Great Aviation Quotes
@avquotes.bsky.social
Quotations on flying, airplanes, and being a pilot.
🦅 ✈️ 👨🏼✈️
Lovingly complied by aviation nerd bon vivant Dave English. On the web since 1996: www.AviationQuotations.com
🦅 ✈️ 👨🏼✈️
Lovingly complied by aviation nerd bon vivant Dave English. On the web since 1996: www.AviationQuotations.com
“We are on the line 157 337 wl rept msg we wl rept… “
Last received transmission from
Earhart‘s plane. Recorded by Itasca, a U.S. Coast Guard cutter at 8:43 am on Jul 2, 1937.
www.cbsnews.com/news/amelia-...
Last received transmission from
Earhart‘s plane. Recorded by Itasca, a U.S. Coast Guard cutter at 8:43 am on Jul 2, 1937.
www.cbsnews.com/news/amelia-...
Amelia Earhart records released by U.S. include her last known communications and search locations for missing aviator
The documents include military reports about the search as well as memos, telegrams and newspaper clippings.
www.cbsnews.com
November 21, 2025 at 7:21 PM
“We are on the line 157 337 wl rept msg we wl rept… “
Last received transmission from
Earhart‘s plane. Recorded by Itasca, a U.S. Coast Guard cutter at 8:43 am on Jul 2, 1937.
www.cbsnews.com/news/amelia-...
Last received transmission from
Earhart‘s plane. Recorded by Itasca, a U.S. Coast Guard cutter at 8:43 am on Jul 2, 1937.
www.cbsnews.com/news/amelia-...
❝ There are a lot of different parts of this airplane in a lot of different places. ❞
Todd Inman
Member, National Transportation Safety Board, public briefing the day after the fatal UPS 2976 crash of a MD-11 taking off from the Louisville, KY, airport. AP reports, 5 November 2025.
Todd Inman
Member, National Transportation Safety Board, public briefing the day after the fatal UPS 2976 crash of a MD-11 taking off from the Louisville, KY, airport. AP reports, 5 November 2025.
November 6, 2025 at 12:09 PM
❝ There are a lot of different parts of this airplane in a lot of different places. ❞
Todd Inman
Member, National Transportation Safety Board, public briefing the day after the fatal UPS 2976 crash of a MD-11 taking off from the Louisville, KY, airport. AP reports, 5 November 2025.
Todd Inman
Member, National Transportation Safety Board, public briefing the day after the fatal UPS 2976 crash of a MD-11 taking off from the Louisville, KY, airport. AP reports, 5 November 2025.
Looking back on 6000 hours, and, “humbly forward, thinking how much more there is to learn.”
avbrief.com/six-thousand
avbrief.com/six-thousand
Six Thousand… - AvBrief.com
A reflection on 6,000 logged hours—how every flight, from Cubs to test aircraft, teaches lessons and shapes the journey of becoming a better aviator.
avbrief.com
October 3, 2025 at 12:44 PM
Looking back on 6000 hours, and, “humbly forward, thinking how much more there is to learn.”
avbrief.com/six-thousand
avbrief.com/six-thousand
“When you die and Saint Peter says to you, ‘Hey, when were you happiest down there?’ You're gonna say: Well, it was okay the day I got married, and I didn't much mind the day I first fell in love. But seeing the sky with the Great Waldo Pepper, that beats 'em all.”
RIP Robert Redford
RIP Robert Redford
September 16, 2025 at 1:57 PM
“When you die and Saint Peter says to you, ‘Hey, when were you happiest down there?’ You're gonna say: Well, it was okay the day I got married, and I didn't much mind the day I first fell in love. But seeing the sky with the Great Waldo Pepper, that beats 'em all.”
RIP Robert Redford
RIP Robert Redford
#jet #predictions #aeronautics
“The turbine is the most efficient prime mover known it is possible that it will be developed for aircraft, especially if some means of driving by petrol could be devised.”
Frank Whittle, Future Developments in Aircraft Design, 1928.
www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/...
“The turbine is the most efficient prime mover known it is possible that it will be developed for aircraft, especially if some means of driving by petrol could be devised.”
Frank Whittle, Future Developments in Aircraft Design, 1928.
www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/...
Frank Whittle (Icon Science): The Invention of the Jet
Frank Whittle (Icon Science): The Invention of the Jet [Nahum, Andrew] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Frank Whittle (Icon Science): The Invention of the Jet
www.amazon.com
August 28, 2025 at 6:33 PM
#jet #predictions #aeronautics
“The turbine is the most efficient prime mover known it is possible that it will be developed for aircraft, especially if some means of driving by petrol could be devised.”
