For anyone who has ever been in the military this will be a fun little remembrance.  If you have not, you'll probably get a kick out of the 'common sense'  approach to these great lines taken from actual military manuals!

'Whoever said the pen is mightier than the sword
obviously never encountered automatic weapons.'

General MacArthur

U.S. Army Ordnance

Five second fuses only last three seconds.'

Infantry Journal

'Any ship can be a minesweeper. Once.'

Navy Manual



'Never tell the Platoon Sergeant you have nothing to do.'

Unknown Marine Recruit



'If you see a bomb technician running, keep up with him.'

USAF Ammo Troop

'Though I Fly Through the Valley of Death ,
I Shall Fear No Evil.
For I am at 80,000 Feet and Climbing.'

'You've never been lost until you've been lost at Mach 3.'

Paul F. Crickmore (test pilot)



'The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire.'



'If the wings are traveling faster than the fuselage,
it's probably a helicopter
-- and therefore, unsafe.'

''When one engine fails on a twin-engine airplane
 you always have enough power left to get you to
 the scene of the crash.'



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.'



'Never trade luck for skill.'

Army Manual



The three most common expressions (or famous last words),
in aviation are:

'Why is it doing that?'

'Where are we?'

And, 'Oh S...!'



Airspeed, altitude and brains.
Two are always needed to successfully complete the flight.'

US Army Air Corp Manual




'Mankind has a perfect record in aviation;
We never left one up there!'



'Flying the airplane is more important than radioing
your plight to a person on the ground who is
incapable of understanding or doing anything about it.'



'The Piper Cub is the safest airplane in the world;
it can just barely kill you.'

Max Stanley (Northrop test pilot)



'There is no reason to fly through a thunderstorm in peacetime.'

Sign over squadron OPS desk at Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ, 1970



'If something hasn't broken on your helicopter, it's about to.'



'You know that your landing gear is up and locked
 when it takes full power to taxi to the terminal.'



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 Ray Crandell(Lockheed test pilot)