Stephen Coonts (born July 19, 1946) is an American thriller and suspense novelist.
Here above the farms and ranches of the Great Plains aviation lives up to the promise that inspired dreamers through the ages. Here you are truly separate from the earth, at least for a little while, removed from the cares and concerns that occupy you on the ground. This separation from the earth is more than symbolic, more than a physical removal - it has an emotional dimension as tangible as the wood, fabric, and steel that has transported you aloft.
The most crucial thing is to learn the craft: how to string sentences together, how to make your dialogue sound like real people, how to properly pace a story, how to develop interesting characters.
Airplanes are like women - pick what you like and try to get it away from the guy who has it, then dress it out to the limit of your wallet and taste.
The irony of the information age is that it lends credibility to uninformed opinion.
Here you are truly separate from the earth, at least for a little while, removed from the cares and concerns that occupy you on the ground.
A little mountain will kill you just as dead as a big one if you fly into it.
Flying is like sex - I've never had all I wanted but occasionally I've had all I could stand.
This thing we call luck is merely professionalism and attention to detail, it's your awareness of everything that is going on around you, it's how well you know and understand your airplane and your own limitations. Luck is the sum total of your of abilities as an aviator. If you think your luck is running low, you'd better get busy and make some more. Work harder. Pay more attention. Do better preflights.
It's the most exciting thing you have ever done with your pants on!
I am alive. Up here with the song of the engine and the air whispering on my face as the sunlight and shadows play upon the banking, wheeling wings, I am completely, vibrantly alive. With the stick in my right hand, the throttle in my left, and the rudder beneath my feet, I can savor that essence from which life is made.
The hard, inescapable reality is that anyone who flies may die in an airplane.
Mistakes are inevitable in aviation, especially when one is still learning new things. The trick is to not make the mistake that will kill you.
All really great flying adventures begin at dawn.
Writers shouldn't fall in love with their characters so much that they lose sight of what they're trying to accomplish. The idea is to write a whole story, a whole book. A writer has to be able to look at that story and see whether or not a character works, whether or not a character needs further definition.
Flight is romance - not in the sense of sexual attraction, but as an experience that enriches life.
With the stick in my right hand, the throttle in my left, and the rudder beneath my feet, I can savor that essence from which life is made.