Frank Whittle, Future Developments in Aircraft Design, 1928.
www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/...
“The turbine is the most efficient prime mover known it is possible that it will be developed for aircraft, especially if some means of driving by petrol could be devised.”
Frank Whittle, Future Developments in Aircraft Design, 1928.
www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/...
Great article showing how often fakey fake lines are passed off as quotations from famous people.
Rest assured gentle reader that I’m working to verify and correctly cite all the aviation quotes!
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/23/f...
Rest assured gentle reader that I’m working to verify and correctly cite all the aviation quotes!
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/23/f...
Famous People Didn’t Actually Say Your Favorite Wedding Quotation
www.nytimes.com
August 23, 2025 at 10:54 PM
Great article showing how often fakey fake lines are passed off as quotations from famous people.
Rest assured gentle reader that I’m working to verify and correctly cite all the aviation quotes!
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/23/f...
Rest assured gentle reader that I’m working to verify and correctly cite all the aviation quotes!
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/23/f...
“When I meet God, I’m going to ask him two questions: why relativity? And why turbulence? I really believe he’ll have an answer for the first.”
Attributed to Werner Heisenberg, but never with any proof.
#aerodynamics #relativity #fluiddynamics #heisenberg
Attributed to Werner Heisenberg, but never with any proof.
#aerodynamics #relativity #fluiddynamics #heisenberg
July 23, 2025 at 8:56 PM
“When I meet God, I’m going to ask him two questions: why relativity? And why turbulence? I really believe he’ll have an answer for the first.”
Attributed to Werner Heisenberg, but never with any proof.
#aerodynamics #relativity #fluiddynamics #heisenberg
Attributed to Werner Heisenberg, but never with any proof.
#aerodynamics #relativity #fluiddynamics #heisenberg
RIP Felix Baumgartner:
“I wish the whole world could see what I see. Sometimes you have to go up really high to understand how small you really are.”
After jumping from 128,100 feet and going supersonic during freefall. Quoted in The New York Times, 14 October 2012.
xcmag.com/news/felix-b...
“I wish the whole world could see what I see. Sometimes you have to go up really high to understand how small you really are.”
After jumping from 128,100 feet and going supersonic during freefall. Quoted in The New York Times, 14 October 2012.
xcmag.com/news/felix-b...
Felix Baumgartner dies paramotoring
Felix Baumgartner, the Austrian skydiver, Base jumper and Red Bull pilot who jumped from the edge of space, has died in a paramotoring accident in Italy.
xcmag.com
July 18, 2025 at 5:01 PM
RIP Felix Baumgartner:
“I wish the whole world could see what I see. Sometimes you have to go up really high to understand how small you really are.”
After jumping from 128,100 feet and going supersonic during freefall. Quoted in The New York Times, 14 October 2012.
xcmag.com/news/felix-b...
“I wish the whole world could see what I see. Sometimes you have to go up really high to understand how small you really are.”
After jumping from 128,100 feet and going supersonic during freefall. Quoted in The New York Times, 14 October 2012.
xcmag.com/news/felix-b...
#safety #safetyposter #flying #seaplane
“Warning! Consider the possible consequences if you are careless in your work.”
L. N. Britton
1917 US safety poster. Retrieved from the Library of Congress www.loc.gov/item/2002708884/.
“Warning! Consider the possible consequences if you are careless in your work.”
L. N. Britton
1917 US safety poster. Retrieved from the Library of Congress www.loc.gov/item/2002708884/.
June 24, 2025 at 11:25 AM
#safety #safetyposter #flying #seaplane
“Warning! Consider the possible consequences if you are careless in your work.”
L. N. Britton
1917 US safety poster. Retrieved from the Library of Congress www.loc.gov/item/2002708884/.
“Warning! Consider the possible consequences if you are careless in your work.”
L. N. Britton
1917 US safety poster. Retrieved from the Library of Congress www.loc.gov/item/2002708884/.
RIP #FredSmith:
“The concept is interesting and well-formed, but in order to earn better than a ‘C’, the idea must be feasible.”
Attributed to a Yale University management professor, in response to Smith’s 1969 student paper proposing reliable overnight delivery service. Fred later started #FedEx.
“The concept is interesting and well-formed, but in order to earn better than a ‘C’, the idea must be feasible.”
Attributed to a Yale University management professor, in response to Smith’s 1969 student paper proposing reliable overnight delivery service. Fred later started #FedEx.
