bon mots

[hihosland]

"High Flight"

 

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth

 

And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;

 

Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth

 

Of sun-split clouds - and done a hundred things

 

You have not dreamed of - wheeled and soared and swung

 

High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,

 

I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung

 

My eager craft through footless halls of air.

 

Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue

 

I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace

 

Where never lark, or even eagle flew -

 

And, while with silent lifting mind I've trod

 

The high untrespassed sanctity of space,

 

Put out my hand and touched the face of God.

 

John Gillespie Magee, Jr.

 

High Flight was composed by Pilot Officer John Gillespie Magee, Jr., an American serving with the Royal Canadian Air Force. He was born in Shanghai, China in 1922, the son of missionary parents, Reverend and Mrs. John Gillespie Magee; his father was an American and his mother was originally a British citizen.

 

He came to the U.S. in 1939 and earned a scholarship to Yale, but in September 1940 he enlisted in the RCAF and was graduated as a pilot. He was sent to England for combat duty in July 1941.

 

In August or September 1941, Pilot Officer Magee composed High Flight and sent a copy to his parents. Several months later, on December 11, 1941 his Spitfire collided with another plane over England and Magee, only 19 years of age, crashed to his death.

 

His remains are buried in the churchyard cemetery at Scopwick, Lincolnshire.

 

 

[hihosland]

Can the magic of flight ever be carried by words? I think not.

 

— Michael Parfit, 'Smithsonian' magazine, May 2000

 

 

[Guest watto]

Can the magic of flight ever be carried by words? I think not.— Michael Parfit, 'Smithsonian' magazine, May 2000

Because it means so many different things each one of us, but I am sure that once we all depart the bonds of mother earth we share a common sense of freedom.

 

A very graceful poem though!

 

 

[hihosland]

The air up there in the clouds is very pure and fine, bracing and delicious. And why shouldn't it be? -- it is the same the angels breathe.

 

— Mark Twain, ‘Roughing It,’

 

 

[hihosland]

The natural function of the wing is to soar upwards and carry that which is heavy up to the place where dwells the race of gods. More than any other thing that pertains to the body it partakes of the nature of the divine.

 

* * * * * — Plato, 'Phaedrus

 

 

[DarkSarcasm]

"I have often said that the lure of flying is the lure of beauty. That the reason flyers fly, whether they know it or not, is the aesthetic appeal of flying."

 

- Amelia Earhart.

 

"Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return."

 

- Leonardo da Vinci

 

"We who fly do so for the love of flying. We are alive in the air with this miracle that lies in our hands and beneath our feet."

 

- Cecil Day Lewis

 

 

[Admin]

These are great - Why aren't you guys putting them in the "Quotes" section? :big_grin:

 

 

[hihosland]

Aviate, Navigate, Communicate.

 

 

[hihosland]

‘Yer know mate, can’t be much to this flying business, if a woman can do it.’

 

 

Comment by bushy when Lores Bonney landed at outback station seeking fuel in 1932

 

 

[hihosland]

Truly superior pilots are those who use their superior judgment to avoid those situations where they might have to use their superior skills.

 

 

 

[hihosland]

Man must rise above the Earth -- to the top of the atmosphere and beyond -- for only thus will he fully understand the world in which he lives.

 

 

— Socrates

 

 

[DarkSarcasm]

I've never known an industry that can get into people's blood the way aviation does.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

— Robert Six, founder of Continental Airlines.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[hihosland]

Rule one: No matter what else happens, fly the airplane.

 

 

 

[DarkSarcasm]

Aviation is not so much a profession as it is a disease

 

 

[Guest ozzie]

"No s@@t, there i was with nothing on the dials but the makers name!"

 

"hey, hold my beer, i want to try something."

 

 

[DarkSarcasm]

The three most common expressions in aviation are, "Why is it doing that?", "Where are we?" and "Oh Sh*t".

 

At 9.3 hours I've said two of them....most often the third one

 

 

[hihosland]

The most beautiful dream that has haunted the heart of man since Icarus is today reality.

 

— Louis Bleriot

 

 

[hihosland]

Fly it until the last piece stops moving.

 

 

 

[DarkSarcasm]

Some pilots will make an emergency out of a bad magneto check.

 

Others, upon losing a wing, will ask for a lower altitude

 

Darky wants to be the second type

 

 

[Guest Maj Millard]

"Flying is the best way to fly !?!#%"..................

 

 

[Guest ozzie]

Does your woman

 

sleep in peace

 

at night

 

and never stir

 

in startled fright

 

from nightmare dreams

 

of your demise

 

the pain of terror

 

in her eyes.

 

A.Keech

 

 

[facthunter]

Flying.

 

" Flying makes my arms tired". A. Bird..... N.

 

 

[RKW]

Crikey!

 

 

[Guest Maj Millard]

Ozzie, That's deep stuff from Andy !

 

 

[Guest ozzie]

yeah it's from" Skies Call" he not only took some brilliant photos but is pretty good with the pen as well. looking forward to finally meeting him next year.