There is a peculiar gratification in receiving congratulations from one's squadron for a victory in the air. It is worth more to a pilot than the applause of the whole outside world.

The key to success, is to think things through and then follow through.

The biggest lesson I've learned . . . was that if you have all the fresh water you want to drink and all the food you want to eat, you ought never to complain about anything.

I would rather have a million friends than a million dollars.

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.

The four cornerstones of character on which the structure of this nation was built are: Initiative, Imagination, Individuality and Independence.

Aviation is proof that given, the will, we have the capacity to achieve the impossible.