I am a big fan of Situational Awareness, the problem is that this is as broad a term as possible!! I think it means the ability to hold an accurate mental model of all aspects of the situation around you, the ability to accurately predict the immediate and long term state of the situation, and the ability to slect and execute the appropriate actions to ensure the desired outcome of the situation.
In otherwords: You are not suprised by anything because you had already thought of it, its ramifications, and what to do when it happens!!
I believe the best pilots I know have excellent SA. Why not experience? Well, I think that experience generally increases your ability to accurately assess the situation, to accurately predict the outcomes, to quickly select the appropriate response, and to increase your ability to consider factors that effect you - I.E. experience increases your SA.
For Lu's best pilot, I cannot imagine that I would want to fly a B47 through freezing fog, and, if I knew by experience that it would happen in certain conditions, then I would argue that good SA might demand that I avoid such conditions!! Doesn't mean he was not a good pilot, just that I look for high SA and that doesnt sound like it to me.
