Luger spring steel...

[m1903a3]

Originally Posted by John Sabato

The pilot of a Luftthansa commercial aircraft was on the approach to Frankfurt when he requested landing instructions from the tower in German. The tower quickly admonished him that all communications were required to be in English. His response was a little snooty and went something like: "I am a German pilot, flying a German commercial airliner, and intend to land at a German airport, why do I have to use English to land my airplane?"... Before the tower could respond, the airwaves crackled with a response from an unidentified U.S. Air Force pilot who was flying nearby: "Because WE won the war, and you DIDN'T!"

I remember that joke from the sixties, albeit with a more succinct "Because you lost!" from the American pilot.

There was similar one circulating at the same time that had a British BOAC pilot landing in Berlin. When he requested progressive taxi instructions the German controller haughtedly asked "Haven't you ever been to Berlin?" The Brit promptly replied: "Many times. But only at night and I never landed."