Superstitions

[HAL Pilot]

Hey now. It was, afterall, me and your dog waking up in the guest bedroom. What a spunky fellow he was.

Spunky???? How did he get spunky????? Never mind - it's probably illegal.

 

[A4sForever]

Uhh ohhh.....I forsee a serious increase in the attrition rate, because just about every stud in corpus wears the green jackets. Way to go A4's you single handedly cursed my whole squadron :icon_mi_1

Not to worry, Grasshopper .... Probably a different jacket --- green nylon, not NOMEX. If memory serves, it was actually a "liner" for a winter flying suit --- we all wore it as an outer flight jacket w/patches prior to the introduction of the NOMEX. Kind of similar to the old AF jacket -- the one with international orange inside.

Stay away from the Nehru, though ... just to be safe.

 

[Banjo33]

I won't even LOOK at the wings in the glass case next to our ready room. I assume I have a pair up there with my name on them, but haven't the nuts to look and verify!

I won't let my family watch me fly. Bouncing in T-2's, first solo flight on C152, CQ's in T-45's....nuh uh!

 

[PropStop]

Man, i wasn't nearly as superstitious during flight school as all y'all were! I wore all my bags (not at the same time), both pairs of boots (again, not at the same time) and every shirt i had (i bought 5 beautiful "save me orange" shirts - not at the same time). I did my preflight the same every time, but that was so i wouldn't forget anything, which i did anyhow. I never did own a pair of wings, that was outta superstition. I never downed a ride until I got to the RAG (just a bad day flying, and a bad day in the Warpig is far more expensive than a bad day in the T-34/44).

Of course, maybe i woulda done better had i had a few superstitions....

I walk out to the plane the same way ever time and say the same thing - "Why the fvck do i always get the one parked on the other end of the ramp?! Does Mx Ctrl hate me?!" I never piss before we take off (because then your plane will go down and you'll have to haul the pisser off). Beyond that though, I don't have much in the way of superstitions. Think i should get some?

 

[Blutonski816]

with all these superstitions, I think I'm gonna have to really switch things up from API to winging...

-Nix nomex flight suit for a Dickies monkey suit
-wear a trucker cap & headset instead of the helmet
-stow the jackets (leather and nomex) and wear my HS letterman
-If asked to wear brown shoes before winging... wear black and just cover them with a paper bag and pray that it'll pass for brown shoes
-will ask fellow studs to draw over any wings that may be found in any gouge or manuals with a sharpie
-avoid any and all things with wings (w/ the exception of the day's aircraft and IP's, just don't look below the neck)

If I follow these rules, I just might decrease my chances of becoming an attrite.

 

[Penguin]

My wife bought me a pair of boxer briefs from the Gap--olive drab with the digital camoflage print. Somehow they seem more fitting to military work than tighty whities, so I wear them for check rides and other times when I need to invoke the Power of Greyskull...

 

[Squid]

I vote for the piss before flight / not before sim. In the sim if you gotta piss it's probably the biggest incentive to not forget anything so the instructor doesn't freeze the sim/start you all over.

 

[phrogdriver]

Carried the same copy of Playboy's "Hardbodies" in my helmet bag for 2 years, until the paper started disintegrating. I bought it at the PX in Macedonia when we were flying into Kosovo. My lucky porn. Every so often I'd show a good picture to the LSE.

 

[ET-Mike]

I have a SWO sticker on my visor in my truck, just to remind me what I was working towards, a little reverse jinx action. As stated, I refuse to buy any sort of aviation propoganda, I hated before I actually slotted for SNA that my parents and my wife would tell everyone, "he's going to be a pilot". It turned out working in my benefit but I was freaked out everytime they would tell someone that and I always had to clarify the statement with "...hopefully"

 

[Schnugg]

I actually quietly kicked each main landing gear tire on the Tomcat during my pre-flight...sort of my pre-flight ritual. Course with the tires pressurized to 250 psi (carrierized), it's not like I could tell if it's low or not.

Never wore anything with wings until I got them.

r/
G

 

[michaels601]

Not the first flyer in my family, but definitely the first to go for the Corps, so it caught everybody off guard as word leaked through the family grapevine/gossip network. Not all of them are happy about it, either. Doesn't actually bother me, but I don't provoke them. Dad, however, thought it would be funny to give me a T-shirt in front of everyone for christmas, big skull, "DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR. USMC."

got it folded neatly in my drawer, waiting for the day i've earned it.

there's also the bomber jacket in my closet that fit me perfectly when i was five inches shorter.

 

[Fly Navy]

I have a SWO sticker on my visor in my truck, just to remind me what I was working towards, a little reverse jinx action. As stated, I refuse to buy any sort of aviation propoganda, I hated before I actually slotted for SNA that my parents and my wife would tell everyone, "he's going to be a pilot". It turned out working in my benefit but I was freaked out everytime they would tell someone that and I always had to clarify the statement with "...hopefully"

Ha, sounds like my parents. For a while, they were telling everyone I was training to fly fighter jets... this was before API even started.... oh my god I hated that.

 

[Brett327]

Carried the same copy of Playboy's "Hardbodies" in my helmet bag for 2 years, until the paper started disintegrating. I bought it at the PX in Macedonia when we were flying into Kosovo. My lucky porn. Every so often I'd show a good picture to the LSE.

We had a scantily clad picture of Catherine Bell incorporated into our TACAID which I could turn to in times of need.

Brett

 

[zab1001]

Here's one I always thought was obvious, but more and more I meet people who break it. Same set of wings from your ceremony. I've never worn a different set other than the ones I was winged with. Definitely feel like I'd lose my mojo if I had to use other ones...

maybe I'm just crazy...

 

[bch]

Nah, I have only worn those 1 time. On those horrible occasions that I have to wear a uniform, I wear a cheap exchange pair.