What makes for a great pilot? A great warbird pilot?

[marine air]

An older flight instructor at my local airport commenced to telling me who the best pilots were at our local airport. (By his definition) Curious what you all think makes for a great pilot or warbird pilot?

[Dave Hadfield]

Warbird pilot: first and foremost, great taildragger skills. Preservation of the airplane is more important than human factors.

Second, professional decisions -- knowing when NOT to fly, and then sticking with that decision no matter how much pressure is laid on by the owner/event coordinator/photographer etc. Preservation of the airplane is more important than displaying it.

Third, character -- being a decent person. No one wants to be around a jerk. Must be willing to take tickets, attend meetings, talk to anyone anytime about the organization, sweep the hangar floor, flip burgers, and clean up oil drips without having to be told to do so. Smile a lot. Do the admin late at night when everyone else has gone home.

What is NOT a good warbird pilot is someone who says, "Call me when it's ready," and then swaggers in, kicks the tires, starts the engine, flies hard aerobatics pushing the machine to limits and making passengers sick, then adjourns to the coffee shop to tell war stories while everyone else cleans up. And then loudly points out "what the organization REALLY should be doing." And never raises a nickel of funding.

Dave

[Tiger Tim]

What Dave said, but boiled down to "Someone who cares." Cares about themselves and their skills, cares about the machine, and cares about others.

[Dan Jones]

What Dave said plus being a mechanic and being at least one of the folks who looks after the machine and works on it regularly.

[JohnB]

The great antique/warbird pilots I've met are "by the book" types...guys who have had the proper training or (when available) read the pilot's operating handbook/Dash-1.

In other words, not some hot dog who thinks because he can fly a F-16 (or whatever) flying a Mustang or old jet fighter will be a piece of cake.

Frank Tallman wrote he always sat on the POH.
And in a sentiment likely to be unpopular with some here, said a pilot should be ready to hit the silk if things go bad. He said of his Navy days he "picked up a lot of guys in a lot of pieces", and after doing that the rarity of an aircraft doesn't mean quite as much.

We've seen warbirds wrecked by stupid piloting...Scud running, bad aerobatics or low flying and just doing stupid things...flying in a manner or altitude that if the engine quits you're a goner.
But those things will kill you just as bad in a 182, Bonanza or Cirrus as they will in an A-26, Mustang, Mosquito or T-6.

[bdk]

...Preservation of the airplane is more important than human factors.

Dave, can you elaborate on this point? I'm not sure what you mean by "human factors."

[airnutz]

The great antique/warbird pilots I've met are "by the book" types...guys who have had the proper training or (when available) read the pilot's operating handbook/Dash-1.

We've seen warbirds wrecked by stupid piloting...Scud running, bad aerobatics or low flying and just doing stupid things...flying in a manner or altitude that if the engine quits you're a goner.
But those things will kill you just as bad in a 182, Bonanza or Cirrus as they will in an A-26, Mustang, Mosquito or T-6.

...Or a Stinson 108...I wonder what this guy is? A professional who found his self in a situation where he felt comfortable with a personal minimum take-off goal or an accident waiting to happen? It'd be interesting to know the back story...
1-The Flying Farmer leaves his weekend lake home bound for work and plays big prank on unsuspecting onlookers and cameraman
2-Dilbert III still practicing the family history ignoring the laws of mortality
3-Or?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9DFUqbdH_0

[GRNDP51]

Being around Reno plenty, you get the best of the best. The Hinton's, Thom Richard, Hoot Gibson, Stew Dawson, all of these guys are very likable always willing to talk about warbirds and happy to talk about it with you! Of course being an Unlimited pilot you're darn good too. Snappy decisions, precision, deadstick maydays, etc. the Reno guys get it all! That being said I've also encountered a handful that aren't fun to be around and even if they can fly/race, doesn't matter if you don't have a good personality to go with the skills.

