Black and white photograph of a vintage military airplane with four crew members and ground crew. One crew member is sitting in the cockpit, two are standing, and another is holding a hose connected to the plane. A sign reads 'NO SMOKING' in front of the ground crew.

Refueling

“Never pass up an opportunity to refuel when you have the chance.”

—Dick O’Reilly

A black and white photo of a man in a suit and tie, wearing a fedora hat, standing outdoors with a plane in the background.

 Flying For Business

“In general, it’s not a good idea for a nonprofessional pilot to fly for business reasons. Convincing yourself that you have to go, even if you are very tired after a long day and/or the weather is poor, is too easy and fraught with problems..”

— Bill Foster

Black and white photograph of a young man in a pilot uniform standing next to an aircraft, with the words 'Glamorous Glennis' on the side of the plane. He is holding helmet and gear, with a confident expression.

Experience 

“I have flown in just about everything, with all kinds of pilots in all parts of the world — British, French, Pakistani, Iranian, Japanese, Chinese — and there wasn't a dime's worth of difference between any of them except for one unchanging, certain fact: the best, most skillful pilot has the most experience..”

— General Chuck Yeager

Historical black and white photo of a group of people examining a crashed, partially collapsed airship or hot air balloon in an open field.

 Experience

“Experience is a wonderful teacher, but it gives the test first and the lesson afterwards.”

— Sparky Imeson

A man in vintage attire standing beside an early biplane, holding a club and a flag, with a rural background.

 Experience 

“Every pilot starts off with a full bag of luck and an empty bag of experience. Hopefully, you can fill up the bag of experience before your luck runs out.”

— Unknown

Black and white photo of an aircraft cockpit with various gauges and controls.

 Experience 

“The air pressure instruments tell you what has happened; the attitude indicator and power setting tell you what is happening; experience tells you what will happen.”

— Ralph Butcher

Black and white photograph of a vintage biplane airplane with striped wings and a star insignia, lying on a grassy field, with a vintage car in the background.

 Judgment 

“Good judgment comes with experience; unfortunately, experience is usually gained through bad judgment.”

— Unknown

Black and white photo of two pilots in the cockpit of an airplane, both wearing headsets and looking at instrument panels filled with gauges, dials, and controls.

Judgment 

“A superior pilot uses his superior judgment to avoid situations which require the use of his superior skill.”

— Frank Borman

A group of people gathered around a large aircraft nose cone in an open field, possibly during an air show or military event, with buildings and trees in the background.

 Learning

“You need to learn from the mistakes of other pilots because you may not live long enough to learn from your own.”

— Unknown

A model airplane on the deck of an aircraft carrier with the ocean in the background.

 Practice

“If you're not doing something all of the time, then you're not doing it right.”

— Barry Schiff

Black and white photo of a small airplane that has crash-landed into a wooden house, with its tail and wings broken and part of the structure damaged.

 Crashing

“If you're going to crash, hit the softest, cheapest thing you can find as slowly as possible.”

— Military Proverb

Black and white photo of a biplane flying under a large arch bridge over a waterfall and river, with boats on the water plane.

 Risk Taking

“There are bold pilots and old pilots, but few old, bold pilots.”

— Cyril Uwins (British Test Pilot)

A black and white photo of four people, possibly soldiers, sitting at a table. They are wearing uniforms, helmets, and headsets. The scene appears to be outdoors, with a cloudy sky in the background.

 Preparation

“Airmen survive because they neglect no detail, take nothing for granted, and even then, expect that something will go wrong.”

— Ralph Butcher

A bird flying over snow-covered mountain peaks on a cloudy day.

 Weather

“A bird when panicked flies higher; man goes for the ground.”

— Unknown

Black and white photograph of large, dense clouds in the sky.

Weather

“Don't let the bad weather in front of you become the bad weather around you.”

— Unknown

Black and white photo of a vintage military aircraft on the tarmac with a ground crew and a tractor nearby.

 Multi-engine Aircraft

“A multi-engine aircraft is twice as safe as a single engine aircraft and also twice as dangerous—it depends on the pilot.”

— Unknown

Black and white historical photograph of a vintage biplane plane in flight, with a pilot visible in the cockpit, flying low over a grassy field with trees and sparse buildings in the background.

Safety Margins

“To pilots, the three most useless things in the world are the runway behind them, the altitude above them, and the fuel they did not put in the tanks.”

— Ralph Butcher

A young man in a white shirt and dark pants sitting on the wheel of a vintage airplane on a field, with trees and a few vehicles in the background.

Advanced Equipment

“Sometimes an equipment upgrade can lead to a pilot downgrade.”

— Unknown