad on the inside as it appears on the outside. It's worse.
• Son, I was flying gunships for a living when you were still in liquid form.
• It's easy to make a small fortune in aviation.  You start with a large fortune.
• A GUN PILOT is a confused soul who talks about women when he's flying, and about flying when he's with a woman.
• A fool and his money are soon flying more helicopter than he can handle.
• Remember, you're always a student in an helicopter.
• Keep looking around; there's always something you've missed.
• Try to keep the number of your landings equal to the number of your takeoffs.
• You cannot propel yourself forward by patting yourself on the back.
• There are old pilots, and there are bold pilots, but there are no old, bold, pilots!
• Things which do you no good in aviation: Altitude above you... Runway behind you...  Fuel in the FARP...  Half a second ago...  Approach plates in your helmet bag...The height/velocity you don't have.
• Attack Aviation is the perfect vocation for a man who wants to feel like a boy, but not for one who still is.
• Asking what a pilot thinks about DES is like asking a fireplug what it thinks about dogs.
• Being an airline pilot would be great if you didn't have to go on all those trips.
• Gravity never loses!  The best you can hope for is a draw!

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