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This is the business that fighter pilots consider themselves to be in, and that shows through in the way they talk about it - I had a history teacher in high sc

This is the business that fighter pilots consider themselves to be in, and that shows through in the way they talk about it - I had a history teacher in high school who had previously flown fighters in the Marine Corps, and while he rarely entertained much discussion on that subject, his approach on those occasions was similarly matter-of-fact. I didn't check to see if the article referenced any sources, but it wouldn't surprise me to learn that a primary one was a conversation with an F-16 pilot.

StavrosK 5y ago
Yeah, I'd expect pilots to talk like that, it just had an impression on me because I didn't expect a journalist explaining something to have the same vernacular.
- throwanem 5y ago
  Fighter pilots are also, by all accounts including my own, very much among the most confident human beings anyone is ever likely to meet - that teacher I'm thinking of certainly was. It can easily make a strong impression; most of the guys in that class had a huge crush on the idea of growing up to be like him, while many of the girls (and I!) just had a huge crush on him. There is no reason to assume this sort of thing only occurs among high schoolers, or in any case that a Gizmodo writer would be more likely to embark upon a serious consideration of the moral weight of aerial combat than to focus on its literal and figurative whiz-bang, wow-cool-robot aspects, of which there is no shortage.
gostsamo 5y ago
The article is a copy of a Quora answer. Not even sure if there was a journalist involved. https://www.quora.com/How-does-a-fighter-jet-lock-onto-and-keep-track-of-an-enemy-aircraft-Can-an-aircraft-detect-that-it-has-been-locked-onto-or-is-it-just-a-convenient-plot-device-in-movies https://www.quora.com/How-does-a-fighter-jet-lock-onto-and-k... Edit: Quora link.
- throwanem 5y ago
  Ah, written by a pilot and fighter nerd, this also checks out. Fighter pilots are kind of the ultimate cool kids from the perspective of a milstuff nerd, and there is an unusual degree of hero worship among that cohort already.
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StavrosK 5y ago

Yeah, I'd expect pilots to talk like that, it just had an impression on me because I didn't expect a journalist explaining something to have the same vernacular.

throwanem 5y ago
Fighter pilots are also, by all accounts including my own, very much among the most confident human beings anyone is ever likely to meet - that teacher I'm thinking of certainly was. It can easily make a strong impression; most of the guys in that class had a huge crush on the idea of growing up to be like him, while many of the girls (and I!) just had a huge crush on him. There is no reason to assume this sort of thing only occurs among high schoolers, or in any case that a Gizmodo writer would be more likely to embark upon a serious consideration of the moral weight of aerial combat than to focus on its literal and figurative whiz-bang, wow-cool-robot aspects, of which there is no shortage.

gostsamo 5y ago

The article is a copy of a Quora answer. Not even sure if there was a journalist involved. https://www.quora.com/How-does-a-fighter-jet-lock-onto-and-keep-track-of-an-enemy-aircraft-Can-an-aircraft-detect-that-it-has-been-locked-onto-or-is-it-just-a-convenient-plot-device-in-movies https://www.quora.com/How-does-a-fighter-jet-lock-onto-and-k... Edit: Quora link.

throwanem 5y ago
Ah, written by a pilot and fighter nerd, this also checks out. Fighter pilots are kind of the ultimate cool kids from the perspective of a milstuff nerd, and there is an unusual degree of hero worship among that cohort already.

deleted 5y ago

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