[dctoedt]

>> “This is very serious,” I thought.

That's typical of military pilots — their ethos is to present a calm, unruffled mien to the world. Phrases such as, "I was a bit concerned" would translate as "I was this close to sh*tting my pants from terror" in normal human-speak.

(Source: Dad and sister were military pilots, plus my own service aboard an aircraft carrier.)

There's a great and probably-apocryphal story in Tom Wolfe's book The Right Stuff where a rookie Navy fighter pilot is part of a dog fight with North Korean (probably Russian-piloted) MIGs; the rookie is shouting excitedly into the radio, "He's on my six! He's on my six!" Another American Navy pilot responds, "Shut up and die like an aviator" — as in, naval aviator.

[tomcam]

Damn check out /u/dctoedt's profile. It's not just his father who's sickeningly accomplished. https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=dctoedt

[dctoedt]

Thanks, but it's mostly that I've been around a while and am still on this side of the grass (spelled O L D).

[hinkley]

"Houston, we have a problem."

The other pilot is not wrong. If I can't already see that there's a MiG on your tail, what on earth am I gonna do about it? Least of all because in that era would I even know which direction you are from me at that moment, if I wasn't your wingman? Meanwhile you're screaming over everybody else's wingman.