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Coastie Sky Dongs

Griz882

Frightening children with the Griz-O-Copter!
pilot
Contributor

Random8145

Registered User
Contributor
I understand the desire to be a prankster and trace out funny flight paths, but why do it as a military or government pilot? Don't they know they will likely get into trouble? As a civilian pilot flying your own plane, sure. Like if Elon Musk had his jet trace out a cursive "LOL" or something, no biggie.
 

Swanee

Cereal Killer
pilot
None
Contributor
I understand the desire to be a prankster and trace out funny flight paths, but why do it as a military or government pilot? Don't they know they will likely get into trouble? As a civilian pilot flying your own plane, sure. Like if Elon Musk had his jet trace out a cursive "LOL" or something, no biggie.

We train our aircrew to be the best in the world. With that comes swagger, we have to teach them to think, to be king kong, we teach them, "if you're going to try the shit hot break you better fly a rails pass afterward, otherwise we'll fuck your world up." We celebrate the guys who can execute the unimaginable flawlessly. We encourage those who attempt it but come up short (as long as they recognize it early enough).

The skydong guys got a standing ovation from their peers (ie the folks who matter) meanwhile the admirals lost their shit.


1/2 of learning to fly a single pilot airplane is learning how to be fearless, how to learn that you can only depend upon yourself, and to push the limits where you can.

A pilot who only flies by the rules will find themselves out of their element and handcuffed when their skill is really needed.

Why? Because one day someone's life is going to depend on you doing something with your airplane that you might not have been specifically trained to do. Or their life is going to depend on you being able to do everything your airplane can do.

I want the CGO who says, "I'm good enough to draw a sky dick, have it show up on CNN, and still stick around" and can can back it up with the kind of shot that we take that kills the HVI in the car in downtown Baghdad while not killing the guy on the motorcycle next to the car.
 

Faded Float Coat

Suck Less
pilot
I want the CGO who says, "I'm good enough to draw a sky dick, have it show up on CNN, and still stick around" and can can back it up with the kind of shot that we take that kills the HVI in the car in downtown Baghdad while not killing the guy on the motorcycle next to the car.
I want a CGO who says "I'm good enough to draw a sky dick, have it show up on CNN, and...." end up as a recent law school graduate. True story 👊
 

Random8145

Registered User
Contributor
We train our aircrew to be the best in the world. With that comes swagger, we have to teach them to think, to be king kong, we teach them, "if you're going to try the shit hot break you better fly a rails pass afterward, otherwise we'll fuck your world up." We celebrate the guys who can execute the unimaginable flawlessly. We encourage those who attempt it but come up short (as long as they recognize it early enough).

The skydong guys got a standing ovation from their peers (ie the folks who matter) meanwhile the admirals lost their shit.


1/2 of learning to fly a single pilot airplane is learning how to be fearless, how to learn that you can only depend upon yourself, and to push the limits where you can.

A pilot who only flies by the rules will find themselves out of their element and handcuffed when their skill is really needed.

Why? Because one day someone's life is going to depend on you doing something with your airplane that you might not have been specifically trained to do. Or their life is going to depend on you being able to do everything your airplane can do.

I want the CGO who says, "I'm good enough to draw a sky dick, have it show up on CNN, and still stick around" and can can back it up with the kind of shot that we take that kills the HVI in the car in downtown Baghdad while not killing the guy on the motorcycle next to the car.
Always wondered, did the Sky Dong guys keep their wings?
 

Brett327

Well-Known Member
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
A pilot who only flies by the rules will find themselves out of their element and handcuffed when their skill is really needed.
Kinda sorta. I’d offer a third option on your theory. I’d prefer a CGO who has the judgment to understand when that kind of risk taking is warranted vs when it’s likely to get you and your leadership in hot water. Did those JOs do any risk/reward calculus? Nope. Hard to argue that the sky dong led to any beneficial development in aviating skills, though they did get a lot of practice briefing.

All of this to say that, yes, I agree that we want our aviators to push the boundaries so they’re more prepared when they face challenges and unknowns… but this is one of the worst examples you could hold up to support that mindset.
 
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