The Greatest Pilot that Ever Lived?

Fearless Tower said:
We'll see where this goes, but an interesting question I was pondering this morning - who is/was the greatets pilot that ever lived?

Lot of great ones out there for sure, but personally, I'm thinking it is a toss up between Doolittle and Hoover.

Your Thoughts?
Click to expand...

It's Bob Hoover for me...:yes:
 
I can't say "the greatest" but as a collective group I would have to say the WASP flyers from WWII.
I have a great deal of respect for those women, and think sadly they don't get their just recognition for their efforts during the war.
 
Second Otto Lilienthal. Opfer müssen gebracht werden!
 
Pilawt said:
And studies show that half of all pilots are below average.

:eek:
Click to expand...

So you believe the median and the mean coincide when measuring the full pilot population in terms of skill?
 
Fast n' Furious said:
Wouldn't it be something to find out that the greatest pilot who ever lived never dropped a bomb, never got shot at or shot at anyone or went all that fast. Just someone who did it right everytime they went up, never scared anyone, acted reasonably and did it well for a lifetime? It's not me that's for sure.

Sent from my Desire HD using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...

If that is the criteria, my vote would go to Horton W Johnson. CG Aviator #1635. We lost Hoot and his crew on a crappy night in 1982. RIP.
 
Any of the earliest Aviators that taught themselves to discover and then use powered flight after building and test-piloting their own aircraft, are in a league of their own, that can't really even be approached by any followers learning from them: Lilienthal, The Wright Bros., Sikorsky.
 
Last edited:
CapeCodJay said:
I can't say "the greatest" but as a collective group I would have to say the WASP flyers from WWII.
I have a great deal of respect for those women, and think sadly they don't get their just recognition for their efforts during the war.
Click to expand...

Why? All they did was ferry airplanes around. Are you sexist? Assuming it was a big deal because they were women? That is old fashioned and way out of line.
 
ClimbnSink said:
Why? All they did was ferry airplanes around. Are you sexist? Assuming it was a big deal because they were women? That is old fashioned and way out of line.
Click to expand...

They ferried some notoriously hard-to-fly airplanes around with very little training. That is pretty amazing stuff.
 
And I've got to go with Bob Hoover.

Yeager is the greatest ego that ever lived.

Leo Loudenslager was amazing, for sure - Too bad we'll never know how good he could have gotten.

Lots of great pilots mentioned in this thread, tho.
 
wow, no mention yet of Lindbergh or Armstrong?
 
flyingcheesehead said:
They ferried some notoriously hard-to-fly airplanes around with very little training. That is pretty amazing stuff.
Click to expand...
With that logic we should be praising unlicensed scud runners.
If they flew them with less then the standard amount of training they were exercising bad judgment. Cant have bad judgment and be the greatest pilot that ever lived.
 
N801BH said:
It's Bob Hoover for me...:yes:
Click to expand...

Hoover is a really nice guy too, even in a crowded public situation. I saw him in the middle of an extended multi generation mob of a family at SnF one year and he purported himself with distinction.
 
ClimbnSink said:
With that logic we should be praising unlicensed scud runners.
If they flew them with less then the standard amount of training they were exercising bad judgment. Cant have bad judgment and be the greatest pilot that ever lived.
Click to expand...

Unlicensed scud runners do it because they're dumb.

The WASPs did it because the country needed them.

Big difference.
 
ClimbnSink said:
Why? All they did was ferry airplanes around. Are you sexist? Assuming it was a big deal because they were women? That is old fashioned and way out of line.
Click to expand...

I think because a whole generation know nothing about these women. A group that weren't allowed to fly in active duty because they were women, yet suffered human loss.
I'd say that's a tragedy and I'm thankful for their contribution to the war effort.
 
Last edited:
Henning said:
Hoover is a really nice guy too, even in a crowded public situation. I saw him in the middle of an extended multi generation mob of a family at SnF one year and he purported himself with distinction.
Click to expand...

Purported?
 
