). I'm going to nominate Bob Hoover. I saw him do his aerobatic routine in the Commander when I was a kid. Anybody that can do that, I bow to!Who is THE pilot?
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Who is THE pilot?
OK, who do people think is THE pilot of all time? (You can't nominate yourself ). I'm going to nominate Bob Hoover. I saw him do his aerobatic routine in the Commander when I was a kid. Anybody that can do that, I bow to!
). I'm going to nominate Bob Hoover. I saw him do his aerobatic routine in the Commander when I was a kid. Anybody that can do that, I bow to!
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flynfiddle
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Roger Ram Jet is the Man. He had his own song TV show and great uniform. Those other guys were smart but Roger had to do it with no brains lack of class and ignorance much like most of us.
Also thinking of Shy King I still think He and Penny were an Item.
Also thinking of Shy King I still think He and Penny were an Item.
I wish I could spell
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mysidesdone
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Bcn-In-Bnd
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. Yeager?! 
I hope you are joking.
Have you read his book(s) or seen seen him talk.
-the trouble with .-ls is HE thinks he is the all time best pilot.
I am Birddog,
where do you get that suff from
I hope you are joking.
Have you read his book(s) or seen seen him talk.
-the trouble with .-ls is HE thinks he is the all time best pilot.
I am Birddog,
where do you get that suff from
Last edited by Bcn-In-Bnd on Fri May 21, 2004 6:19 am, edited 1 time in total.
Peace,Love and Granola.
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Cat Driver
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My vote goes to Bob Hoover.
Bob is smooth and predicitable in all his shows and I can still see him rolling the commander right after take off with the gear still down...impressive, very impressive.
Cat
Bob is smooth and predicitable in all his shows and I can still see him rolling the commander right after take off with the gear still down...impressive, very impressive.
Cat
The hardest thing about flying is knowing when to say no
After over a half a century of flying no one ever died because of my decision not to fly.
After over a half a century of flying no one ever died because of my decision not to fly.
When I clicked on this thread, I was expecting to see stuff about when it's a 2 crew operation and either the pax or customs ask: "Which one of you is THE pilot"...I wouldn't have even thought of responding with the likes of . or Bob...but man, what a great response to likely THE most annoying question I get at work! I usually find my self limited to either myself or THE OTHER pilot.
Lincoln Beachey (pre-WWI airshow pilot). What a guy. You have to remember how little was known about aviation back then.
Glenn Curtiss (who did a lot more for aviation than the Wright Bros, imho). He didn't die in a plane crash, which is incredible given what he did.
Stuart Harrison (if I recall his name correctly) will almost certainly be unknown to all of you here. However, to the best of my knowledge, he is the only pilot of any nationality that successfully landed a jet deadstick (flamed out) on a carrier, a feat surpassing anything in commercial aviation.
Bob Hoover is almost too easy a pick. A superb pilot, despised and envied by the feds who carried on a lifelong campaign against him.
Delmar Benjamin and Tex Johnston are worthy of mention as well.
Glenn Curtiss (who did a lot more for aviation than the Wright Bros, imho). He didn't die in a plane crash, which is incredible given what he did.
Stuart Harrison (if I recall his name correctly) will almost certainly be unknown to all of you here. However, to the best of my knowledge, he is the only pilot of any nationality that successfully landed a jet deadstick (flamed out) on a carrier, a feat surpassing anything in commercial aviation.
Bob Hoover is almost too easy a pick. A superb pilot, despised and envied by the feds who carried on a lifelong campaign against him.
Delmar Benjamin and Tex Johnston are worthy of mention as well.
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Panama Jack
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You had me at hello...CLguy wrote:My vote goes to "I am Birddog" although he is not nearly as good looking as the rest of them, the stuff Bob Hoover does with a Commander, we watch him do that daily over a fire!!!
Of course Hoover's is planned and controlled!!
...until the last line...
We'll see how funny it is!! 
