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

“He remembered a pilot telling him once, 'They pay us a hundred thousand dollars or more a year, Brian, and they really do it for just one reason. They know that in almost every pilot's career, there are thirty or forty seconds when he might actually make a difference. They pay us not to freeze when those seconds finally come.”
― Stephen King, One Past Midnight: The Langoliers

“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

“In the quiet, I talked to my friend, who happened to be a T-33, and asked point-blank the questions I could never answer.

'What are you, airplane? What is it about you and all your wide family that has made so many men leave all they know and come to you? Why do they waste good human love and concern on you who are nothing but so many pounds of steel and aluminum and gasoline and hydraulic fluid?”
― Richard Bach, A Gift of Wings

“Amelia Earhart is the inverse Helen Keller of aviation. Nobody has seen or heard from her since her last flight, so she was such a bad pilot she turned the whole world blind and deaf.”
― Jarod Kintz, Me and memes and memories

“An airplane's soul, which [the pilot] can never see or touch, is something that her pilot senses: an eagerness to fly; a little bit of performance that according to the charts should not be there, but is; a spirit behind the bullet-holed mass of torn metal with three propellers feathered, touching down on an English airfield. Not the metal, but the soul of an airplane is what her pilot wants to fly, and the reason he paints the name on her cowling. And with that soul, all planes have an immortality that you can feel when you walk onto any airport.”
― Richard Bach, A Gift of Wings

“Which would you choose, airplane, polished linoleum floors and a life secure behind purple-velvet rope, or the insecurities of mud and moonlight, of bent propellers and wingtips for repair?”
― Richard Bach, Biplane

“Aggressive airplane passengers probably have a bad case of Altitude Sickness. Many people are hypoxic at airplane cruising altitude. They would be wise to visit a doctor to see if they have lung or heart damage, hypoxic blood, Sleep Apnea, Altitude Hypersensitivity or something else that is causing oxygen starvation to the brain.”
― Steven Magee

“...which was the real Antoine: the one who would stand mesmerised in front of the window on rainy afternoons watching the drops racing across the glass, or the one who turned the attic upside down and then suddenly appeared disguised as a buccaneer or an explorer shouting ridiculous phrases in order to amuse his sisters and cousins.

He asks himself that very question. Who am I? The court jester who shakes his bells when he’s with others, or the silent introvert I am when I’m on my own?”
― Antonio Iturbe, The Prince of the Skies

“As an altitude researcher, I know the air turbulence is getting worse every year.”
― Steven Magee

“Being a leader is not to be the centre of attention. It is to be in a position to draw attention to problems in order to create high impact solutions.”
― Janna Cachola

“I don’t use the word ‘staff’—it limits the role. My team members are invested players in the bigger picture, not just task-doers.”
― Janna Cachola

“Words matter. I don’t say ‘staff’ because my team isn’t background support—they are associates and core to the outcome.”
― Janna Cachola

“Care is scalable. Empathy is profitable. Service is strategic.”
― Janna Cachola

“Amid the AI frenzy, humanising service isn't optional — it's essential.”
― Janna Cachola

“Flying blind is scary. But not as scary as dying grounded”
― William P. Wood, Caliban’s Flight

“Visually impaired individuals are breaking barriers in the skies, thanks to innovative technology, customized controls, and unstoppable determination.”
― William P. Wood, Caliban’s Flight

“I am with the angels and just completely happy.”
― Bertrand Piccard

“Flying should be fun, not a chore. That’s why we built this guide—to make the journey exciting, clear, and just challenging enough to keep you sharp.”
― Michael Wilson, Red Raven Part 107 Guidebook: A Complete Study Guide for the FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot Certification

“You’re not trying to go to the moon here—you just want to fly a drone.”
― Michael Wilson, Red Raven Part 107 Guidebook: A Complete Study Guide for the FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot Certification

“We’ve flipped through all 6,000 pages of government-speak so you don’t have to. All killer, no filler.”
― Michael Wilson, Red Raven Part 107 Guidebook: A Complete Study Guide for the FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot Certification

“The flight manual for the Saturn V rocket—the one that put a man on the moon—was barely 250 pages long. You’re not trying to go to the moon here—you just want to fly a drone.”
― Michael Wilson, Red Raven Part 107 Guidebook: A Complete Study Guide for the FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot Certification

“Why is this all so complicated? As anyone who's ever looked at the U.S. tax code knows, the government doesn't always do simple. That's why we're here—to cut through the bureaucratic language and give you the straight talk. We’ve done the hard work of digging through this dumpster fire and taking out just the things that are worth saving to your brain.”
― Michael Wilson, Red Raven Part 107 Guidebook: A Complete Study Guide for the FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot Certification