June 22, 2025 at 5:01 PM
RIP #FredSmith:
“The concept is interesting and well-formed, but in order to earn better than a ‘C’, the idea must be feasible.”
Attributed to a Yale University management professor, in response to Smith’s 1969 student paper proposing reliable overnight delivery service. Fred later started #FedEx.
“The concept is interesting and well-formed, but in order to earn better than a ‘C’, the idea must be feasible.”
Attributed to a Yale University management professor, in response to Smith’s 1969 student paper proposing reliable overnight delivery service. Fred later started #FedEx.
“The cockpit is the deepest, most protective, most private sort of home.”
RIP William Langewiesche.
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/16/b...
#flying #langewiesche #cockpit
RIP William Langewiesche.
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/16/b...
#flying #langewiesche #cockpit
William Langewiesche, the ‘Steve McQueen of Journalism,’ Dies at 70
www.nytimes.com
June 16, 2025 at 6:18 PM
“The cockpit is the deepest, most protective, most private sort of home.”
RIP William Langewiesche.
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/16/b...
#flying #langewiesche #cockpit
RIP William Langewiesche.
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/16/b...
#flying #langewiesche #cockpit
“It may be necessary for the regulatory agency to fix some suitable age for retirement.”
C. R. Smith
Chairman of American Airlines, letter to his friend Elwood Quesada, the FAA's first administrator, regards the pilot's union being against American forcing older pilots to retire. 5 February 1959.
C. R. Smith
Chairman of American Airlines, letter to his friend Elwood Quesada, the FAA's first administrator, regards the pilot's union being against American forcing older pilots to retire. 5 February 1959.
May 19, 2025 at 7:26 PM
“It may be necessary for the regulatory agency to fix some suitable age for retirement.”
C. R. Smith
Chairman of American Airlines, letter to his friend Elwood Quesada, the FAA's first administrator, regards the pilot's union being against American forcing older pilots to retire. 5 February 1959.
C. R. Smith
Chairman of American Airlines, letter to his friend Elwood Quesada, the FAA's first administrator, regards the pilot's union being against American forcing older pilots to retire. 5 February 1959.
#OTD 29 years ago:
“Yes, the airline is safe. I would fly on it. It meets our standards”
David Hinson, Federal Aviation Administrator
“I have flown ValuJet, ValuJet is a safe airline, as is our entire aviation system”
Federico Peña, Secretary of Transportation
12 May 1996, day after ValuJet 592
“Yes, the airline is safe. I would fly on it. It meets our standards”
David Hinson, Federal Aviation Administrator
“I have flown ValuJet, ValuJet is a safe airline, as is our entire aviation system”
Federico Peña, Secretary of Transportation
12 May 1996, day after ValuJet 592
May 12, 2025 at 1:05 PM
#OTD 29 years ago:
“Yes, the airline is safe. I would fly on it. It meets our standards”
David Hinson, Federal Aviation Administrator
“I have flown ValuJet, ValuJet is a safe airline, as is our entire aviation system”
Federico Peña, Secretary of Transportation
12 May 1996, day after ValuJet 592
“Yes, the airline is safe. I would fly on it. It meets our standards”
David Hinson, Federal Aviation Administrator
“I have flown ValuJet, ValuJet is a safe airline, as is our entire aviation system”
Federico Peña, Secretary of Transportation
12 May 1996, day after ValuJet 592
#OTD 40 years ago:
“There are only two emotions in a plane: boredom and terror.”
Orson Welles
Interview to celebrate his 70th birthday, The Times of London, 6 May 1985.
#flying #airline #orsonwelles
“There are only two emotions in a plane: boredom and terror.”
Orson Welles
Interview to celebrate his 70th birthday, The Times of London, 6 May 1985.
#flying #airline #orsonwelles
May 6, 2025 at 11:21 AM
#OTD 40 years ago:
“There are only two emotions in a plane: boredom and terror.”
Orson Welles
Interview to celebrate his 70th birthday, The Times of London, 6 May 1985.
#flying #airline #orsonwelles
“There are only two emotions in a plane: boredom and terror.”
Orson Welles
Interview to celebrate his 70th birthday, The Times of London, 6 May 1985.
#flying #airline #orsonwelles
#OTD 8 years ago:
“This airplane is designed by clowns, who in turn are supervised by monkeys.”
Boeing company pilot, name redacted, in internal message to a colleague regards the B737 MAX, 26 April 2017. Part of the document dump sent to the US Congress investigation, October 2019.