What's the criteria(sp?)??
My picks
Best airshow pilot (hands on)- Hoover. I fly one of his old planes. Still has g-meters an all. So, I'm a little biased.
Best oldschool dog fighter - Richthofen.
Best middleschool figher - Erich Hartmann.
Best newschool fighter - None. Who did you want me to say?? Maverick??
Best at keeping eyes open. Ed Long. 64,000 hours, and still ticking.
Best salesman pilot - Grant MaConachie (sp?)
Best pilot sitting in this room right now - Me. .... ah crap someone else just walked in.
My picks
Best airshow pilot (hands on)- Hoover. I fly one of his old planes. Still has g-meters an all. So, I'm a little biased.
Best oldschool dog fighter - Richthofen.
Best middleschool figher - Erich Hartmann.
Best newschool fighter - None. Who did you want me to say?? Maverick??
Best at keeping eyes open. Ed Long. 64,000 hours, and still ticking.
Best salesman pilot - Grant MaConachie (sp?)
Best pilot sitting in this room right now - Me. .... ah crap someone else just walked in.
My vote goes to that great Canadian legend, the Airways Master, Master of 50 & 1/8th, the great Ace McCool, Down East International. Moncton, N.B. or more specifically, the Hero's Bar and Grill.
The average pilot, despite the somewhat swaggering exterior, is very much capable of such feelings as love, affection, intimacy and caring.
These feelings just don't involve anyone else.
These feelings just don't involve anyone else.
My vote is conditional for Wilfred Parke. Sounds like one cool customer and probably something that would have been figured out anyway, but still, he was the one to do it.
"The first pilot to perform, recover from and demonstrate recovery from a spin was Lt. Wilfred Parke, Royal Navy, on August 25, 1912 while flying the Avro cabin tractor biplane during the Military Trials that year. On this occasion Parke and his observer, Lt. Le Breton, RFC, were flying about 600 ft and commenced a spiral glide prior to landing. Finding that the glide was too steep, Park pulled the stick back, promptly stalled and entered a spin. With no established procedure in mind for recovery he attempted to extricate himself from danger by pulling the stick further back and applying rudder into the spin, and found that the spin merely tightened. After carefully noting this phenomenon he decided, when only 50 ft from the ground, to reverse the rudder, and the machine recovered instantly. Parke was able to give a carefully reasoned resume of his corrective actions, thereby contributing immeasurably to the progress of aviation."
The reason he might not actually be the best pilot ever.......
"A few months later he was killed, after engine failure, while turning back to the runway. Apparently, knowing how to recover from a spin is of no avail if you are not aware of the conditions and initiating factors for spins."
Kind of why we teach students recognition and avoidance rather than just recovery.
"The first pilot to perform, recover from and demonstrate recovery from a spin was Lt. Wilfred Parke, Royal Navy, on August 25, 1912 while flying the Avro cabin tractor biplane during the Military Trials that year. On this occasion Parke and his observer, Lt. Le Breton, RFC, were flying about 600 ft and commenced a spiral glide prior to landing. Finding that the glide was too steep, Park pulled the stick back, promptly stalled and entered a spin. With no established procedure in mind for recovery he attempted to extricate himself from danger by pulling the stick further back and applying rudder into the spin, and found that the spin merely tightened. After carefully noting this phenomenon he decided, when only 50 ft from the ground, to reverse the rudder, and the machine recovered instantly. Parke was able to give a carefully reasoned resume of his corrective actions, thereby contributing immeasurably to the progress of aviation."
The reason he might not actually be the best pilot ever.......
"A few months later he was killed, after engine failure, while turning back to the runway. Apparently, knowing how to recover from a spin is of no avail if you are not aware of the conditions and initiating factors for spins."
Kind of why we teach students recognition and avoidance rather than just recovery.
