Real Pilots

[Allen Sutphin 705]

One of my favorite topics in the last few years is reading about the "Lafayette Escadrille" pilots and their aircraft. These guys were the real deal.  Ages ranged from 14-22 years old and expected lifespan was 2 weeks in combat. Yet they were lining up to fly. We talk about the Avid/Foxes being tricky on landing and here is some kid handling a short coupled, narrow geared flying nightmare like he was born in it. Seems we have gotten a little soft in our modern life. Either that or we've become a nation of whiners! And most of these pilots had 10-12 hours of flight training!

[akflyer 1427]

pretty incredible.  

[marksires 484]

Maybe, but I want to live more than 2 weeks personally.  They also didn't have to deal with crosswinds - Aerodromes (big round fields) not airports.

Quote from Wikipedia:

 One man asked to be moved back to his infantry unit, where "he could be safe."