A fascinating question and Winkle Brown is most certainly very high on the list.
However, the other question we should be asking ourselves is not about the chaps that get the headlines because of their position and therefore, by definition, opportunities.
There have been many very good pilots and these fall in to many different categories.
Think of the great pilot leaders there have been (and I for one do not necessarily include Douglas Bader for example)
Think of some of the airline legends, and I don't mean the self-promoting ones !
And, yes, we must include the test pilots. After all, these are the ones who are publicly seen to be at the top of their game.
I had the good fortune to meet Geoffrey Quill in my early days and his words and encouragement had a great deal to do with how I dealt with the tribulations of a professional flying career.
Listening to Peter Twiss in the past, John Cunningham or our own JH has always stimulated me to try harder or to do better. You can't beat listening to what drives such people.
We could then include the example of the record breakers, WW2 Bomber Command stalwarts, decorated fighter pilots. These are the people we all actually hear about.
But I now want to make a call for some of the unheralded; the acknowledged good instructors and mentors, past and present.
These representatives, even the better known ones, are fairly soon forgotten except by their students.
My heroes are the blokes who first tried to instil some understanding of the alien world that was to become my life later on. You know, that leprachaun who sits on your shoulder to this day, stopping you trying something stupid or downright reckless.
Yep, I still remember all my instructors with great affection and eternal gratitude for the attitude they promoted in me to never stop learning and never stop trying.
There are a lot still out there, some up and coming, some in the forefront and some quietly easing out at the end of good careers. All have contributed in their own way in trying to produce a sound, informed and safe new pilot to our more and more over- regulated world.
…………..Pretty good pilots as well, I think.
