Best Pilot Ever

[Woodlouse2002]

...one little mistake in his navigation, and he'd never seen Europe

It would take more than a little mistake to miss Europe.

What about George Lucas? Chief test pilot for Hawker when it mattered most. He landed the Typhoon prototype when the tail was about to fall off. He had to be a great and brave pilot just to want to fly things for the first time.

[Rifleman]

Sorry to report, Joe wasn't one of the three brothers, after whom, the base was named........

In April 1954, the base became McConnell Air Force Base in honor of two of the three "Flying McConnell Brothers" of World War II. The brothers, from Wichita, entered the Army Air Corps together during WW II. The trio gained fame as "three of a kind." Second Lieutenant Thomas McConnell perished in July 1943, when his B-24 Liberator crashed into a fog covered mountain while en route to his home base in Guadalcanal after a bombing mission. Captain Fred McConnell died when his private plane crashed in October 1945 near Garden Plains, Kansas, while on his way to Garden Plains Air Force Base. Edwin passed away in August 1997 at the age of 76. During a rededication ceremony on 14 June 1999, base officials added Edwin's name to the installation, making McConnell the namesake of all three brothers.

Total info here........http://public.mcconnell.amc.af.mil/History.htm

I hope you didn't include that mis-information in the magazine article you wrote last year ?..........

[OTTOL]

Sorry to report, Joe wasn't one of the three brothers, after whom, the base was named........


Total info here........http://public.mcconnell.amc.af.mil/History.htm

I hope you didn't include that mis-information in the magazine article you wrote last year ?..........

Your'e an icicle Ken!  

I didn't even read the list of options, the first time I posted. All Americans and one German. And who says that Americans are self centered!?  ::)    I agree that it's really impossible to pick the  "great one", or better yet, even define it. In my opinion, the skill required to cross the Atantic, was more akin to a long-haul trucker. There were many cockpits that were occupied by ONE individual who is the only one who really knows what it took at the time of a great flight.........skill, luck, fate, who knows.

[cub3pp]

[quote]

Respect...

[cub3pp]

of course i know him...he's one of the three McConnell brothers...i wrote a whole article about McConnell AFB for an aviation magazine last summer!

Ok im going to ask, where do you live?  have a feeling that you live near me(184th-BW, know something about the REAL aviation pioneers)

[chomp_rock]

Me

[SabreHawk]

Interesting that none of the women got any votes at all, come on Wendy, Sarah,& Btitteny ya gotta give'em some support and also the "other" category needs to be clarified as to how many dfferent pilots make up this cat. and the votes given to who got them, I mean it's winning at 55% but would have to be split up to their respective pilots.(All due respect to those great men who have been mentioned )
But Chuck I still think should win it, his accoplishments to me far exceed any other, an ace in one day, spanning two wars, being shot down & comming back to fight again, and was the first to shoot down the  Me-262 with a piston engine prop fighter! (P-51), heh, Luftwaffe pilots were bailing out of thier planes once they knew he was on them!! His work in the test pilot program, breaking the sound barrier,
Not to mention that he survived it all, and is still flying today at 80 years of age even after retirement.(And still able to out fly men less than half his age)
And plus the work he is doing with the General Chuck Yeager Foundation, helping our youth

[ozzy72]

Okay, a serious nomination. Alex Henshaw. Read http://www.angelfire.com/sd2/spitfirefactory/man.htm, the description of his fly-past!!!

Ozzy

[Smoke2much]

[quote]
are you sure? i thought that Jabarra was an ace in both wars.

[Hagar]

As I mentioned in my first reply in this topic, it depends on what you mean by "best" pilot. To me "best" means "most skilful" but skilful at what? All test pilots have to be skilful pilots. This is one of the main qualifications for the job.  Then there are the display pilots you can see at the many air shows. Skill is the main attribtute of any display pilot. Many test pilots also display aircraft on behalf of their employer as a small part of their everyday work.

The best fighter pilots are skilful at shooting down other aircraft. Most are good natural shots & possess a sense of self-preservation. Although it helps to know their aircraft intimately & know how to get the best out of it they do not necessarily have to be the most skilful of pilots.

"Best" can also mean "most famous". The most well-known pilots tend to be the aviation pioneers, Charles Lindbergh & Amelia Earhart being probably the most internationally famous although there were many more. They were all certainly brave, some were even reckless, but not all were particularly talented or skilled pilots.

Some are outstanding but the list is still long. From all accounts, Chuck Yeager was & is an outstanding & skilful pilot by any criteria. James H. Doolittle would have to be on my list. He did far more for aviation than his amazing feat of organising & participating in the Tokio raid. Alex Henshaw was a famous pre--WWII pioneer who set up many records. He was also an outstanding test & display pilot. The same can be said for most of the well-known British '50s test pilots like Neville Duke & Roland Beamont, both previously successful fighter pilots.

The list is almost endless so I can't possibly list them all. There aren't so many famous female pilots but they were just as skilful as their male counterparts. They had to be better than the average male pilot in order to overcome the prejudice which is unfortunately still common today. I actually knew Jackie Moggridge back in the 1960s, a talented pilot who flew for the ATA during WWII & went on to become one of the very first female airline pilots after the war. While in the ATA she flew alongside many skilful & surprisingly young female pilots including the legendary Amy Johnson. These young girls were expected to fly any type of service aircraft that needed to be delivered from the factory to various operational bases. They were completely unarmed & often had a quick glance at a special check list before taking off in a completely unfamiliar type. This could be a Tiger Moth, Spitfire or Lancaster. They had no modern nav-aids & flew alone, even in the heavy types. Any one of these brave young women would have to be included on my list. Some, like Amy Johnson herself, were actually lost doing their work.

[Rifleman]

Gee Hagar, are you sitting too close to Brensec ?.....wow, nice paragraphing........

[Hagar]

Thanks Rifleman. I take that as a compliment. I was once told I missed my vocation.

On the subject of female pilots I must mention my own particular heroine. Carolyn Grace who after her husband Nick's tragic death learned to fly & display the Spitfire she helped him restore. She is now the only certified female Spitfire display pilot in the world. Her displays are exquisite & every one a fine tribute to her late husband.

The Grace Spitfire ML 407 is one of the rare two-seat examples (factory-converted post-WWII) & she often takes ex-Spitfire pilots for a trip. On one occasion she gave Jackie Moggridge a ride. Jackie last flew ML 407 when she delivered it from the factory to Selsey in West Sussex in 1944.
http://www.ml407.co.uk/pages/abheavmore.html

PS. This photo of Jackie Moggridge was taken during WWII. Eat your hearts out guys. I believe she was the youngest pilot in the ATA.


Check out one of her American colleagues, also named Jackie. Another legendary aviator (aviatrix) nobody seems to remember these days.

[torquestripe]

Neil Armstrong hands down.

http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/armstrong-na.html

[RitterKreuz]

The military has a saying... goes something like this.

"If you ask an aviator 'who is the best pilot in the world?' and he doesnt know the answer... then it sure isnt him."  ;)

[Rifleman]

[quote]Thanks Rifleman. I take that as a compliment.
Check out one of her American colleagues, also named Jackie. Another legendary aviator (aviatrix) nobody seems to remember these days.