6 Aviation Quotes that Helped me Become a Better Pilot
and how these quotations relate to our everyday lives
Having spent a good chunk of my life in aviation, I have learned that lessons from others, are like a gift and should be cherished. Nothing is more true than quotes that you pick up along the way from more experienced pilots that you fly with. Isaac D’Israeli, a British writer once said “The wisdom of the wise, and the experience of ages may be preserved by quotation.” I could not agree more with him when aviation wisdom is immortalized as everyday flying quotes.
“The wisdom of the wise, and the experience of ages may be preserved by quotation.” -Isaac D’Israeli
I have come across a whole bunch of these quotes along my journey to the skies and most have guided me to a course towards a safer flying career. Ironically, most of the quotes I will share have unknown origins, but the words live on, passing from one aviator to the other, presenting itself at the best of times. Of all the quotes, I have picked the 6 best quotes I best relate to for my life as an aviator as well as an everyday normal person.
“Attitude, Skills, Knowledge. Always in that order” -unknown
By far the most important quote I live by. During Day 1 of ground school, our instructor welcomed us to the world of flying, and even before diving into aviation topics, he told us that this was the most important lesson to learn in flying and in life. He said skills are learned over time, knowledge can be gained using a book, but a bad attitude will always ruin whatever skill or knowledge you may have. Others relate to the same quote as “Your attitude is your altitude”, either way, they point at the same thing, our attitude should always be our priority as it will affect the rest of our efforts, towards anything.
“Attitude, Skills, Knowledge. Always in that order”
What this means in everyday life…
Our mindset and our behavior steer our lives. When we have dialed in on the right attitude, the challenges if everyday life becomes less of a worry, we learn better and in turn, we get better in whatever we do in life. Not only that, being nice welcomes help into your life, people will see you and naturally want to help you.
“If in doubt, don’t.” -Benjamin Franklin
I first heard this flying with a very experienced seaplane pilot. He was flying with me one day and day and we were about to land on some rough water. He told me that at any time nearing our landing spot if I feel the water is too big for us, that I call a go-around. Landing on the water was difficult because your gauge of how big and how much your plane could take is pretty much all by experience. Thankfully, we both felt it was a safe landing and pushed on. He explained after that when he flies when he feels any doubt in the approach he just doesn’t do it.
“If in doubt, don’t.”
What this means in everyday life…
When you do something in doubt, it never ends well. This one is a bit tricky for all of us because when we want something, we sometimes bend our own rules to get our way, even when along the way we feel a pronounced feeling of doubt, making our stomachs churn. When you are in doubt over something to do, stop, and think about it. If after reconsideration, you still feel the doubt, it’s probably not worth doing anyway.
“Better a sitting duck, than a dead eagle”-unknown
I was a young guy back then in flight school. After two hours on the bus, on my only day off for the week, excited to fly, and just as I reached the hangar, a big thunderstorm brewed over the airport. Visibly frustrated, I was immature and tried to justify to my instructor that we can still squeeze at least one-hour flying before the weather comes in. My instructor, old as he was smiled at me and told me “Paul, it is okay to be a sitting duck, than a dead eagle.” He convinced me to have breakfast instead and just as we were about to eat, it poured rain like there was no tomorrow.
“Better a sitting duck, than a dead eagle”
What this means in everyday life…
No matter what people tell you, it’s always alright to err on the side of caution. It’s okay to wait or to not even do anything at all. Most times, our of desperation or because of our ambitions, we dive in too deep and find ourselves in a situation way over our heads. As much as fortune favors the brave, what they meant was brave was being courageous and not being just blindly fearless.
“If you’re not doing anything, you’re missing something”-unknown
I came across this quote when I started flying the ATR 72–600, a regional turboprop aircraft operated by my current employer. Simply put, the ATR is a very busy plane to fly. There is a chronology of procedures from the moment you start the flight, and an equal amount of checklists to check that all items of a procedure have been done. On top of this, there are flight documents and the rest of the elements like air traffic or weather that need your attention. It is true that when moments happen you find yourself not doing anything, you are surely not doing something meant at that time. Quiet time for me in the ATR is a constant quest to know what else I’m not doing, and it’s good because it keeps you on your toes always.
“If you’re not doing anything, you’re missing something”
What this means in everyday life…
Free time is not free. It is time you could put to use towards something productive. This is especially true now with most places in quarantine, people stay home and think, “well, there is nothing to do”. Guess what, there is always something to do. We just have to find out what else we can do. Help out in the house, fix something that’s broken, play with the kids. Do something.
“When taking off, the runway behind you is useless.” -unknown
A couple of years back, we were in a big airport and was taxiing towards the runway in an airplane that needed a small amount of runway to get airborne. Being a young pilot, I suggested to the captain that we take the next intersection and start our take off from there, then he told me “the runway behind you is useless”. Eventually, we took the full length of the runway, and then I realized that having just used up about1/4 of the runway to get airborne if our engine failed we still had about 3/4 of the remaining runway to re-land the plane.
“When taking off, the runway behind you is useless.”
What this means in everyday life…
It’s always good to take every inch of space you need to prepare for something important. We can always rush and do it any way but giving yourself that extra elbow room can help you just in case things do not work out as planned. When we rush and not take advantage of our available resources, we voluntarily limit our options, boxing ourselves in the process and that leaves us usually with a more undesirable situation. Look at all your options, and keep those options open at all times, you never know when you will need them.
“ The only time you have too much fuel is when you are on fire.” -unknown
I once flew with a guy that adds a little more extra fuel to what he wants for a certain flight. This little extra fuel did not compromise our loads, it did not seem, at least when I was new, to be significant so out of curiosity I asked him why he does that. He told me he adds a little bit more fuel each time give him more “wiggle” room just in case he gets in a difficult situation. He said, fuel unused, can be used tomorrow. Of course, we won’t get into the technicalities of fuel price and all that, but what he said was true. It is harder to explain to the authorities why you ran out of fuel because you considered the economics involved, rather than having a few extra hundred kilos unused still in the tanks. He told me, the only time he ever considers fuel as excess is when he is on fire. I agree with him.
“ The only time you have too much fuel is when you are on fire.”
What this means in everyday life…
A little extra of something is way better than a little short of something. That extra effort you put into work can only lead you to great things, but that little inhibition you have of giving it your best at work is visible to your boss from a mile away. People always see the bad first then the good. When at work and you give it 110% and no one noticed, that is fine as long as for you, you know you gave it all and more. At the end of the day, selling yourself short by not giving your best always leads to unhappiness.
There are a lot more quotes to share but I hope I have shared some good ones to you. These words to live by definitely helped me to develop into a better aviator and not to mention as a well-rounded individual. If it is your first time to hear some of the quotes I have shared, I hope it comes of good use to you. After all, they said “Knowledge not passed, is knowledge wasted!”, and there you go, another one just came out. How about you? What quotes struck you in your life? Let me know!
If you are curious about aviation and want to know more about it, leave a response on what topic you want me to write about next. I am all ears, thanks!
