Great Aviation Quotes Page 2

Experience comes from bad judgment.

It's when things are going just right that you'd better be suspicious.

There you are, fat as can be. The whole world is yours and you're the answer to the Wright brothers' prayers. You say to yourself, nothing can go wrong ... all my trespasses are forgiven. Best you not believe it.

Most gulls don't bother to learn more than the simplest facts of flight - how to get from shore to food and back again

The emergencies you train for almost never happen. It's the one you can't train for that kills you.

I fly because it releases my mind from the tyranny of petty things.

If you don't like what you see, stop looking.

And let's get one thing straight. There's a big difference between a pilot and an aviator. One is a technician; the other is an artist in love with flight.

The most beautiful dream that has haunted the heart of man since Icarus is today reality.

Tired of trying to sort them out, you relax for a second, then your head drops and you sit up with a jerk, Where are you? What are you doing here? Oh yes, of course, you are somewhere in the middle of the North Atlantic, with hungry waves below you like vultures impatiently waiting for the end.

Mistakes are inevitable in aviation, especially when one is still learning new things. The trick is to not make the mistake that will kill you.

You cannot propel yourself forward by patting yourself on the back.

Flying was a very tangible freedom. In those days, it was beauty, adventure, discovery - the epitome of breaking into new worlds.

To put your life in danger from time to time.

.. breeds a saneness in dealing with day-to-day trivialities.

The only time an aircraft has too much fuel on board is when it is on fire.

The J3 Cub is the safest airplane in the world; it can just barely kill you.

Nobody who has not been up in the sky on a glorious morning can possibly imagine the way a pilot feels in free heaven.

It's all right if your automobile goes wrong while you are driving it.

You can get out in the road and tinker with it. But if your airplane breaks down, you can't sit on a convenient cloud and tinker with that!

Flight is the only truly new sensation than men have achieved in modern history.

Man must rise above the Earth - to the top of the atmosphere and beyond - for only thus will he fully understand the world in which he lives.

We who fly do so for the love of flying.

We are alive in the air with this miracle that lies in our hands and beneath our feet.

The way I see it, you can either work for a living or you can fly airplanes. Me, I'd rather fly.

The military mind always imagines that the next war will be on the same lines as the last. That has never been the case and never will be. One of the great factors on the next war will be aircraft obviously. The potentialities of aircraft attack on a large scale are almost incalculable.

A fool and his money are soon invited everywhere.

What freedom lies in flying, what Godlike power it gives to men .

. . I lose all consciousness in this strong unmortal space crowded with beauty, pierced with danger.

Gravity. It's not just a good idea; it's the law!

Now listen, buddy, there are a few corny ideas you got to get out of your head if you're going to fly an airplane. Most things are just the reverse from what people think. The higher you are the safer you are. The Earth down there, that, that-s your enemy because once you hit that, boy, you splatter.

Any pilot can describe the mechanics of flying.

What it can do for the spirit of man is beyond description.

Whether outwardly or inwardly, whether in space or time, the farther we penetrate the unknown, the vaster and more marvelous it becomes.

Flying has torn apart the relationship of space and time: it uses our old clock but with new yardsticks.

Flying without feathers is not easy: my wings have no feathers.

Science, freedom, beauty, adventure: what more could you ask of life?

Even before we . . . had reached 300 feet, I recognized that the sky would be my home. I tumbled out of the airplane with stars in my eyes.

The highest art form of all is a human being in control of himself and his airplane in flight, urging the spirit of a machine to match his own.

The lure of flying is the lure of beauty.

A pilot must have a memory developed to absolute perfection.

But there are two higher qualities which he also must have. He must have good and quick judgment and decision, and a cool, calm courage that no peril can shake.