Best Airshows: Bob Hoover / Sean Tucker
Best Test Flying: Eric Brown (RN) / Yeager / Hoover / Shepard
Deadliest: Erich Hartmann
Best Racer: Steve Wittman
Most Class: Gordo Cooper / Tex Johnson
Best Glider Pilot: Ray Linskey
But THE pilot can be non other than:
Squadron Commander The Lord Flashard
Best Test Flying: Eric Brown (RN) / Yeager / Hoover / Shepard
Deadliest: Erich Hartmann
Best Racer: Steve Wittman
Most Class: Gordo Cooper / Tex Johnson
Best Glider Pilot: Ray Linskey
But THE pilot can be non other than:
Squadron Commander The Lord Flashard
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shitdisturber
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Either of these two
Bill Barker, survived a dogfight solo against an estimated 50 huns, getting something on the order of 5 kills in the scrap, while fading in and out of consciousness from his own wounds.
Billy Bishop, even Richthofen stayed out of his way. Following the death of a friend, challenged Goering to a one on one. I'm not sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing the incompetent boob never showed. Was called by A Roy Brown, a fairly well known pilot for some reason; perhaps the best on either side.
From the other side of the fence
Werner Voss, was disliked by Richthofen because it was a given he would exceed his kill total if he lived that long; unbelievable skill. Last battle was with something like 6 of the best in the air for the RFC at the time including McCudden, who was in awe of the fight he put up when he could have escaped that McCudden felt badly that they were forced to kill him.
Bill Barker, survived a dogfight solo against an estimated 50 huns, getting something on the order of 5 kills in the scrap, while fading in and out of consciousness from his own wounds.
Billy Bishop, even Richthofen stayed out of his way. Following the death of a friend, challenged Goering to a one on one. I'm not sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing the incompetent boob never showed. Was called by A Roy Brown, a fairly well known pilot for some reason; perhaps the best on either side.
From the other side of the fence
Werner Voss, was disliked by Richthofen because it was a given he would exceed his kill total if he lived that long; unbelievable skill. Last battle was with something like 6 of the best in the air for the RFC at the time including McCudden, who was in awe of the fight he put up when he could have escaped that McCudden felt badly that they were forced to kill him.
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mysidesdone
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Air Commodore Len Birchall gets my real vote!
I found this excerpt on a DND web page:
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World War Two, about 350 miles southeast of Ceylon in the Indian Ocean, Squadron Leader Leonard Birchall of 413 (Tusker) Squadron, RCAF and his crew are aloft in their PBY-5 Catalina flying boat, searching for the Japanese invasion fleet approaching from the Celebes. They have been flying since dawn and Warrant Officer Bart Onyette is setting course for their base at Lake Koggala when specks appear on the horizon. S/L Birchall alters course to investigate, and wireless operator Sergeant F.C. Phillips sends the first sighting report at 1605 hours Universal Time. He is supposed to transmit this signal three times.
At that very moment, the lead Japanese cruiser opens fire and three flights of Zero fighters dive to attack the Catalina. S/L Birchall begins corkscrewing the heavy flying boat through the full repertoire of evasive manoeuvres and the nose and waist gunners return fire, but to no avail: there isn’t a cloud in the sky to hide the Catalina, so the best they can do is to land on the water. During the battle, a 20-mm shell destroys the radio half-way through Sgt Phillips’ third transmission. Once down, the Catalina and its crew are targets for the strafing Zeros, and the men have to squirm out of their life-preservers to dodge bullets as they swim away from the flaming gasoline spreading from the wreck. Two injured men cannot shed their Mae Wests, and they die in the barrage of machine-gun fire. Finally, the Japanese destroyer Isokaze picks up pilots S/L Birchall and Pilot Officer P.N. Kenny, navigator W/O Onyette, wireless operator Sgt Phillips, flight mechanic Sgt W. Cook, and waist gunner Sgt B. Catlin. Nose-gunner Sgt J. Henzell and waist-gunner Sgt I.N. Davidson are dead.
