Great Aviation Wisdom

A superior pilot is one who uses superior judgement to avoid situations that would require using superior skill.

"Instrument flying is when your mind gets a grip on the fact that there is vision beyond sight."
 - U.S. Navy Approach magazine circa W.W.II

"If you're faced with a forced landing, fly the thing as far into the crash as possible."
 - Bob Hoover

"Though I Fly Through The Valley Of Death I Shall Fear No Evil, For I Am At 80,000 feet And Climbing."
 - sign over the entrance to the SR-71 location on Kadena AB, Okinawa

"You've never been lost until you've been lost at Mach 3."- Paul F. Crickmore

"The emergencies you train for almost never happen. It's the one you can't train for that kills you."
 - Ernest K. Gann, advice from the Old Pelican

"If you want to grow old as a pilot you've got to know when to push it, and when to back off."
 - Chuck Yeager

"There is no reason to fly through a thunderstorm in peacetime."
 - Sign over Squadron Ops desk at Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ, 1970.

"The only time an aircraft has too much fuel on board is when it is on fire."
 - Sir Charles Kingsford Smith, sometime before his death in the 1920's

"If you can't afford to do something right, then be darn sure you can afford to do it wrong."
 - Charlie Nelson

"Just remember, if you crash because of weather your funeral will be held on a sunny day."
 - Layton A. Bennett

"Keep thy airspeed up, lest the earth come from below and smite thee."
 - William Kershner

"When a prang seems inevitable, endeavour to strike the softest, cheapest object in the vicinity, as slowly and gently as possible."
 - advice given to RAF pilots during W.W.II