[menards]

The great antique/warbird pilots I've met are "by the book" types...guys who have had the proper training or (when available) read the pilot's operating handbook/Dash-1.

We've seen warbirds wrecked by stupid piloting...Scud running, bad aerobatics or low flying and just doing stupid things...flying in a manner or altitude that if the engine quits you're a goner.
But those things will kill you just as bad in a 182, Bonanza or Cirrus as they will in an A-26, Mustang, Mosquito or T-6.

...Or a Stinson 108...I wonder what this guy is? A professional who found his self in a situation where he felt comfortable with a personal minimum take-off goal or an accident waiting to happen? It'd be interesting to know the back story...
1-The Flying Farmer leaves his weekend lake home bound for work and plays big prank on unsuspecting onlookers and cameraman
2-Dilbert III still practicing the family history ignoring the laws of mortality
3-Or?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9DFUqbdH_0

Ill go with
1) Severely overweight
2) No Density Altitude Calculation
or
3) Both 1) and 2)

[menards]

I'll add "Knowing your plane". Basically all aircraft built before 1970, there was know thought or design to ergonomics, function or standardization. Gauges, switches, breakers, levers, controls, and avionics were put where there was room to put it. Imagine doing all your training in a 172SP, then after getting your ticket you go and buy an old piano key beech 35 because you got a screaming deal on it. The gauges are all over the place, all the switches look exactly the same and the systems are also all over the place. You'll need to spend a significant amount of time familiarizing yourself with all the ins and outs of that type BEFORE you fly, then acquire the required complex transition training, and preferably some beech specific instruction. The cause of a lot of preventable incidents is simply being unfamiliar with the type being flown. Its the same with warbirds. There old, a lot of the placement of switches and controls is different from model to model. If your goal is to fly taildragger fighters for an organization, you'll need dual in a Cub, dual in a Stearman, Dual in a T-6 and then a significant amount of T-6 time (usually over 100 hours of t-6 time) before any organization will think about giving you a fighter checkout. Becoming a great pilot is a long and slow road.

[AFWhite]

Systems Knowledge...

[Dave Hadfield]

...Preservation of the airplane is more important than human factors.

Dave, can you elaborate on this point? I'm not sure what you mean by "human factors."

You want a warbird pilot who has superb hands and feet skills, has learned every nut and bolt on the airplane, and is a great person to hang around and work with.

But you don't always have a choice. Those 3 attributes coming together are not common.

So if your choice is between a pilot who is a bit of a prima donna but will not damage the airplane, vs a great person who is a joy to be with but who occasionally ground loops, your pick must be the prima donna -- or ground the airplane.

The harsh reality is that the preservation of the airplane is more important than bruised feelings.

[bdk]

...Preservation of the airplane is more important than human factors.

Dave, can you elaborate on this point? I'm not sure what you mean by "human factors."

So if your choice is between a pilot who is a bit of a prima donna but will not damage the airplane, vs a great person who is a joy to be with but who occasionally ground loops, your pick must be the prima donna -- or ground the airplane.

Thanks Dave. My initial interpretation of what you wrote was that the pilot might try to save the airplane in an emergency at great personal risk, rather than bailing out for instance. I knew that wasn't what you meant though!

[bdk]

I'm not sure how to answer this. Some very accomplished pilots, even some that were airline pilots and responsible for warbird safety training have died doing really dumb things like scud running. Someone can be a great pilot one day and a hazard the next. Old pilots and bold pilots I guess.

Judgment isn't always consistent in ones life.

Maybe the answer is that they die of old age?

[DB2]

Undoubtedly, the best pilots I've known all share a common characteristic, and that's incredibly detailed systems knowledge of the planes they are flying. But even some of those guys killed themselves (and their passengers) doing something stupid.

So I'd have to agree with bdk....a great pilot is one who dies of old age, safe in the knowledge that he never hurt anyone else. And proud of the fact that he always talked to any kid hanging around his airplane.