What's your definition of "Best pilot"? A lot of those pilots in the 20's and 30's simply flew what they had until their luck ran out. My personal aviation superhero, Jimmy Doolittle, in his autobiography, I Could Never Be So Lucky Again, talks about wrecking 5 for 6 airplanes in the first two or three chapters alone. I don't know about you, but I don't know anybody who has wrecked 5 or 6 airplanes. I'd probably put the Alaskan guys in the same boat as those early aviation pioneers. I remember reading something Bob Hoover said in an interview. He was talking about why he no longer flew instruments. It was because he felt that he could either be a good instrument pilot or a good aerobatic pilot but not both. I'd have to take his word for it. But if what he said was true, what does that say about our aerial demonstration pilots? Ag pilots are typically good sticks, but the demonstration of their talents is limited to VFR weather and calm winds - not the most demanding set of conditions to fly in. What about the guy in the Coast Guard Helo hand-flying a rock solid hover over a fishing boat in a storm while the crew hoists up a sick or injured seaman? Or a retiring 30,000 hr airline captain who has flown his entire career without putting so much as a scratch on an airplane? I don't honestly know how I'd define "the best pilot", but I'm pretty sure you haven't listed all of the possibilities in your poll. As for me, I'm content with being arguably the world's second best pilot.
Hmmmm... I am new here and I did just get back from a round the world trip or something. Interesting synopsis on the results of your polls. It's becoming clearer to me why I'm so content at being widely regarded as being arguably the world's second best pilot.Ohhh... you must be new here, or just back from your round the world trip or something. Several weeks ago, in response to Jay's thread with a poll about which pilot was better, an air mail pilot of the 1920s-30s, or an Airbus pilot, I decided to run series of polls to decide who the best pilot of all time was.
Trust me, the Coast Guard rescue pilots were included, but where voted down. They didn't make the cut. They were trounced 14-4 by the Alaskan Bush pilot. The airline pilot of today was shut out 1-14 again by the Alaskan Bush pilot. Sorry, the Coasties don't cut it according to POA.
Now we have to see how the Alaskans do against the runner ups!! This is definitive, fully bonafide and will be recorded by the Smithsonian, the FAA and Guinness Book of World Records, so choose wisely.
They were easy to draw?
