quotations about aviation
Once the 777 became part of my career, I had to accept the notion that hand-flying really wasn't. I was just the catalyst that moved the control wheel, sending electronic signals to the appropriate flight control computers. Regardless, it hasn't stopped me from disconnecting the autopilot. The act of flying is still part of my DNA. Some might consider me more of a systems manager at this point, but at the end of the day I'm still a pilot.
LES ABEND
"Jumpseat: A Reminder of Why I Chose My Career", Flying Magazine, March 4, 2016
The airplane has unveiled for us the true face of the earth.
ANTOINE DE SAINT EXUPERY
Wind, Sand, and Stars
Turbulence: spiller of coffee, jostler of luggage, filler of barf bags, rattler of nerves. But is it a crasher of planes? Judging by the reactions of many airline passengers, one would assume so; turbulence is far and away the number one concern of anxious passengers. Intuitively, this makes sense. Everybody who steps on a plane is uneasy on some level, and there's no more poignant reminder of flying's innate precariousness than a good walloping at 37,000 feet. It's easy to picture the airplane as a helpless dinghy in a stormy sea. Boats are occasionally swamped, capsized, or dashed into reefs by swells, so the same must hold true for airplanes. Everything about it seems dangerous. Except that, in all but the rarest circumstances, it's not. For all intents and purposes, a plane cannot be flipped upside-down, thrown into a tailspin, or otherwise flung from the sky by even the mightiest gust or air pocket. Conditions might be annoying and uncomfortable, but the plane is not going to crash.
PATRICK SMITH
"Turbulence: Everything You Need to Know", Ask the Pilot
Essentially, high-tech cockpit equipment assists pilots in the way that high-tech medical equipment assists physicians and surgeons. It has vastly improved their capabilities, but it by no means diminishes the experience and skill required to perform at that level and has not come remotely close to rendering them redundant. A plane is able to fly itself about as much as the modern operating room can perform an operation by itself.
PATRICK SMITH
Cockpit Confidential
You haven't seen a tree until you've seen it's shadow from the sky.
AMELIA EARHART
attributed, Aviation and the Role of Government