It doesn't look nearly as big as it did the first time I saw one. Mickey McGuire and I used to sit hour after hour in the cockpit of the one that American used for training, at the company school in Chicago, saying to each other, 'My God, do you think we'll ever learn to fly anything this big?'

There are two kinds of airplanes - those you fly and those that fly you . . . You must have a distinct understanding at the very start as to who is the boss.

The emergencies you train for almost never happen. It's the one you can't train for that kills you.

It doesn't look nearly as big as it did the first time I saw one. Mickey McGuire and I used to sit hour after hour in the cockpit of the one that American used for training, at the company school in Chicago, saying to each other, 'My God, do you think we'll ever learn to fly anything this big?'

There is no more alluring airspace in the world than the slit up a China girl's dress.

Rule books are paper - they will not cushion a sudden meeting of stone and metal.

I want a boat that drinks 6, eats 4, and sleeps 2.