Tag: Fighter pilots

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
 
 
 
 

Quotes June 21, 2024

From Clara Barton’s tireless work founding the American Red Cross to the first female Medal of Honor winner, Dr. Mary Walker, to our first female combat fighter pilot Lt. Kara Hultgreen, no list of American heroes is complete without the names of some of these extraordinary women.
Brian Kilmeade
 
 
 
 
When I started at the Air Force Academy, I found out that I couldn’t be a fighter pilot simply because I had ovaries. That was enough to make me go for it.
I just personally decided I was going to be the first woman fighter pilot.
In 2001, I was an Air Force lieutenant colonel and A-10 fighter pilot stationed in Saudi Arabia, in charge of rescue operations for no-fly enforcement in Iraq and then in Afghanistan.
Before I became a fighter pilot, everyone said that women didn’t have the physical strength. Well, I had just completed the Hawaii Ironman Triathlon.
Martha McSally
 
 
 
 
Children often ask me, they say, ‘Well, how do you become a fighter pilot, or how do you become an astronaut, or…?’ And I say, ‘Love what you’re doing and do it very well.’
Gregory H. Johnson
 
 
 
 
By interviewing at least one veteran, you can preserve memories that otherwise might be lost. My uncle was a downed fighter pilot and P.O.W. in World War II, and I am looking forward to recording his story for inclusion in the project.
Spencer Bachu