Mark Kelly Quotes

I left the Navy as a lieutenant after spending almost 10 years as a helicopter pilot.

I was a naval officer and aviator. I tested airplanes and got selected to be an astronaut later on.

After high school in 1969, I was appointed to the Air Force Academy. In '73, I studied for my postgraduate degree and became a USAF pilot in 1974. After my discharge in 1980, I became a commercial pilot and flew my first airline flight at Pacific Southwest Airlines in 1980.

I grew up and I kind of took the road of becoming a pilot, which was another dream I had of flying, and once I did attend the air force academy, that dream of flying became more like a project, and I wanted to be a fighter pilot, which I did. I became a fighter pilot.

Obviously I was challenged by becoming a Naval aviator, by landing aboard aircraft carriers and so on.

Peter Rodrick was one of only around 4,000 men in the world qualified to land jets on a carrier after dark.

I flew fighters for the Navy in San Diego for three years, went and did my post-graduate education, and then I was a test pilot in Patuxent River, Maryland, for a few years. I was back in the fleet in the Navy when I was selected to come back here to NASA to become an astronaut.

I spent one semester in Air Force ROTC, as I wanted to be a pilot.

When I was in the gunner's bubble of a B25 bomber, taking off from an aircraft carrier 100 miles off the coast of San Diego, I remember saying to myself how amazing it was to get the chance to do that.

I learned the mechanics of how to fly a plane, but I never lifted a plane off the ground.

When you're asked to fly a 747 you better at least be able to fly a Piper cub.

I was a child of World War Two. I saw films of pilots taking off from aircraft carriers and decided that was the only thing I wanted to do. And it had to be flying from sea carriers. Airfields were not enough.

During my career as an airline pilot, I had the opportunity to be a check and training captain. Part of this job was to train and test experienced pilots to ensure that they had the necessary knowledge and skills to safely and efficiently operate those magnificent big jets.

I learned to fly an airplane, and had my own airplane during the 1960s.

I read, studied, and learned everything I could find about aviation. It was my greatest desire to become a pilot. I could already picture myself in the cockpit of an airliner or in a military fighter plane. I felt deep in my heart this was my thing!

I longed to fly. I was paid in flying lessons and, by the time I was 13, I'd logged 100 hours at the controls.

I realized how important it was to know something about aviation, and it was something I was interested in, so I followed my brother's footsteps and obtained my pilot's license.

I went to the University of Washington as a physics and astronomy major. My other interest, of course, was aviation. I always wanted to be a pilot. And if you're going to fly airplanes, the best place to be is the Air Force.

Most pilots learn, when they pin on their wings and go out and get in a fighter, especially, that one thing you don't do, you don't believe anything anybody tells you about an airplane.

There's no such thing as a natural-born pilot.

I always wanted to be a pilot.

I wanted to leave 'Eight Is Enough' for the Navy.

My first inclination was toward flying and being a pilot.

I did want to be a pilot. I wanted to be a military pilot because I liked airplanes. I was interested in modeling airplanes.

I wanted to further my education, so I went on to get a Ph.D. in electrical engineering and came back and served about ten years in the Canadian Navy as what we call a combat systems engineer.