Best Combat Quotes | Short & Famous Sayings Page 14

“I fly close to my man, aim well and then of course he falls down.”

Men Wells Fall Courses Aim Aviation Combat Falling Down

“I had no system of shooting as such. It is definitely more in the feeling side of things that these skills develop. I was at the front five and a half years, and you just got a feeling for the right amount of lead.”

Years Feelings Sides Half Five Fronts Amount Skills Shooting Aviation Combat Half A Year

Author:Gunther Rall

“When one has shot down one's first, second or third opponent, then one begins to find out how the trick is done.”

Firsts Done Shots Thirds Tricks Opponents Aviation Combat Fighter Pilot

Book:The Red Baron

Source: The Red Baron

“I put my bullets into the target as if I placed them there by hand.”

Ifs Hands Aviation Target Combat Bullets

Author:Rene Fonck

“You can have computer sights of anything you like, but I think you have to go to the enemy on the shortest distance and knock him down from point-blank range. You'll get him from in close. At long distance, it's questionable.”

Thinking Long Enemy Computer Sight Distance Range Aviation Combat Blank Long Distance Questionable

Author:Erich Hartmann

“I am not a good shot. Few of us are. To make up for this I hold my fire until I have a shot of less than 20 degrees deflection and until I'm within 300 yards. Good discipline on this score can make up for a great deal.”

Deals Fire Discipline Degrees Shots Score Aviation Combat Yards Deflection Good Discipline

Author:John C. Meyer

“Go in close, and when you think you are too close, go in closer.”

Thinking Aviation Combat Pilots Fighter Pilot Military Aviation

Author:Thomas McGuire

“I opened fire when the whole windshield was black with the enemy . . . at minimum range . . . it doesn't matter what your angle is to him or whether you are in a turn or any other maneuver.”

Matter Whole Turns Black Enemy Fire Range Aviation Combat Minimum Angle

Author:Erich Hartmann

“Everything in the air that is beneath me, especially if it is a one seater . . . is lost, for it cannot shoot to the rear.”

Ifs Lost Air Aviation Combat

Book:The Red Baron

Source: The Red Baron

“I started shooting when I was much too far away. That was merely a trick of mine. I did not mean so much as to hit him as to frighten him, and I succeeded in catching him. He began flying curves and this enabled me to draw near.”

Mean Mines Draws Flying Tricks Shooting Aviation Combat Far Away Curves Catching

Book:The Red Baron

Source: The Red Baron

“See, decide, attack, reverse.”

Aviation Combat Reverse

Author:Erich Hartmann

“So it was that the war in the air began. Men rode upon the whirlwind that night and slew and fell like archangels. The sky rained heroes upon the astonished earth. Surely the last fights of mankind were the best. What was the heavy pounding of your Homeric swordsmen, what was the creaking charge of chariots, besides this swift rush, this crash, this giddy triumph, this headlong sweep to death?”

Men War Earth Lasts Night Fighting Air Sky Mankind Hero Heavy Triumph Aviation Combat Crash Archangel Chariots Whirlwind Giddy Swordsman

Book:The World Set Free: H. G. Wells Collections

Source: The World Set Free: H. G. Wells Collections

“. . . my pilot pointed to his left front and above, and looking in the direction he pointed, I saw a long dark brown form fairly streaking across the sky. We could see that it was a German machine, and when it got above and behind our middle machine, it dived on it for all the world like a huge hawk on a hapless sparrow.”

World Long Form Left Dark Behinds Saws Sky Middle Fronts Huge Machines Brown Aviation Combat Pilots Hawks Sparrows

Book:Flying Fury: Five Years in the Royal Flying Corps

Source: Flying Fury: Five Years in the Royal Flying Corps

“Speed is the cushion of sloppiness.”

Speed Aviation Combat Cushions Sloppiness

Author:William P. Driscoll

“Their element is to attack, to track, to hunt, and to destroy the enemy. Only in this way can the eager and skillful fighter pilot display his ability. Tie him to a narrow and confined task, rob him of his initiative, and you take away from him the best and most valuable qualities he posses: aggressive spirit, joy of action, and the passion of the hunter.”

“Aggressiveness was a fundamental to success in airtoair combat and if you ever caught a fighter pilot in a defensive mood you had him licked before you started shooting.”

Ifs Fundamentals Caught Mood Fighter Shooting Aviation Combat Pilots Aggressiveness Fighter Pilot

Author:David McCampbell

“The smallest amount of vanity is fatal in aeroplane fighting. Selfdistrust rather is the quality to which many a pilot owes his protracted existence.”

Fighting Existence Quality Amount Vanity Aviation Combat Pilots Smallest Aeroplanes Fighter Pilot Military Aviation Being Spoiled

Book:Fighting the Flying Circus

Source: Fighting the Flying Circus

“The air battle is not necessarily won at the time of the battle. The winner may have been determined by the amount of time, energy, thought and training an individual has previously accomplished in an effort to increase his ability as a fighter pilot.”

