Fighter Pilot Quotes - Page 2

• As a fighter pilot I know from my own experiences how decisive surprise and luck can be for success, which in the long run comes only to the one who combines daring with cool thinking.

  Adolf Galland

  Running, Thinking, Long

  12 Copy quote

• If I were, to pick out the most valuable personal traits of a fighter pilot, aggressiveness would rate high on the list. Time and again, I have seen aggressive action, even from a disadvantageous position, completely rout a powerful Nip formation.

  Charles H. MacDonald

  Powerful, Pilots, Lists

  5 Copy quote

• I think I was about 16 when I first figured I wanted to be an actor. I wanted to be a fighter pilot before that, but then I thought I don't want to kill people so that ruled that out.

  Max Irons

  Thinking, People, Firsts

  "Red Riding Hood - Max Irons interview". Interview with Rob Carnevale, www.indielondon.co.uk.

  13 Copy quote

  Show source

• I landed the role of Bravo 5, the only female fighter pilot in 'Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace.' I did my bit and fired my guns, but I haven't a notion of which side I was on or who I was firing the guns at.

  Celia Imrie

  Stars, War, Gun

  11 Copy quote

• A top World War II ace once said that fighter pilots fall into two broad categories: those who go out to kill and those who, secretly, desperately, know they are going to get killed-the hunters and the hunted.

  Nathan Farragut Twining

  War, Fall, Two

  4 Copy quote

• When one has shot down one's first, second or third opponent, then one begins to find out how the trick is done.

  Manfred von Richthofen

  Done, Opponents, Firsts

  Manfred Von Richthofen (2009). “The Red Baron”, p.93, Pen and Sword

  50 Copy quote

  Show source

• The smallest amount of vanity is fatal in aeroplane fighting. Selfdistrust rather is the quality to which many a pilot owes his protracted existence.

  Eddie Rickenbacker

  Fighting, Vanity, Quality

  Eddie Rickenbacker (2012). “Fighting the Flying Circus”, p.48, Tales End Press

  9 Copy quote

  Show source

• The qualities that made for success in a fighter-pilot seemed to be just those sturdy qualities that made for success in other professions; observation, initiative, determination, courage, including the courage to run away. In course of time it appeared that men who had a private axe to grind beyond the public axe of the King's enemies were especially successful.

  Jim Bailey

  Running, Determination, Kings

  Jim Bailey (2013). “The Sky Suspended: A Fighter Pilot's Story”, p.37, A&C Black

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• I've always been intrigued by fighter pilots and strategy because it occurs in like, milliseconds, you know.

  Robert Greene

  Pilots, Fighter, Strategy

  Source: dilanka.cc

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• Fighter pilots rove in the area allotted to them in any way they like, and when they spot an enemy they attack and shoot them down.... Everything else is rubbish.

  Manfred von Richthofen

  Enemy, Pilots, Way

  21 Copy quote

• As a youngster, I read of Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon. As a student, I wrote English reports on science fiction. And as a fighter pilot, I observed the selection of the Mercury astronauts. All this was fascinating, but I really didn't think I would ever be a part of it. It was only when my good friend Ed White was selected as a Gemini astronaut that I decided to join NASA as part of the Apollo program.

  Buzz Aldrin

  Good Friend, Thinking, White

  Scholastic Interview, teacher.scholastic.com. November 17, 1998.

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• I just personally decided I was going to be the first woman fighter pilot.

  Martha McSally

  Pilots, Firsts, Fighter

  5 Copy quote

• If you would've asked me about getting a pilot's license before 2005, I'd say you were crazy. After I graduated college, a fighter pilot asked me if I wanted to go up on a flight in a single-engine plane. I always had a fear about being in an airplane, but I took this opportunity to go up on my first flight in a single-engine rather than a big commercial plane I was accustomed to. I was hooked and made a commitment to become a pilot. I wanted to motivate others to not let fear stand in the way of their opportunities.

  Jessica Cox

  Crazy, Airplane, Commitment

  Source: www.marieclaire.com

  21 Copy quote

  Show source

• It is true to say that the first kill can influence the whole future career of a fighter pilot. Many to whom the first victory over the opponent has been long denied either by unfortunate circumstances or by bad luck can suffer from frustration or develop complexes they may never rid themselves of again.

  Adolf Galland

  Frustration, Careers, Long

  Adolf Galland (1954). “The first and the last: the rise and fall of the German fighter forces, 1938-1945”

  9 Copy quote

  Show source

• The general's staff is a handpicked collection of killers, spies, geniuses, patriots, political operators and outright maniacs. There's a former head of British Special Forces, two Navy Seals, an Afghan Special Forces commando, a lawyer, two fighter pilots and at least two dozen combat veterans and counterinsurgency experts. They jokingly refer to themselves as Team America, taking the name from the South Park-esque sendup of military cluelessness, and they pride themselves on their can-do attitude and their disdain for authority.

  Michael Hastings

  Attitude, Team, Military

  "The Runaway General: The Profile That Brought Down McChrystal" by Michael Hastings, www.rollingstone.com. June 22, 2010.

  5 Copy quote

  Show source

• The colossus of World War II seemed to be like a pyramid turned upside down, and for the moment the whole burden of the war rested on the few hundred German fighter pilots on the Channel coast.

  Adolf Galland

  War, Pyramids, World

  Adolf Galland (1954). “The first and the last: the rise and fall of the German fighter forces, 1938-1945”

  52 Copy quote

  Show source

• I've always wanted to be a fighter pilot. But I don't want to kill people. I'd hate to.

  Max Irons

  Hate, People, Want

  4 Copy quote

• And there were sort of three toys for boys and three toys for girls. And the boys I can remember was, well, there was a Dan Dare Ray Gun. Dan Dare was a sort of a cartoon character. He was just sort of a - he was like a Battle of Britain fighter pilot, only in space.

  Nick Lowe

  Girl, Character, Gun

  "Nick Lowe Brings His 'Quality Holiday Revue' To America". "Fresh Air" with Terry Gross, www.npr.org. December 22, 2014.

  5 Copy quote

  Show source

• The Age of Average gave us a lot. Take clothing: We've all benefited remarkably from large, medium and small sizes making things affordable and available, but when it really counts - the wedding gown and the pressurized fighter pilot suit - it's bespoke all the way.

  L. Todd Rose

  Average, Suits, Size

  Source: www.macleans.ca

  8 Copy quote

  Show source

• I've played a super soldier, a doctor, a World War II fighter pilot, a professional footballer, and a meth-dealing junkie. All those things allow you to educate yourself about different worlds that you have to get familiar with.

  Robert Kazinsky

  War, Doctors, Soldier

  Source: collider.com

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• I didn't really want to be an actor when I was growing up - I wanted to be whatever I was reading about or seeing at the time. When I read The Firm I wanted to be a lawyer; when I saw Top Gun, I wanted to be a fighter pilot. So that's why acting probably turned out to be a good thing for me because I get to be people for five minutes or 90 minutes. I'd be curious to see if I had the attention span to be like those guys on 30 Rock and play the same character season after season.

  Jason Sudeikis

  Growing Up, Reading, Character

  8 Copy quote

• We never had books at home, but my dad, seeing how keen I was to read, took me to Islington Library when I was about eight and we pulled out two - a Biggles and a science fiction novel. I never got the ace fighter pilot but fell in love with all things to do with the future and space. Isaac Asimov soon became my guiding star.

  Gary Kemp

  Stars, Dad, Book

  4 Copy quote