Fear? You bet your life. But it's always on the way up. Then you get to thinking about a lot of things, but that all leaves you as you reach combat. Then there's a sense of great excitement, a thrill you can't duplicate anywhere. Then there can be no fear, no thought of life or death, no dream of yesterday or tomorrow.
What you have at that moment is — well, it may sound strange, but it's actually fun. The other guy has his chance, too, and you've got to get him before he gets you. Yes, I think it is the most exciting fun in the world. — Lt. Col. Robert B. "Westy" Westbrook, USAAF, one of the leading aces of the Pacific, 'Los Angeles Examiner,' 20 June 1944.
Beware the lessons of a fighter pilot who would rather fly a slide rule than kick your ass! — Commander Ron 'Mugs' McKeown, USN, Commander of the U.S. Navy Fighter Weapons School
It got more exciting with each war. I mean the planes were going faster than hell when I was flying a Mustang, but by the time I got to Nam, it scared the piss out of a lot of guys just to fly the damn jets at full speed. Let alone do it in combat. — Brigadier General Robin Olds, USAF.
It is wonderful how cheered a pilot becomes after he shoots down his first machine; his morale increases by at least 100 percent.— Captain James Ira Thomas 'Taffy' Jones, RFC, 37 victories in 3 months W.W.I.
Every day kill just one, rather than today five, tomorrow ten . . . that is enough for you. Then your nerves are calm and you can sleep good, you have your drink in the evening and the next morning you are fit again. — Colonel Erich 'Bubi' Hartmann, Luftwaffe
Only the spirit of attack borne in a brave heart will bring success to any fighter aircraft, no matter how highly developed it may be. — General Adolf Galland, Luftwaffe.
Do unto the other feller the way he'd like to do unto you, an' do it fust [sic]. — E. N. Westcott, 'David Harum.'
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
He must have a love of hunting, a great desire to be the top dog. — Sergei Dolgushin, Russian Air Force, 24 victories WWII
I never went into the air thinking I would lose. — Commander Randy 'Duke' Cunningham, USN.
The first time I ever saw a jet, I shot it down. — General Chuck Yeager, USAF, describing his first confrontation with a Me262.
Fighter pilots are not motivated by political ideology. Some may believe in their leaders wrongful assertions, while others will follow evil policies blindly or with open eyes just for the opportunity to fly in combat.
The opportunity to fly the most advanced aircraft in the world at the highest speeds attainable by a human being is enough to blind any fighter pilot to the most evil intentions.
The war in the sky was almost a war apart from the rest of the war. Fighter pilots lived for the kill and only when the need for air support wakened them from their dream were they aware they had responsibilities to our world.
My habit of attacking Huns dangling from their parachutes led to many arguments in the mess. Some officers, of the Eton and Sandhurst type, thought it was 'unsportsmanlike' to do it. Never having been to a public school, I was unhampered by such considerations of form. I just pointed out that there was a bloody war on, and that I intended to avenge my pals. — Captain James Ira Thomas 'Taffy' Jones, RFC, 37 victories in 3 months W.W.I.
How odd, I dont sense any PTSD in these chaps.