May Has Beens Individual Energy Ability Effort Air Amount Battle Training Increase Determined Fighter Winner Accomplished Aviation Combat Pilots Fighter Pilot

Author:Pappy Boyington

“The experienced fighting pilot does not take unnecessary risks. His business in to shoot down enemy planes, not to get shot down. His trained hand and eye and judgment are as much a part of his armament as his machinegun, and a fiftyfifty chance is the worst he will take or should take except where the show is of the kind that . . . justifies the sacrifice of plane or pilot.”

Should Kind Doe Shows Hands Eye Fighting Chance Enemy Risk Sacrifice Worst Judgment Shots Planes Aviation Justify Combat Pilots Unnecessary Chances Are Armament

Author:Eddie Rickenbacker

“The first rule of all air combat is to see the opponent first. Like the hunter who stalks his prey and maneuvers himself unnoticed into the most favourable position for the kill, the fighter in the opening of a dogfight must detect the opponent as early as possible in order to attain a superior position for the attack.”

Firsts Order Air Position Superiors Opening Fighter Opponents Aviation Combat Hunters Prey Stalking Unnoticed

Book:The first and the last: the rise and fall of the German fighter forces, 1938-1945

Source: The first and the last: the rise and fall of the German fighter forces, 1938-1945

“The British were sporting. They would accept a fight under almost all conditions.”

Fighting Accepting Conditions British Aviation Combat

Author:Gunther Rall

“Victory smiles upon those who anticipate the change in the character of war, not upon those who wait to adapt themselves after the changes occur.”

War Character Waiting Change Victory Smile Aviation Combat Adaptation Making Changes Anticipate Theorists Those Who Wait

Book:Command Of The Air

Source: Command Of The Air

“There was only one catch and that was Catch22, which specified that a concern for one's safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask, and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn't, but if he was sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn't have to; but if he didn't want to he was sane and had to.”

Ifs Want Mind Real Would Be Faces Asks Process Crazy Danger Concern Safety Missions Rational Aviation Combat Sane Grounded Flew Being Crazy Yossarian Catch 22 Important

Author:Joseph Heller

“No guts, no glory. If you are going to shoot him down, you have to get in there and mix it up with him.”

Ifs Glory Guts Aviation Combat

Author:Frederick C. Blesse

“Watching the Dallas Cowboys perform, it is not difficult to believe that coach Tom Landry flew fourengines bombers during World War II. He was in B17 Flying Fortresses out of England, they say. His cautious, conservative approach to every situation and the complexity of the plays he sends in do seem to reflect the philosophy of a pilot trained to doggedly press on according to plans laid down before takeoff. I sometimes wonder how the Cowboys would have fared all this years had Tom flown fighters in combat situations which dictated continuously changing tactics.”

“The aggressive spirit, the offensive, is the chief thing everywhere in war, and the air is no exception.”

War Spirit Air Chiefs Exception Aviation Combat Aggressive Offensive

Book:The Red Baron

Source: The Red Baron

“If I were, to pick out the most valuable personal traits of a fighter pilot, aggressiveness would rate high on the list. Time and again, I have seen aggressive action, even from a disadvantageous position, completely rout a powerful Nip formation.”

Ifs Action Powerful Position Picks Rate Valuable Lists Fighter Aviation Combat Aggressive Pilots Traits Formation Aggressiveness Fighter Pilot

Author:Charles H. MacDonald

“There are pilots and there are pilots; with the good ones, it is inborn. You can't teach it. If you are a fighter pilot, you have to be willing to take risks.”

Ifs Teach Risk Willing Fighter Aviation Combat Pilots Fighter Pilot

Author:Robin Olds

“Today it is even more important to dominate the . . . highly sophisticated weapon systems, perhaps even more important than being a good pilot; to make the best use of this system.”

Important Use Today Weapons Aviation Combat Pilots Sophisticated

Author:Adolf Galland

“An excellent weapon and luck had been on my side. To be successful, the best fighter pilot needs both.”

Needs Sides Successful Weapons Luck Fighter Excellent Being Successful Aviation Combat Pilots Fighter Pilot

Book:The first and the last: the rise and fall of the German fighter forces, 1938-1945

Source: The first and the last: the rise and fall of the German fighter forces, 1938-1945

“The man who enters combat encased in solid armor plate, but lacking the essential of selfconfidence, is far more exposed and naked to death than the individual who subjects himself to battle shorn of any protection but his own skill, his own belief in himself and in his wingman. Righteousness is necessary for one's peace of mind, perhaps, but it is a poor substitute for agility . . . and a resolution to meet the enemy under any conditions and against any odds.”

Source: Thunderbolt! The Extraordinary Story of a World War II Ace

“To be a good fighter pilot, there is one prime requisite think fast, and act faster.”

