The World's Best Pilot

Ask most pilots who is the world's best pilot and they will look in a miiror and grin. Press the subject and you will often get a list of pilots they respect.  The usual famous names will top the list, Lindberg, Yeager, Crossfield, Von Richtofen, Bong, Gabreski, McConnell, Olds or Rickenbacker.  The occassional astronaut makes the list as well. This is to be expected as these men are all famous names within aviation.  But ask the same question around an airshow crowd and you may get names like Hoover, Loudenslager, Scholl or even Gaffeny or Skelton.  Ask the same question on a duster strip and some may say Vencil or Burnett. Ask around Hollywood and you may hear Mantz, Tallman or Scholl (again).  Ask an old school airline pilot and you may hear Musick, Buck, Haynes or Sullenberger. And of course Jimmy Doolittle could be on any of those lists. So where does that leave us?

The short story is that the world's best pilot is a unicorn.  A mythical beast that has not existed since aviation has had more than one pilot.  Why do I draw this conclusion? Simple.  Every type of aviation has its own set of requirements that are unique to its function.  All pilots are expected to be technically savvy and able to complete the mission. But what does that entail?

For the airline pilot it is mastery of the highest certificate, the ATP, along with certain soft skills such as CRM and fuel management.  Also being able to read the tea leaves and know when to divert or just how much creedence to give an unusual situation.  Primarily it is simply to move the plane on time.  It is an industry that does not really allow a pilot to stand out of the crowd unless the situation becomes critical.  It takes exaclty one bad decision to kill people (KLM/PAN AM crash at Tennerife). The KLM pilot had a flawless record right up until he decided to take off without proper clearance.  That crash is all he will be remembered for.

The military heroes have usually been fighter pilots.  The dashing figure of the lone gunslinger doing mano-y- mano combat dates back to WW1.  The reality is that the best fighter pilot kills his enemy from behind without warning or mercy.  That's the job. The Red Baron and his mentor Oswald Boelcke obeyed this dicta and it worked well for them.  French ace Rene Fonck was known for superior marksmanship.  American ace Frank Luke for reckless aggressiveness.  So is the best pilot the bravest, the quickest on the controls, the smartest or the best shot? And what about those who had those talents but never saw combat?

An all but overlooked group are the ag pilots, crop dusters.  They fly within feet of the ground and countless obstacles in heavily laden planes at low airspeed.  They do this all day long during the seasons. It is as much a test of stamina as it is piloting prowess.

Then there are the airshow performers and Hollywood stunt pilots. The stunts and routines they perform are nothing short of eye popping yet some of them are not even instrument rated.  But every year somebody invents a new manuver and the old show is passe.  Then of course there are the demstration teams that have to do it all in formation.  Which is harder, doing it in an F-16 at high speed or a Stearman with little power reserve?

Then we have carrier pilots. But there are alot of carrier qualified pilots and we are looking for the best pilot.  That means one, numero uno and we have not even talked about helicopter pilots, balloonists, sailplane pilots, flight instructors etc, etc.

So if you have not guessed by now, the greatest pilot is a myth.  You might be able to quantify the greatest fighter pilot by numeric total.   Richtofen and Erich Hartman because they had the most kills of their respective wars, but one must also take into account for the quality of the adversary.  You can talk about the best test pilot by looking at how many planes he successfully tested without loss.  Crossfield and Yeager usually top the list but by Yeager's own admission that is largely due to their being in the right place at the right time. The list goes on but here are my choices.

Best test pilots of all time: The Wright brothers
Best fighter pilot: Canadian Billy Bishop
Best pioneer pilot: Charles Lindbergh
Best race/engineer pilot: Jimmy Doolittle
Best Bomber pilot: Guy Gibb, RAF
Best dive bomber/attack pilot: Hans Ulrich Rudel
Best recon pilot: Unknown due to secrecy
Best cargo pilot: Anyone who survived flying the hump.
Best interceptor pilot: Rex T. Barber (Yamamoto mission)
Best creative pilot in the field: Phil Cochran
Best airline pilot: Robert Buck
Best jet fighter pilot: Joe McConnell
Best Stunt pilot (Hollywood): Paul Mantz
Best lunar/space pilot: Neil Armstrong
Best Airshow pilot: Bob Hoover
Best aerobatic pilot: Art Scholl
Best airship pilot: Hugo Eckener
Best gas balloonist: Joe Kittinger

Best current pilot.......where's my mirror?