Seems brit-in-exile will insult people but won't answer the questions
03-01-2002, 10:35 AM
#66
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Tally-ho, old chap! Cheerio! (I'm British too; you can trust me because I wrote it on the Internet)
Did you know that the word "gullible" is not in the dictionary? Look it up! Honest!
03-01-2002, 10:38 AM
#68
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I think maybe you've got preconceived notions as opposed to observations
I've met and talked with a large number of fighter pilots, both in my son's squadron and in other venues, and I've yet to meet an openly arrogant one. My son is probably typical. They tend to have *such* large egos that they rarely show it. Their confidence is such they rarely feel the need to show arrogance. Every once in awhile you see a flash of that when they're together, though. They're merciless with one another, yet supportive at the same time. It's pretty much a closed society, and you'll rarely hear pilots bragging at cocktail parties, unless maybe they're good and drunk :-).
One clue is in the nicknames (handles) they receive. Most often, these are *not* given in admiration over some skill or trait. They're given because somebody screws up. I'll give you two examples: "Guns" and "Migs". Guns got his handle by screwing up badly enough during pilot training that he got two consecutive "downs". A down rating means you've done something unsafe. Two downs means some folks meet and recommend to the CO whether you should stay or be bounced out of the program - and in today's Navy, out of the service. A third down and you're automatically gone. The maneuver he was attempting at the time was and is called, simply, "Guns". He'll have that handle for the duration, and of course, it's an inside joke.
Speaking of inside jokes, Migs got his handle because, although he's a skilled pilot and good guy, he once got drunk and acted pretty wierd around a couple of young ladies. "Migs", in this case, didn't mean that he tangled with a couple of '29s over Iraq. It's the "handle" of the guy in the cell next to Hannibal Lector's in "The Silence of the Lambs". :-)
I've seen the Brit be very opinionated (like the rest of the "Type A" folks in this forum, including myself), but I haven't seen arrogance.
One clue is in the nicknames (handles) they receive. Most often, these are *not* given in admiration over some skill or trait. They're given because somebody screws up. I'll give you two examples: "Guns" and "Migs". Guns got his handle by screwing up badly enough during pilot training that he got two consecutive "downs". A down rating means you've done something unsafe. Two downs means some folks meet and recommend to the CO whether you should stay or be bounced out of the program - and in today's Navy, out of the service. A third down and you're automatically gone. The maneuver he was attempting at the time was and is called, simply, "Guns". He'll have that handle for the duration, and of course, it's an inside joke.
Speaking of inside jokes, Migs got his handle because, although he's a skilled pilot and good guy, he once got drunk and acted pretty wierd around a couple of young ladies. "Migs", in this case, didn't mean that he tangled with a couple of '29s over Iraq. It's the "handle" of the guy in the cell next to Hannibal Lector's in "The Silence of the Lambs". :-)
I've seen the Brit be very opinionated (like the rest of the "Type A" folks in this forum, including myself), but I haven't seen arrogance.
