Quotes March 14, 2025

“Aviation is proof that given the will, we have the capacity to achieve the impossible”
Eddie Rickenbacker
 
 
 
 
“Good flying never killed an enemy.”
Attributed to Major Edward ‘Mick’ Mannock, RAF
Ranking British fighter ace of WWI, credited with 61 combat victories. Cited in 2008 book Mannock: The Life and Death of Major Edward Mannock VC, DSO, MC, RAF.
 
 
 
 
“First and foremost I had to learn to fly; learn, and then cast the thought of flying away into the background. Flying in itself is wholly unpredominant: to have a perfect pair of hands is important, but it is only a question of degree, not the end-all and be-all. Smooth landings do not affect the success of an operation; it is finding the right way to the right place that matters. In other words, flying must be subconscious.”
Group Captain Leonard Cheshire, RAF
In his book Bomber Pilot, 1943.
 
 
 
 
“Up there the world is divided into bastards and suckers. Make your choice.”
Derek Robinson, RAF
Piece of Cake, 1983.
 
 
 
 
“They fall into two broad categories; those who are going out to shoot and those who secretly and desperately know they will be shot at, the hunters and the hunted.”
Air Vice-Marshal J. E. ‘Johnnie’ Johnson, RAF
Regards fighter pilots. He was the highest scoring Western Allied fighter ace against the German Luftwaffe, making him one of the hunters. Wing leader, 1956.
 
 
 
 
“When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return”
Unknown
 
 
 
 
The sky is not the limit, it’s just the beginning”
Unknown