GREAT AVIATION QUOTES
Billy Mitchell

There are 9 quotes matching Billy Mitchell in the collection:

Such an experiment without actual conditions of war to support it is a foolish waste of time … I once saw a man kill a lion with a 30-30 caliber rifle under certain conditions, but that doesn’t mean that a 30-30 rifle is a lion gun.

Theodore Roosevelt Jr, U.S. Assistant Secretary of the Navy

Regards Billy Mitchell’s experimental sinking of the captured German battleship Ostfreisland. 1921. Quoted in the 1967 book The Billy Mitchell Affair.

See one other Theodore Roosevelt great aviation quote.

It is highly unlikely that an airplane, or fleet of them, could ever sink a fleet of Navy vessels under battle conditions.

Franklin D. Roosevelt

When he was Assistant Secretary of the Navy, speaking to a Kiwanis Club in 1922. Quoted in 1967 book The Billy Mitchell Affair.

See two other Franklin D. Roosevelt great aviation quotes.

The most important branch of aviation — that is, pursuit, which fights for and gains control of the air.

Brigadier General William 'Billy' Mitchell, USAS

Our Army’s Air Service, The American Review of Reviews magazine, volume LXII, July-December 1920.

I don’t want to hear any more about sinking battleships with air bombs. That idea is so damned nonsensical and impossible that I’m willing to stand on the bridge of a battleship while that nitwit tries to hit if from the air.

Newton D Baker

U.S. Secretary of War, 1920, regards Billy Mitchell’s idea of airplanes sinking a battleship. In July 1921 Mitchell got his experiment and sunk the captured German battleship Ostfreisland. Newton was not on the bridge. Quoted in the Reader's Digest magazine, April 1949.

[General] Pershing won the world war without even looking into an airplane let alone going up in one. If they had been of such importance, he’d have tried at least one ride. We’ll stick to the army on the ground and the battleships at sea.

John Wingate Weeks

U.S. Secretary of War, 1921. Quoted in the 1942 book Billy Mitchell.

Good God! This man should be writing dime novels.

Josephus Daniels

U.S. Secretary of the Navy, regards Billy Mitchell’s idea of airplanes sinking a battleship. In July 1921 Mitchell got his experiment and sunk the captured German battleship Ostfreisland. Quoted in the 1942 book Billy Mitchell: Founder of Our Air Force and Prophet Without Honor.

In the war to come, God will be on the side of the heaviest air force. Don’t forget it. Keep your eyes on the sky!

Brigadier General William 'Billy' Mitchell, USAS

Back at Langley Field after the Ostfisland was sunk, 20 July 1921. Quoted in the Reader's Digest magazine, April 1949.

In the development of air power, one has to look ahead and not backward and figure out what is going to happen, not too much what has happened.

Brigadier General William 'Billy' Mitchell USAS

Aeronautical Era, Hearing before the Select Committee of Inquiry into Operation of the United States Air Services, 1925.

The advent of air power, which can go straight to the vital centers and either neutralize or destroy them, has put a completely new complexion on the old system of making war. It is now realized that the hostile main army in the field is a false objective, and the real objectives are the vital centers.

General William Mitchell, USAAF

Skyways: A Book on Modern Aeronautics, 1930.

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