The Japanese immediately begin beating S/L Birchall and the other crewmembers to make them tell whether a sighting report was made, and they are almost convinced that no signal went out when Colombo comes on the air and demands that third transmission. All the crew are savagely beaten and flung into a paint locker, destined for four years of terrible captivity, but they know their message got through.
The depth S/L Birchall true heroism was demonstrated in the Japanese prison camps. Many POWs attributed his leadership to their survival. S/L Birchall lives today in Kingston, ON.
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I believe that Air Commodore Birchall would have been a house-hold name like Bishop and Barker, except that he has been publicly angered his whole life by the Japanese government's refusal to appologize for the treatment of the POWs. I suppose we are Canadian and we wouldn't want political correctness to be sacrificed in the appreciation of our heroes!
I found this excerpt on a DND web page:
---
World War Two, about 350 miles southeast of Ceylon in the Indian Ocean, Squadron Leader Leonard Birchall of 413 (Tusker) Squadron, RCAF and his crew are aloft in their PBY-5 Catalina flying boat, searching for the Japanese invasion fleet approaching from the Celebes. They have been flying since dawn and Warrant Officer Bart Onyette is setting course for their base at Lake Koggala when specks appear on the horizon. S/L Birchall alters course to investigate, and wireless operator Sergeant F.C. Phillips sends the first sighting report at 1605 hours Universal Time. He is supposed to transmit this signal three times.
At that very moment, the lead Japanese cruiser opens fire and three flights of Zero fighters dive to attack the Catalina. S/L Birchall begins corkscrewing the heavy flying boat through the full repertoire of evasive manoeuvres and the nose and waist gunners return fire, but to no avail: there isn’t a cloud in the sky to hide the Catalina, so the best they can do is to land on the water. During the battle, a 20-mm shell destroys the radio half-way through Sgt Phillips’ third transmission. Once down, the Catalina and its crew are targets for the strafing Zeros, and the men have to squirm out of their life-preservers to dodge bullets as they swim away from the flaming gasoline spreading from the wreck. Two injured men cannot shed their Mae Wests, and they die in the barrage of machine-gun fire. Finally, the Japanese destroyer Isokaze picks up pilots S/L Birchall and Pilot Officer P.N. Kenny, navigator W/O Onyette, wireless operator Sgt Phillips, flight mechanic Sgt W. Cook, and waist gunner Sgt B. Catlin. Nose-gunner Sgt J. Henzell and waist-gunner Sgt I.N. Davidson are dead.
The Japanese immediately begin beating S/L Birchall and the other crewmembers to make them tell whether a sighting report was made, and they are almost convinced that no signal went out when Colombo comes on the air and demands that third transmission. All the crew are savagely beaten and flung into a paint locker, destined for four years of terrible captivity, but they know their message got through.
The depth S/L Birchall true heroism was demonstrated in the Japanese prison camps. Many POWs attributed his leadership to their survival. S/L Birchall lives today in Kingston, ON.
---
I believe that Air Commodore Birchall would have been a house-hold name like Bishop and Barker, except that he has been publicly angered his whole life by the Japanese government's refusal to appologize for the treatment of the POWs. I suppose we are Canadian and we wouldn't want political correctness to be sacrificed in the appreciation of our heroes!
top pilot
Pete Conrad. Naval Aviator
Test Pilot
Astronaut - Gemini program, 3rd man on the moon, skylab.
Scott Crossfield - a close second... Test pilot, designer (X-15)
All you guys who voted for Erich Harrtman and his ilk, pretty easy to score 300+ kills on Polish and Russian biplanes in a 109.
Yeagher, the best pilot ever... just ask him.
Test Pilot
Astronaut - Gemini program, 3rd man on the moon, skylab.
Scott Crossfield - a close second... Test pilot, designer (X-15)
All you guys who voted for Erich Harrtman and his ilk, pretty easy to score 300+ kills on Polish and Russian biplanes in a 109.
Yeagher, the best pilot ever... just ask him.