#Boeing #B737
“This airplane is designed by clowns, who in turn are supervised by monkeys.”
Boeing company pilot, name redacted, in internal message to a colleague regards the B737 MAX, 26 April 2017. Part of the document dump sent to the US Congress investigation, October 2019.
#Boeing #B737
April 26, 2025 at 11:41 AM
#OTD 37 years ago:
“Enemy fighters at two o'clock!
Roger. What should I do until then?”
Calvin and Hobbes cartoon by Bill Watterson. First published 24 April 1988.
#F4 #fighterpilot #CalvinAndHobbes
“Enemy fighters at two o'clock!
Roger. What should I do until then?”
Calvin and Hobbes cartoon by Bill Watterson. First published 24 April 1988.
#F4 #fighterpilot #CalvinAndHobbes
April 24, 2025 at 11:54 AM
#OTD 37 years ago:
“Enemy fighters at two o'clock!
Roger. What should I do until then?”
Calvin and Hobbes cartoon by Bill Watterson. First published 24 April 1988.
#F4 #fighterpilot #CalvinAndHobbes
“Enemy fighters at two o'clock!
Roger. What should I do until then?”
Calvin and Hobbes cartoon by Bill Watterson. First published 24 April 1988.
#F4 #fighterpilot #CalvinAndHobbes
#OTD, 12 years ago:
“It is a huge thrill. You’re up there on your own, and you really feel like this is life. I’m the king of the castle up here. That's really what it's like.”
Captain Eric 'Winkle' Brown
Record holding Royal Navy test pilot. BBC interview 23 April 2013.
#flying #testpilot
“It is a huge thrill. You’re up there on your own, and you really feel like this is life. I’m the king of the castle up here. That's really what it's like.”
Captain Eric 'Winkle' Brown
Record holding Royal Navy test pilot. BBC interview 23 April 2013.
#flying #testpilot
April 23, 2025 at 3:48 PM
#OTD, 12 years ago:
“It is a huge thrill. You’re up there on your own, and you really feel like this is life. I’m the king of the castle up here. That's really what it's like.”
Captain Eric 'Winkle' Brown
Record holding Royal Navy test pilot. BBC interview 23 April 2013.
#flying #testpilot
“It is a huge thrill. You’re up there on your own, and you really feel like this is life. I’m the king of the castle up here. That's really what it's like.”
Captain Eric 'Winkle' Brown
Record holding Royal Navy test pilot. BBC interview 23 April 2013.
#flying #testpilot
#OTD 56 years ago:
“It was wizard — a cool, calm, and collected operation.”
Brian Trubshaw
Concorde test pilot, on the ground after first flight of a British-built concorde, prototype 002. RAF Fairford, 9 April 1969.
#concorde #firstflight #Flying #testpilot
“It was wizard — a cool, calm, and collected operation.”
Brian Trubshaw
Concorde test pilot, on the ground after first flight of a British-built concorde, prototype 002. RAF Fairford, 9 April 1969.
#concorde #firstflight #Flying #testpilot
April 9, 2025 at 12:07 PM
#OTD 56 years ago:
“It was wizard — a cool, calm, and collected operation.”
Brian Trubshaw
Concorde test pilot, on the ground after first flight of a British-built concorde, prototype 002. RAF Fairford, 9 April 1969.
#concorde #firstflight #Flying #testpilot
“It was wizard — a cool, calm, and collected operation.”
Brian Trubshaw
Concorde test pilot, on the ground after first flight of a British-built concorde, prototype 002. RAF Fairford, 9 April 1969.
#concorde #firstflight #Flying #testpilot
#OTD 19 years ago:
“Bankruptcy as a solution in kind of un-American.”
Tom Horton
Chief Financial Officer American Airlines, reported in USA Today newspaper, 6 April 2006. They entered bankruptcy on 29 November 2011.
#AmericanAirlines #airline #Bankruptcy
“Bankruptcy as a solution in kind of un-American.”
Tom Horton
Chief Financial Officer American Airlines, reported in USA Today newspaper, 6 April 2006. They entered bankruptcy on 29 November 2011.
#AmericanAirlines #airline #Bankruptcy
April 6, 2025 at 12:24 PM
#OTD 19 years ago:
“Bankruptcy as a solution in kind of un-American.”
Tom Horton
Chief Financial Officer American Airlines, reported in USA Today newspaper, 6 April 2006. They entered bankruptcy on 29 November 2011.
