Boviosity!

A commenter at this obituary for one Nicky Barr contains this anecdote:

...on May 27 1942 the engine of his Kittyhawk overheated and he had to land in the desert. He took off the covers to repair the engine, having already prepared a rough strip for take off.

Then he heard enemy tanks approaching and, despite the malfunctioning engine, he took off without replacing the engine covers and reached base after being missing for four hours. The next day he was promoted to squadron leader. It was just six months since he had joined as a junior pilot officer.

That's the way to do things. Think quickly, take the main chance, don't let minor details bog you down ("Tanks! Man, I wish I could take off, but I could really damage my engine!")