Have to say that "The Right Stuff" immediately comes to mind as one of the best movies ever to portray the lives of the test pilots and early astronauts - and ranks as my personal favourite. A brilliant film that sadly never found a mainstream audience upon its release, in spite of having been nominated for numerous Oscars at the time.
Whilst the movie does lean more towards spaceflight than atmospheric flight, at the core they were all aviators - whatever kind of vehicle they "flew." And I particularly like how Yeager's character seems to be like the glue that holds the story together, interweaving through all the other daring exploits of the original seven Mercury guys. The astronauts may have received all the public attention, but they knew it was those unsung heroes out in the Mojave Desert that truly had the "right stuff."
Just brilliant!