#AmericanAirlines #airline #Bankruptcy
“Bankruptcy as a solution in kind of un-American.”
Tom Horton
Chief Financial Officer American Airlines, reported in USA Today newspaper, 6 April 2006. They entered bankruptcy on 29 November 2011.
#AmericanAirlines #airline #Bankruptcy
#OTD 42 years ago:
“A recession is when you have to tighten your belt. A depression is when you have no belt to tighten. When you’ve lost your trousers — you’re in the airline business!”
Sir Adam Thomson
Founder & chairman of British Caledonian Airways, The Illustrated London News, 1 April 1983.
“A recession is when you have to tighten your belt. A depression is when you have no belt to tighten. When you’ve lost your trousers — you’re in the airline business!”
Sir Adam Thomson
Founder & chairman of British Caledonian Airways, The Illustrated London News, 1 April 1983.
April 1, 2025 at 11:17 AM
#OTD 42 years ago:
“A recession is when you have to tighten your belt. A depression is when you have no belt to tighten. When you’ve lost your trousers — you’re in the airline business!”
Sir Adam Thomson
Founder & chairman of British Caledonian Airways, The Illustrated London News, 1 April 1983.
“A recession is when you have to tighten your belt. A depression is when you have no belt to tighten. When you’ve lost your trousers — you’re in the airline business!”
Sir Adam Thomson
Founder & chairman of British Caledonian Airways, The Illustrated London News, 1 April 1983.
#OTD 90 years ago:
“The lure of flying is the lure of beauty. The dramas of the clouds, the glory of the stars, the charm of landscapes and the wonders of the waters and skies have, to me, an irresistible appeal”
Ameila Earhart
Quoted in Two Ocean Hops Traced, Los Angeles Times, 31 March 1935.
“The lure of flying is the lure of beauty. The dramas of the clouds, the glory of the stars, the charm of landscapes and the wonders of the waters and skies have, to me, an irresistible appeal”
Ameila Earhart
Quoted in Two Ocean Hops Traced, Los Angeles Times, 31 March 1935.
March 31, 2025 at 12:32 PM
#OTD 90 years ago:
“The lure of flying is the lure of beauty. The dramas of the clouds, the glory of the stars, the charm of landscapes and the wonders of the waters and skies have, to me, an irresistible appeal”
Ameila Earhart
Quoted in Two Ocean Hops Traced, Los Angeles Times, 31 March 1935.
“The lure of flying is the lure of beauty. The dramas of the clouds, the glory of the stars, the charm of landscapes and the wonders of the waters and skies have, to me, an irresistible appeal”
Ameila Earhart
Quoted in Two Ocean Hops Traced, Los Angeles Times, 31 March 1935.
#bigdata #safety #FAA
“The next accident is in the data right now.”
Jennifer Homendy
Chairwoman of the NTSB, public comments to Congress, 26 March 2025, hearing following the midair collision between an American Airlines passenger jet and an Army Black Hawk helicopter near Washington, D.C.
“The next accident is in the data right now.”
Jennifer Homendy
Chairwoman of the NTSB, public comments to Congress, 26 March 2025, hearing following the midair collision between an American Airlines passenger jet and an Army Black Hawk helicopter near Washington, D.C.
March 28, 2025 at 1:18 AM
#OTD 28 years ago:
“It was wonderful. I’m a new man. I go home exhilarated.”
President George Bush
After #skydiving from 12,500 feet at age 72. He pulled the rip cord at 4,500 feet and floated down to a soft landing. Yuma, Arizona, 25 March 1997. Front page of The New York Times, 26 March 1997.
“It was wonderful. I’m a new man. I go home exhilarated.”
President George Bush
After #skydiving from 12,500 feet at age 72. He pulled the rip cord at 4,500 feet and floated down to a soft landing. Yuma, Arizona, 25 March 1997. Front page of The New York Times, 26 March 1997.
March 25, 2025 at 10:51 AM
#OTD 28 years ago:
“It was wonderful. I’m a new man. I go home exhilarated.”
President George Bush
After #skydiving from 12,500 feet at age 72. He pulled the rip cord at 4,500 feet and floated down to a soft landing. Yuma, Arizona, 25 March 1997. Front page of The New York Times, 26 March 1997.
“It was wonderful. I’m a new man. I go home exhilarated.”
President George Bush
After #skydiving from 12,500 feet at age 72. He pulled the rip cord at 4,500 feet and floated down to a soft landing. Yuma, Arizona, 25 March 1997. Front page of The New York Times, 26 March 1997.