Aviation Quotes

“The fact that a cloud from a minor volcanic eruption in Iceland—a small disturbance in the complex mechanism of life on the Earth—can bring to a standstill the aerial traffic over an entire continent is a reminder of how, with all its power to transform nature, humankind remains just another species on the planet Earth.”
― Slavoj Žižek

“High Flight

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
of sun-split clouds, — and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of — wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there,
I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air....

Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace.
Where never lark, or even eagle flew —
And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
- Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.”
― John Gillespie MaGee Jr.

“The desire to fly is an idea handed down to us by our ancestors who... looked enviously on the birds soaring freely through space... on the infinite highway of the air.”
― Wilbur Wright

“And like no other sculpture in the history of art, the dead engine and dead airframe come to life at the touch of a human hand, and join their life with the pilot's own.”
― Richard Bach, A Gift of Wings

“In referance to flying through thunderstorms; "A pilot may earn his full pay for that year in less than two minutes. At the time of incident he would gladly return the entire amount for the privilege of being elsewhere.”
― Ernest K. Gann, Fate Is the Hunter

“The socioeconomic impact of such a minor outburst is due to our technological development (air travel)—a century ago, such an eruption would have passed unnoticed. Technological development makes us more independent from nature. At the same time, at a different level, it makes us more dependent on nature’s whims.”
― Slavoj Žižek

“A fallow mind is a field of discontent.”
― John H. Cunningham, Red Right Return

“The desire to fly is an idea handed down to us by our ancestors who... looked enviously on the birds soaring freely through space... on the infinite highway of the air.”
― Wilbur Wright

“…it was even more disconcerting to examine your charts before a proposed flight only to find that in many cases the bulk of the terrain over which you had to fly was bluntly marked: ‘UNSURVEYED.’ It was as if the mapmakers had said, ‘We are aware that between this spot and that one, there are several hundred thousands of acres, but until you make a forced landing there, we won’t know whether it is mud, desert, or jungle – and the chances are we won’t know then!”
― Beryl Markham

“I took a joy ride once on an EC-121 over the DMZ into the North. This EWO said to me, ‘Wait till you get to the real Air Force.’ Hell! We were flying over North Vietnam at the time for crying out loud!”
― Kent McInnis, Sierra Hotel: A Novel of the Vietnam War

“– Je crois que je comprends pourquoi vous aimez voler dans cette région, ajouta-t-elle. On se sent comme un oiseau.
Il lui jeta un regard surpris.
– C'est vrai ; vous avez raison, c'est pour cela que j'aime voler. Mais je suis encore plus proche de l'oiseau quand je fais de la chute libre.
– Vous voulez dire du parachute ?
– Pas tout à fait. Vous ne vous contentez pas de sauter d'un avion et de tirer sur un cordon. Les premières centaines de mètres se font sans le parachute. Pendant que vous tombez, vous vous mouvez en tous sens. On dirait un ballet dans le ciel. C'est une sensation indescriptible. On se sent libre.
– Ce doit être très dangereux, remarqua-t-elle.
– Oui, très... On joue avec la mort. On peut même être fasciné par ce sentiment intense de liberté au point d'oublier de tirer sur le cordon et d'ouvrir le parachute.
– Cela vous est-il arrivé ?
– Plusieurs fois. J'ai attendu jusqu'au dernier instant, pour voir ce qu'il se passerait si je ne faisais rien ; mais à chaque fois j'ai reculé devant la mort.”
― Flora Kidd, Marriage in Mexico

“It's all gone horribly wrong...”
― Warren James Palmer, Dominator

“There can be no atom bomb potentially more powerful than the air tourist, charged with curiosity, enthusiasm, and good will, who can roam the four corners of the world, meeting in friendship and understanding the people of other nations and race.”
― Juan Trippe

“It was nice to have three coaches who did not care how big or small a player was as long as he was tough, worked hard, and wanted to play.”
― Carl M. Robinson, Finding the Clouds and a Life

“I have a good and interesting life. The jobs I've had during my working years were not always high-praying, but I enjoyed them and did well at them...”
― Carl M. Robinson, Finding the Clouds and a Life

“We were flying to Brisbane via Kuala Lumpur, a journey of around fifteen hours, including the brief transit stop. Australia was a long way from anywhere yet modern aviation had made travel so convenient and affordable that no one really thought of it as difficult or hazardous anymore. Today’s travel woes centered around overcoming jet lag or figuring out your duty-free limits. I tried to imagine life in the eighteenth century when the First Fleet made the long and arduous sea voyage from Great Britain. The aviation industry was non-existent at that time, steam-powered ships were still decades away and the sailing vessels that arrived in 1788 took over a hundred days to reach Sydney.”
― Jason Rebello, Red Earth Diaries: A Migrant Couple's Backpacking Adventure in Australia

“Strap yourself into the jump-seat, make sure your harnesses are pulled really tightly, and let Scott ‘Sunshine’ Gibson give you the flight of your life. Join him as he meets up with some old and new comrades, Ryan ‘shut-eye’ Davis, Lawrence ‘sticky’ LaBelle, Jack ‘crackerjack’ McCleary, Carson ‘sleepy’ Sandmann, John Edward ‘long john’ Silver, and Sebastian ‘Atlas’ Williams, aboard a Beech 18, Boeing B-29 Superfortress, Boeing 314 Clipper, and a Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer and share in his adventures from Newfoundland to Mexico to Malaysia in the late 1960’s. Hang on to your hats boys. It’s time to fly.

Extract from 'Short Finals”
― BH McKechnie

“Overhead a plane passes dreamily, its running lights winking.”
― E.B. White, Here Is New York

“Wife, three children and two aeroplanes to support - and the aeroplanes aren't the problem...”
― Warren James Palmer, Star Web

“The world can be optimistic and anticipate the launch of newer shapes
of aircraft in the future, with better capacity and integrated techniques
meeting customer needs through enhanced inflight services. Overall
increased flexibility, cybersecurity, and growth in budgeted airlines to
encourage air travel, upgraded predictive technology, and the allied are
some of the things that can be expected a decade from now.
Withal the future of airports would be much reflected in the expansive
use of AI (Artificial Intelligence) and the decade ahead would be
brighter with enhanced and swift connectivity on one hand and
upgraded facilities at airports and within aircraft on the other.”
― Henrietta Newton Martin, Author-Airports and Airlines Management-Students Ed

“I avoid traveling on budget airlines.”
― Steven Magee

“Customer service tends to be bad on budget airlines.”
― Steven Magee

“Wise people do not fly budget airlines!”
― Steven Magee

“If Southwest Airlines computers are not being fixed, what else is not being fixed?”
― Steven Magee

“I have read stories of budget airlines stranding families and them having to pay $9,000 to get home!”
― Steven Magee

“It only took one flight with a budget airline to discover how horrible their airline was!”
― Steven Magee

“Hello budget airlines, goodbye customer service.”
― Steven Magee

“Hello video camera, goodbye airline ticket.”
― Steven Magee

“Calling 911 for a police officer when an airline is engaging in extortion with you is a perfectly reasonable thing to do.”
― Steven Magee

“History was always present for Churchill. He understood, perhaps, that the essence of history is the present, for the present is nothing other than what the past has made it, only those most essential elements of the past being retained in the present. That is what makes them essential. One’s understanding of the past is therefore a constituent part of one’s understanding of current events and a guide as to how to act in it.”
― Stephen Bungay, The Most Dangerous Enemy: A History of the Battle of Britain