Pilot Skills Quotes

I learned the mechanics of how to fly a plane, but I never lifted a plane off the ground.

I fly my own airplane, and I have since 1960. I rarely fly anywhere other than my own airplane.

Every flying machine has its own unique characteristics, some good, some not so good. Pilots naturally fly the craft in such a manner as to take advantage of its good characteristics and avoid the areas where it is not so good.

Today it is even more important to dominate the . . . highly sophisticated weapon systems, perhaps even more important than being a good pilot; to make the best use of this system.

And, I wouldn't consider myself to be a natural pilot; I've had to work at it.

I never did get hit, and neither did any of the leaders that I flew wing for.

During my career as an airline pilot, I had the opportunity to be a check and training captain. Part of this job was to train and test experienced pilots to ensure that they had the necessary knowledge and skills to safely and efficiently operate those magnificent big jets.

Roarke: You'd enjoy flying more if you'd learn the controls. Eve: I'd rather pretend I'm on the ground. Roarke: And how many vehicles have you wrecked, had blown up, or destroyed in the last, oh, two years? Eve: Think about that, then imagine it happening when I'm at the wheel at thirty thousand feet. Roarke: Good point. I'll do the flying.

When I was training to be a pilot, there was a large section in the book on how to drop mail from the plane.

Somebody said that carrier pilots were the best in the world, and they must be or there wouldn't be any of them left alive.

I was more of a person that liked flying and operating high-performance machinery, and I liked that, the skill it took, the intelligence it took to do that.

I've had a private pilot's license for years and flown all round the U.K. and over to France.

It's much like playing jazz, flying. It's multitasking in real time. You have a number of instruments that alone won't tell you exactly what the airplane is doing but together give you a picture of everything that's going on.

I fly a light aircraft.

I think aerobatic pilots make the best pilots because you know, you're just so confident in an aeroplane. If you're gonna get into trouble, I'd rather be with someone that's a skilled aerobatic pilot.

I always respected Neil Armstrong highly. He was probably the coolest under pressure of anyone I ever had the privilege of flying with. I never saw him flustered.

Four semesters of organic chemistry made a pilot out of me.

Flying prevails whenever a man and his airplane are put to a test of maximum performance.

Who was the best pilot I ever saw? You're lookin' at 'im.

Landing the airplane I think is the most difficult thing that I've every learned to do in my life.

I had never been so challenged in an airplane that I doubted the outcome.

The experienced fighting pilot does not take unnecessary risks. His business in to shoot down enemy planes, not to get shot down. His trained hand and eye and judgment are as much a part of his armament as his machinegun, and a fiftyfifty chance is the worst he will take or should take except where the show is of the kind that . . . justifies the sacrifice of plane or pilot.

Very few pilots even know how to read Morse code anymore. But if a pilot could read Morse code, he could tell which beacon he was approaching by the code that was flashing from it.

The flying? I'm not worried about it. I'm safe up there. I feel very comfortable with my abilities flying an airplane.

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.