I was reading up on pilots in this era and it seems they often faced the decision to either try to limp back home in a damaged plane (risking a crash landing, a failure of critical components along the way, etc) or they could bail out and save themselves.

From what I've read there were plenty of pilots but only a small percentage of them were actually experienced. This left me wondering about the actual value of the average pilot compared to the plane they flew.

Were they encouraged to risk their lives to bring home a damaged plane or was the pilot the top priority?

Espicially in terms of doctrine.

If so, was it ever acknowledged and was anything done to mitigate potential damages to the church?

There seems to be a pervading myth about Pope Joan, which, from what I gather, has been debunked by historians. What I am unsure on is the "sede stercoraria" the chair with a hole in the middle where Popes allegedly sat upon in order to be groped and confirmed to have testicles before they could officially become Pope. Was this an actual practice? If not, what was the real purpose of this chair?

Now that I'm being ruled by a different regime, how does this affect my daily life?

I've found multiple disputing sources, so which is it?

Bonus question: How was this related to the founding of Germany as a nation?

I always hear that the colonies revolted to throw off the shackles of tyranny and oppression, but am I thinking in modern terms when I hear those words? I never got the impression that things were really quite that bad in England, and after all, not all the colonies joined the revolution.

There's a show playing on History channel right now, and they say the Nazis expected the USSR to fall in 5 months. How were their predictions so wrong?

My grandfather, while recounting his service in Korea, had mentioned that he alongside fellow American troops feared their Turkish allies due to the popular assumption that they were ruthless brutes of men even going as far to collect the ears of their fallen enemies. While I'm sure this is nothing more than an ungrounded rumor shared amongst some Western troops, is there any actual historical truth behind the stories?

I'm interested in what drove people such as Thích Quảng Đức to such extreme measures as to immolate themselves? What is the origin of the catholic ruling minority? My first thought is French but hopefully someone can clarify in more detail.

Edit: and there's a typo in the title, meant to be 1963.

Was it involved in any decisive engagements? Did it have any impact on allied plans in the Mediterranean theater?