“As interceptors. And out of this fifty, there were never more than 25 operational. So we had only a very, very few.”

The fighter in the opening of a dogfight must detect the opponent as early as possible in order to attain a superior position for the attack.

Perhaps even more important than being a good pilot; to make the best use of this system.

Of course, the outcome of the war would not have been changed.

And most of these pilots were lost during the first five flights.

According to Goering and the Luftwaffe High Command, they were supposed to be the fighter elite.

Their element is to attack, to track, to hunt, and to destroy the enemy.

Many pilots of the time were the opinion that a fighter pilot in a closed cockpit was an impossible thing, because you should smell the enemy.

Can beat any quantity numerically many times stronger yet technically inferior.

Flying is more than a sport and more than a job

Many to whom the first victory over the opponent has been long denied either by unfortunate circumstances

Tie him to a narrow and confined task, rob him of his initiative, and you take away from him the best and most valuable qualities he posses

It is true to say that the first kill can influence the whole future career of a fighter pilot.

The colossus of World War II seemed to be like a pyramid turned upside down

I would like to mention that I have flown the 262 first in May ‘43.

No engine vibrations. No torque and no lashing sound of the propeller.

We have built a total of about 1250 of this aircraft, but only fifty were allowed to be used as fighters

We are all civilized people, wich means that we are all savages at heart but observing a few amenities of civilized behaviour.

Sooner or later in life everyone discovers that perfect happiness is unrealizable, but there are few who pause to consider the antithesis: that perfect unhappiness is equally unattainable.

Very few of us can now place ourselves in the mental condition in which even such philosophers as the great Descartes were involved in the days before Newton had announced the true laws of the motion of bodies.

Sometimes all I want is to be a few inches taller so the world does not look like a dense collection of torsos.

A house cannot be made habitable in a day; and, after all, how few days go to make up a century.

Very few people can keep going their whole life doing something and feel like it’s merely personally fascinating.

Literature is one of the few areas left where black and white feel some identity of purpose; we all struggle under censorship.

Talent is never enough. With few exceptions the best players are the hardest workers.