I may say that this is the greatest factor … the way in which every difficulty is foreseen, and precautions taken for meeting or avoiding it.
Victory awaits him who has everything in order—luck, people call it.
Defeat is certain for him who has neglected to take the necessary precautions in time; this is called bad luck.
Roald Amundsen, first man to the South Pole, and first man to reach both Poles. In his 1912 book The South Pole.
Airmanship Quotes
To be in nature … a good way to use life
Parasailing mountain skier Antoine Montant on playing with elements, ability and the mind. He died later that year year attempting a BASE wingsuit jump. (Quote is from his appearance in the TV show Red Bull Ultimate Rush, S1 E1)
A man is not where he lives
“A man is not where he lives, but where he loves.” Cool, ‘cos I love flying! Original Latin by St. Augestine: “Anima plus est ubi amat, quam ubi animat.”
Murphy was deeper than you guessed
“It is found that anything that can go wrong at sea generally does go wrong sooner or later.” This was written by Alfred Holt in 1877, in an engineering report on using steam engines at sea. The phrase has become known as ‘Murphy’s Law’ for reasons unclear. But the original report is deeper and more insightful than I ever would have guessed. The same paragraph also says, “Sufficient stress can hardly be laid on the advantages of simplicity.” “The human factor cannot be safely neglected in planning machinery.” “It is almost as bad to have too many parts as too … Continue reading Murphy was deeper than you guessed
Counting the hours
“I was counting the hours at the end, not because I was eager to land, because it was the only hours left for me to enjoy my time in this cockpit.” ~ André Borschberg, Solar Impulse 2 pilot, regards his historic 118 hour flight across the Pacific. Report in Wired.com