Has Sully been mentioned yet? This is one of those things that's hard to really pin down. Sully rates right up there at the top for me. Line pilot, had the skills from his glider rating, saved every soul, and didn't cause a stir on the ground.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
They ferried some notoriously hard-to-fly airplanes around with very little training. That is pretty amazing stuff.
Click to expand...

Actually, it tells how easy flying those aircraft really is when you are highly motivated and pay strict attention during flight training.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
Unlicensed scud runners do it because they're dumb.

The WASPs did it because the country needed them.

Big difference.
Click to expand...

So flying beyond your skill level is OK if there is a large PR campaign behind the mission? Still dumb.
 
CapeCodJay said:
I think because a whole generation know nothing about these women. A group that weren't allowed to fly in active duty because they were women, yet suffered human loss.
I'd say that's a tragedy and I'm thankful for their contribution to the war effort.
Click to expand...

They are the greatest pilots because no one knows about them, they weren't allowed in combat, and some of them crashed? The first two of those are not measures of piloting ability, and the last one suggests poor piloting.
 
ClimbnSink said:
So flying beyond your skill level is OK if there is a large PR campaign behind the mission? Still dumb.
Click to expand...

Who is the more dumb pilot: The one who can fly the WWII fighter/bombers with a handful of hours in the logbook? Or the one who can barely solo a CE150 at 40 hours?

We as a species are becoming nit picky whiney to the point it's making us stupid and incompetent.
 
fgcason said:
Who is the more dumb pilot: The one who can fly the WWII fighter/bombers with a handful of hours in the logbook? Or the one who can barely solo a CE150 at 40 hours?

We as a species are becoming nit picky whiney to the point it's making us stupid and incompetent.
Click to expand...

Close.
 
Nothing against the WASPs but there were male pilots that ferried planes during WWII as well. I'm sure it's much more difficult to take an aircraft into combat that you only have a few hours in than simply ferrying it. Also the WASPs had quite a bit experience before being selected. Only a small percentage of applicants were chosen.
 
WASP pilots made an important contribution, but just like Sully, I don't think they had the overall impact that some of the others have had.

Sully is probably a great pilot.....but the situation he was faced with was a heck of a lot more tame than what Al Haynes was up against.
 
Velocity173 said:
Nothing against the WASPs but there were male pilots that ferried planes during WWII as well. I'm sure it's much more difficult to take an aircraft into combat that you only have a few hours in than simply ferrying it. Also the WASPs had quite a bit experience before being selected. Only a small percentage of applicants were chosen.
Click to expand...

The element which may be missing in evaluating the WASP's contribution is a cultural expectation vs individual performance one. If you grow up being told you can't do things because you're a girl (or a guy) and you go do them anyway then it is more of an event compared to a guy (or a girl) doing it. In this event the individual has overcome a greater challenge than the person who is expected to do it. As an absolute measure of skill, both parties completed the same task but one had to travel further to do so.
 
Last edited:
Some food for thought when considering Doolittle vs Hoover:

Most of us have seen (either in person or on YouTube) Hoover's Shrike routine.....now consider this - While Bob was busting out of a Nazi prison stealin' an FW 190, Jimmy was doing that stuff (Single Engine Aerobatics) in B-26s during the war to demonstrate to the pilots that the airplane could be safely flown single engine and single pilot and was not the 'widow-maker' that popular sentiment had created.
 
So when we are talking "Greatest Pilot Who Ever Lived" are we talking stick and rudder or cultural impact? Both?
 
My vote goes to Doolittle. From his early barnstorming days, to setting speed records, to "blind" flying, to wartime contributions, the man was always at the forefront of it all. Some of the others on this list have had their moments of glory, but sustained contributions should go to these pioneers (Doolittle, Yeager, Lindbergh, etc.).

Can you imagine flying the Atlantic with the equipment Lindbergh had?
 
fgcason said:
Or the one who can barely solo a CE150 at 40 hours?

We as a species are becoming nit picky whiney to the point it's making us stupid and incompetent.
Click to expand...
took me over 300 hours to solo, wonder what that says ?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top