Who was the best pilot you ever saw?:-)
 

In the spirit of the "Right Stuff" those of us with a desire to leave the earthly bounds of this planet will mourn & remember the greatest pilot we ever saw.......Neil Armstrong whom passed away overnight aged 82 a man am sure will still be floating around out there in outer-space.
Neil & the whole NASA team left an indelible mark on the human race back in 1969.

Where were you back then?

RIP

Wmk2

Delaying a Twotter at Brissy, that was ready to depart westward on the RPT flight.
Pax weren't going to leave the terminal which had TVs showing the landing and we were in there with them.
We were abour fifteen minutes late getting away.

It's a good time to revisit that wonderful Australian movie "The Dish". Towards the end there is a lovely scene where the gullible but well-meaning security guard, thinking he has just spoken to Neil Armstrong on his walkie-talkie, looks up at the moon and says:

Good night Mr Armstrong.

My parents hadn't yet met.

I see him every day when I look in the mirror :)

The Dish had a few factual errors in it too, Fris. i.e. The first video feed of Neil's walk came from Honeysuckle (HSK), not PKS as shown in the movie :} But it wasn't a bad movie otherwise :E

Wally, I was a bright-eyed primary school kid, sitting in the Assembly Hall watching it unfold on a 26" black & white telly with a couple of hundred other kids. The week or so's media coverage leading up to the culmination of the landing and EVA on 21 July was the inspiration for me (and I'm sure a generation of others) to pursue an aviation career.

So, I still have to say Neil is the best pilot I ever saw. Rest in Peace.

If you're asking about an Australian pilot, I couldn't mention his name here, because he's too humble, and would be embarrassed to see his name on a public forum :)

Thanks Jarse :ok:

I have to nominate, teh astronauts, flight controlers, system specialists, manufacturing engineers et al, from Apollo13, the one that had the O2 explosion on the way to the moon. Great team work and problem solving skills. Apparently the whole world said, what can we do to help......even the ruskies and that was at the height of the cold war.

In the Spirit of the theme.....

Farewell to the Ultimate 'Long Haul' Pilot.....

I guess we can all remember where we were when....

I was on a charter for the local TV repair man to the thriving metropolis of Latham in the WA wheatbelt, where about half the town population was glued around the B & W TV set, waiting for the TV man to 'get it right'....and he did, just in time!

Tks Wal, for the post...:ok:

best I ever saw, no contest, Bob Hoover.:ok:

Bob Hoover...hands down. Had the absolute pleasure of having dinner with him back in '98?? when he came to Oz for Avalon. Pilots pilot no question.

Second up, an Aussie, JD Hazelton!!

For those of you who missed it back in 1969 ..

What an amazing achievement back in those days .. and what's even more amazing is the live telecast of the event unfolding from the moon itself ..

Missed it all. Logbook shows: 20th July,1969 Aiyura - Garaina - Moresby via the KOK gap with 206 load of tourists.

I don't remember anyone who actually had TV in Moresby in those days, but we certainly heard it all on local ABC.

happy days,

Having just been to Oshkosh the flying displays there were remarkable especially from the Shell aero team in their Texans at night :ok:

Australian? Don't know if he was the best but when I started learning to fly I was about to give it up because I couldn't understand the theory (That Cessna CBT pilot training garbage) That was until a bloke put me onto Trevor Thom's theory books. :ok: I still reckon they are the best.

I finally met the bloke about two years ago, a thorough gentleman and humble to a boot. What a top bloke :ok: my aviation hero :ok:

We also met Dick Rutan and another one of his Vietnam compadres. Buy the book called 'Misty' fantastic stuff.

RIP Mr Armstrong.

One small step.....
 

The best ever???

Definitely Grant Fish!

After training you in the sim Wally, I'd say you're close to the best I've seen. Certainly the best work eithic and attitude anyway.

:ok:

Mooning....
 

Damn..missed it.! No TV on a ship heading for the UK.

Top pilot from my early days was Fred Hoinville (Fred, who? these days )
He use to do skywriting at FLs in a Tiger Moth, stopwatch and rated turns...amazing. All in an open cockpit and bloody freezing half to death. Magic.
He sure could aerobat that Tiger of his.... "Brolga".

Hats off to ALL those ballsy Test Pilots around the world, like Armstrong and Co in his earlier days, stepping into things like the X 15 that might just go "KaBoom!" instead of rocketing off into stratosphere.

His giant step and the photograph of his boot print in the moon dust is a defining shot of the 20th century. It will still be there long after we're all gone. :eek:

Hurry up folks...I want to still be around to see the footprints on Mars.

To all those aviators with folded wings, Fred, Neil, and everyone else, past and recent. RIP

........................Jesus 'RR' I can't remember yr bank Acc details for the bribe $$$$...........but next time I'll bring an apple instead!:E:ok:

There's some good responses here & in a world that's kinda crazy right now aviation wise it's comforting to know where some of the current aviation techno stuff came from & from whom it was born:-).

The 'Right Stuff' lives on in every pilot I reckon it's just that a few from the past took it to the outside of the envelope & hauled it back in!:ok:

...................who was the best pilot you ever saw?..................:ok:



Wmk2

Back then - Bill Waterton Snr - reputedly Australia's longest serving F27 FO (although I'm happy to be corrected)

Now - Coodakid3 :O


Sat staring at a very fuzzy B&W TV screen in a packed classroom back in 69, trying to convince myself that the flickering images made some sense.