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

More than 55,000 men from Bomber Command lost their lives, of whom 38,000 were British. That's one in 10 of all the British servicemen lost in the Second World War. It beggars belief that there has not been some recognition for what they gave until now.

More than 60,000 jobs have been lost in the commercial aviation industry in the United States since 1999.

Ninety-nine percent of pilots that go up never have engine failure, and the 1 percent that do usually land it. But if you're up in the air and something goes wrong, you pull that parachute, and the whole plane goes down slowly.

Only the last two planes, I think, had any shot of being intercepted and taken down on 9/11.

If we lose the war in the air we lose the war and we lose it quickly.

It was understood that when I left to do the pilot that I wasn't coming back.

Each generation of pilots hopes that they will leave their profession better off than they found it.

The moment when you find out when you shoot the pilot - getting the pilot is a small victory. You shoot the pilot, and when you get picked up, that's a huge victory right there.

But I don't think the popularity of flying has diminished a bit.