Success flourishes only in perseverance — ceaseless, restless perseverance.
— Baron Manfred von Richthofen
Fight on and fly on to the last drop of blood and the last drop of fuel, to the last beat of the heart.
— Baron Manfred von Richthofen
Of all my accomplishments I may have achieved during the war, I am proudest of the fact that I never lost a wingman.
— Colonel Erich 'Bubi' Hartmann, GAF
The wingman is absolutely indispensable. I look after the wingman. The wingman looks after me. It's another set of eyes protecting you. That the defensive part. Offensively, it gives you a lot more firepower. We work together. We fight together. The wingman knows what his responsibilities are, and knows what mine are. Wars are not won by individuals. They're won by teams.
— Lt. Col. Francis S. "Gabby" Gabreski, USAF, 28 victories in WWII and 6.5 MiGs over Korea
In every squadron there were, perhaps, four or five pilots who exuded confidence. They knew that they were going out to shoot. The rest knew sub-consciously, that they would make up the numbers, mill about, and get shot at.
— Lynn Garrison, quoted in Fighter Command Air Combat Claims, 1939–45 (2003) by John Foreman
The most important thing in fighting was shooting, next the various tactics in coming into a fight and last of all flying ability itself.
— Lt. Colonel W. A. 'Billy' Bishop, RCAF
In nearly all cases where machines have been downed, it was during a fight which had been very short, and the successful burst of fire had occurred within the space of a minute after the beginning of actual hostilities.
— Lt. Colonel W. A. 'Billy' Bishop, RCAF
You must take the war to the enemy. You must attack and go on attacking all the time.
— Major Willy Omer François Jean Coppens de Houthulst, Belgian Air Service, 37 victories WWI
When one has shot down one's first, second or third opponent, then one begins to find out how the trick is done.
— Baron Manfred von Richtofen
I put my bullets into the target as if I placed them there by hand.
— Capitaine René Paul Fonck, French Air Service, 75 victories WWI
Fighting spirit one must have. Even if a man lacks some of the other qualifications, he can often make up for it in fighting spirit.
— Brigadier General Robin Olds, USAF
I never went into the air thinking I would lose.
— Commander Randy 'Duke' Cunningham, USN
Speed is life.
— Anon., popularized by Samuel Flynn, Jr., USN
Aggressiveness was a fundamental to success in air-to-air combat and if you ever caught a fighter pilot in a defensive mood you had him licked before you started shooting.
— Captain David McCampbell, USN, leading U.S. Navy ace in WWII
The air battle is not necessarily won at the time of the battle. The winner may have been determined by the amount of time, energy, thought and training an individual has previously accomplished in an effort to increase his ability as a fighter pilot.
— Colonel Gregory 'Pappy' Boyington, USMC, 26 victories, W.W. II
He must have a love of hunting, a great desire to be the top dog.
— Sergei Dolgushin, Russian Air Force, 24 victories WWII
If you're in a fair fight, you didn't plan it properly.
— Nick Lappos, Chief R&D Pilot, Sikorsky Aircraft
A squadron commander who sits in his tent and gives orders and does not fly, though he may have the brains of Soloman, will never get the results that a man will, who, day in and day out, leads his patrols over the line and infuses into his pilots the 'espirit de corps.'
— Brigadier General William 'Billy' Mitchell, USAS
Everything I had ever learned about air fighting taught me that the man who is aggressive, who pushes a fight, is the pilot who is successful in combat and who has the best opportunity for surviving battle and coming home.
— Major Robert S. Johnson, USAAF
There are pilots and there are pilots; with the good ones, it is inborn. You can't teach it. If you are a fighter pilot, you have to be willing to take risks.
— General Robin Olds, USAF
The man who enters combat encased in solid armor plate, but lacking the essential of self-confidence, is far more exposed and naked to death than the individual who subjects himself to battle shorn of any protection but his own skill, his own belief in himself and in his wingman. Righteousness is necessary for one's peace of mind, perhaps, but it is a poor substitute for agility … and a resolution to meet the enemy under any conditions and against any odds.
— Major Robert S. Johnson, USAAF
To be a good fighter pilot, there is one prime requisite — think fast, and act faster.
— Major John T. Godfrey, USAAF
We were too busy fighting to worry about the business of clever tactics.
— Harold Balfour, RAF. W.W.I fighter pilot and British Under-Secretary of State for War
The ordinary air fighter is an extraordinary man and the extraordinary air fighter stands as one in a million among his fellows.
— Theodore Roosevelt
He who can handle the quickest rate of change survives.
— John Boyd, last line of his New Conception For Air-To-Air Combat, 4 August 1976
To become an ace a fighter must have extraordinary eyesight, strength, and agility, a huntsman's eye, coolness in a pinch, calculated recklessness, a full measure of courage—and occasional luck!
— General Jimmy Doolittle
The most important thing for a fighter pilot is to get his first victory without too much shock.
— Colonel Werner Moelders, Luftwaffe. He got his first victory, and 114 others
I gained in experience with every plane shot down, and now was able to fire in a calm, deliberate manner. Each attack was made in a precise manner. Distance and deflection were carefully judged before firing. This is not something that comes by accident; only by experience can a pilot overcome feelings of panic. A thousand missions could be flown and be of no use if the pilot has not exchanged fire with the enemy.
— Major John T. Godfrey, USAAF
If he is superior then I would go home, for another day that is better.
— Colonel Erich 'Bubi' hartmann, GAF
The heavens were the grandstands and only the gods were spectators. The stake was the world, the forfeit was the player's place at the table, and the game had no recess. It was the most dangerous of all sports and the most fascinating. It got in the blood like wine. It aged men forty years in forty days. It ruined nervous systems in an hour.
— Elliott White Springs, 13 victories WWI
Make your decisions promptly. It is better to act quickly even though your tactics are not the best. — Flight Lieutenant Adolphus G. 'Sailor' Malan, RSAAF, August 1941
Source: http://www.skygod.com/quotes/combat.html