Thinking Fighter Faster Aviation Prime Combat Pilots Good Fight Fighter Pilot

Book:The look of eagles

Source: The look of eagles

“I didn't turn with the enemy pilots as a rule. I might make one turn to see what the situation was but not often. It was too risky.”

Might Turns Situation Enemy Aviation Combat Pilots

Author:John C. Meyer

“Beware the lessons of a fighter pilot who would rather fly a slide rule than kick your ass!”

Lessons Ass Fighter Kicks Aviation Combat Pilots Slides Fighter Pilot

Author:Ron McKeown

“For most of the time carrier aviation is more challenging than flying in a spacecraft”

Challenges Flying Aviation Combat Carrier Spacecraft

Author:Jim Lovell

“Every day kill just one, rather than today five, tomorrow ten . . . that is enough for you. Then your nerves are calm and you can sleep good, you have your drink in the evening and the next morning you are fit again.”

Enough Today Next Sleep Morning Five Tomorrow Fit Drink Ten Calm Evening Just One Aviation Nerves Combat

Author:Erich Hartmann

“The closest modern equivalent to the Homeric hero is the ace fighter pilot.”

Modern Hero Fighter Aviation Combat Pilots Closest Aces Fighter Pilot

Author:W. H. Auden

“To become an ace a fighter must have extraordinary eyesight, strength, and agility, a huntsman's eye, coolness in a pinch, calculated recklessness, a full measure of courage and occasional luck!”

Eye Luck Extraordinary Fighter Aviation Combat Occasional Agility Aces Recklessness Eyesight Coolness

Author:Jimmy Doolittle

“The most important thing for a fighter pilot is to get his first victory without too much shock.”

Firsts Important Too Much Victory Important Things Fighter Shock Aviation Combat Pilots Fighter Pilot

Author:Werner Molders

“It is true to say that the first kill can influence the whole future career of a fighter pilot. Many to whom the first victory over the opponent has been long denied either by unfortunate circumstances or by bad luck can suffer from frustration or develop complexes they may never rid themselves of again.”

Source: The first and the last: the rise and fall of the German fighter forces, 1938-1945

“It is wonderful how cheered a pilot becomes after he shoots down his first machine; his morale increases by at least 100 percent.”

Firsts Wonderful Percent Machines Increase Aviation Combat Pilots Morale

Author:James Ira Thomas Jones

“I gained in experience with every plane shot down, and now was able to fire in a calm, deliberate manner. Each attack was made in a precise manner. Distance and deflection were carefully judged before firing. This is not something that comes by accident; only by experience can a pilot overcome feelings of panic. A thousand missions could be flown and be of no use if the pilot has not exchanged fire with the enemy.”

Ifs Made Use Feelings Able Enemy Fire Thousand Shots Overcoming Down And Distance Calm Missions Accidents Planes Aviation Combat Judged Pilots Panic Precise Deliberate Firing Deflection

Book:The look of eagles

Source: The look of eagles

“As a fighter pilot I know from my own experiences how decisive surprise and luck can be for success, which in the long run comes only to the one who combines daring with cool thinking.”

Thinking Knows Long Running My Own Luck Surprise Fighter Aviation Combat Pilots Daring Long Runs Fighter Pilot

Author:Adolf Galland

“Months of preparation, one of those few opportunities, and the judgment of a split second are what makes some pilot an ace, while others think back on what they could have done.”

Thinking Done Opportunity Months Judgment Preparation Aviation Combat Pilots Splits Aces

Author:Pappy Boyington

“How does 2002 bombing accident in Afghanistan happen? In this awful case it took so many lives, and I want to assure the families and the people of Canada that these questions will be answered. How this can happen is a mystery to us.”

Happens Mystery Aviation Combat

Author:Ray Henault

“Success flourishes only in perseverance ceaseless, restless perseverance.”

Perseverance Accomplishment Combat Restless

Author:Manfred von Richthofen

“If he is superior then I would go home, for another day that is better.”

Ifs Home Superiors Aviation Combat Another Day

Author:Erich Hartmann

“If I should come out of this war alive, I will have more luck than brains.”

Ifs Should War Brain Alive Luck Aviation Combat

Author:Manfred von Richthofen

“I was struck by the joy of those pilots in committing coldblooded murder . . . Frankly, this is not cojones. This is cowardice.”

Joy Murder Aviation Combat Pilots Cowardice Cojones

Author:Madeleine Albright

“There's something wonderfully exciting about the quiet sing song of an aeroplane overhead with all the guns in creation lighting out at it, and searchlights feeling their way across the sky like antennae, and the earth shaking snort of the bombs and the whimper of shrapnel pieces when they come down to patter on the roof.”

Way Feelings Earth Song Pieces Sky Creation Quiet Gun Exciting Bombs Aviation Combat Roof Shaking Lighting Aeroplanes Overhead

Book:The Fourteenth Chronicle: Letters and Diaries of John Dos Passos

Source: The Fourteenth Chronicle: Letters and Diaries of John Dos Passos

Combat Quotes

Related topics

Combat Quotes