Walk into Hacienda del Sol on a Friday noon and you will see a table of anywhere between 12 and 20 men. They are older, late 60s to mid-80s, balding, for the most part trim, some lean forward to hear. Viewed from a distance, you would probably classify them as “duffers;” how wrong you would be.

These men are THE FRIDAY PILOTS

The Friday Pilots are a group of pilots that flew in the old days, the old airplanes and the early jets! They have been to war, have crashed and burned. They are fighter pilots, bomber pilots, airline pilots, corporate pilots and astronauts.

These men did something almost everyone talks about and few do; they wrote down their memories for their kids, grandkids, families and friends. They are an eyewitness account of the real stories behind the people who keep this great nation free!

Welcome To The Friday Pilots

Pilot Quotes!

When you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and for there you will always long to return - Author Unknown
Blue is up, brown is down - FLY THE AIRPLANE!
All this talk about lift and drag is scientific nonsense - airplanes fly on money
I became a millionaire in the aviation business - How did you do that? - I started out as a billionaire.
The only time in an airplane when you have too much fuel is when you are on fire.
One of these things happens to every pilot - one day you will walk out to your airplane knowing it is your last flight - one day you will walk out to your airplane not knowing it is your last flight
The worst day of flying beats the best day at work - said by someone who has never been in combat.
There is no reason to fly through a thunderstorm in peacetime - sign over ops desk at Davis-Monthan AFB.
A smooth landing is skill - two in a row is luck - three is a lie.
Passengers prefer old captains and young flight attendants.
In aviation when your wife is happy, you're happy (this goes for much of the rest of life too).
In a tail dragger, your problems start when you land.
God does not subtract from man's allotted time the hours spent while flying.
You've never been lost until you've been lost at Mach two

The Friday Pilots

This is a book of first person stories written by “old” pilots, those who flew the old airplanes in the old Air Force. These are personal stories of growing up in a different America, their lives before political correctness, back when airplanes were dangerous, but flying was fun.

All book royalties go to the Fisher House charity for military families – the Fisher House provides housing near treatment facilities for military families experiencing severe medical problems.