There was, instead, a seemingly infinite series of tests. No, the idea here (in the all-enclosing fraternity) seemed to be that a man should have the ability to go up in a hurtling piece of machinery and put his hide on the line and then have the moxie, the reflexes, the experience, the coolness, to pull it back in the last yawning moment – and then go up again the next day, and the next day, and every next day, even if the series should prove infinite…Nor was there a test to show whether or not a pilot had this righteous quality. The idea seemed to be that any fool could do that, if that was all that was required, just as any fool could throw away his life in the process. But it was not bravery in the simple sense of being willing to risk your life. As to just what this ineffable quality was…well, it obviously involved bravery. “This quality, this it, was never named…nor was it talked about in any way.
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