What is the earliest known use of these cliches?
Stuka Dive Siren AudioWhere would the original audio have come from? There can't be many circumstances where someone with the means to record it would have been in the way of a Stuka bombing run.
I assume that it was prevalent enough by 1980 to be mocked by the jet in the movie
Airplane having piston engine sounds in exterior flying shots. (It is certainly well known enough to have its own
TV Tropes article.) What is the oldest movie you know of that has the audio?
"These Fokkers were flying Messerschmitts"Apparently, the joke came to prominence when a comic named Stan Boardman
told it on a television show hosted by Des O'Connor. (Note, Des O'Connor hosted several shows with different names: the Des O'Connor Show (1963-1973), Des O'Connor Entertains (1974-1976), and Des O'Connor Tonight. (1977–2002)) There is a claim, I cannot confirm, that the joke caused the show to be banned. Another source claims it only ended live broadcasts of the show – and then only until the 1990s. It is unclear exactly when the relevant episode aired, but some sources claim it was in the 1980s. In any event, in the O'Connor telling, the story came from an interview a "about a few weeks ago" on the television show
This Is Your Life of a Polish fighter pilot named Charlie Polanski. Obviously, a comedian making a joke isn't the most reliable source, but it is something to go on. Interestingly, while there are many different tellings of the joke, but the most common element in my experience is that the pilot is Polish.
One article that states that David Niven claimed it was told by Douglas Bader.
Another telling of the joke closely resembles - and even mentions - the O'Connor telling.
(As an aside, this is by far the most common joke I hear from visitors at the museum and I've grown tired of it.)
Old/Bold PilotsAlthough not worded in the same way it is usually told today, the last of the "Ten Commandments for Safe Flying" on page 57 of the Owner's Manual for the J3C-65, which dates to May 1946, has an early version of it:
10. THOU SHALT KNOW ALWAYS–THE GOOD PILOT IS THE SAFE PILOT: It's better to be an old pilot than a bold pilot.
Given how widespread use of the Piper Cub was this would explain how it became such a common truism.
Anyone have any more they want to throw in?
_________________
Tri-State Warbird Museum Collections Manager & Museum Attendant
Warbird Philosophy Webmaster