All that I am ... I owe to the Air Force.

It wasn't that the X-1 would kill you, it was the systems in the X-1 that would kill you.

After about 30 minutes I puked all over my airplane. I said to my self, "Man, you made a big mistake."

The best pilots fly more than the others; that's why they're the best.

There's no such thing as a natural-born pilot.

If you can walk away from a landing, it's a good landing. If you use the airplane the next day, it's an outstanding landing.

I have no regrets about my life. People ask, "If you had to do it all over again, would you do it differently?" No. That's speculation.