TIL the early american jet used for ground-strike missions in Korea, the F-84 "Thunderjet" had a pilot's myth associated with it. It was said it had a ground-sniffer and would only take-off if it could smell dirt. As such, pilots suggested carrying bags of dirt to make her take off on a shorter run.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_F-84_Thunderjet#Flying_the_Thund…
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https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1fzevzc/til_the_early_american_jet_used_for_groundstrike/