This is definitely one. Any other examples, videos, stories, etc? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Oestricher Tweet— Twitter API (@user) date
Simulators, especially for a fully electronic flight control and dynamically unstable aircraft, were not so robust back then
Neil Anderson, also of General Dynamics. Not only accomplished the YF-16 belly landing so carefully that the aircraft was repaired within 2 weeks, but pioneered the F-16 airshow routine that got so much attention on the capabilities of the airplane. And truly a gentleman! neal anderson general dynamics - Google Search
Cook Cleland. Military Officer. Combat veteran (2x wars). Fighter ace. Air race pilot - Thompson Trophy winner in 1947, 1949. Inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2000. https://military-history.fandom.com/wiki/Cook_Cleland
I knew Paul Mantz briefly and had many long chats with him about his flying days. He said that one of the worst was Amelia Earhart, he was her technical advisor, she never listened to anybody. Jackie Cochran relied on feminine intuition more than technical advice. I performed in shows with Bob Hoover and Chuck Lyford and they were two of the best as far as I'm concerned.
Probably one of the best, who most have never heard of, is Eric Gennotte. He was the Captain of the DHL Airbus which suffered a total hydraulic failure (all systems) after being hit by a missile just after takeoff from Baghdad. With just power and rudder, he managed to bring the airplane back to a successful landing-- the only damage resulting from when they ran off the side of the runway (no nosewheel steering or brakes).
How about ‘Miracle on the Hudson’ pilot Captain “Sully” Sullenberger. Just his decision making not to try and get to an airport. Calm, cool and collected. If he hadn't set that plane down on the water just right, it would have cart wheeled and broken into pieces. Jan.15 '23 https://nypost.com/2023/01/15/miracle-on-the-hudson-occurred-on-this-day-in-history-on-jan-15-2009/ .
My wife is a great pilot. She's never done heroic things that made the news but she's gone her entire career, from soloing at 16 to the Air Force to a FedEx pilot, back to private pilot without once scratching as much as the paint on a plane. The newspapers didn't have to spell her name right and she's not on the talking circuit like some "hero" pilots are, but she's still the best pilot I've ever known.
You have to include him for sure but one contemporary that I overlooked is Capt.Kristin Wolfe, USAF. She put on a show here in the Seattle SeaFair Celebration in an F35 that was absolutely masterful. She formated with a P-51 that required some extremely competent thrust and control management plus here own routine. Great Skills! Helluva pilot!
Speaking of Sully, I was at a presentation at Seattle's Museum of Flight by Captain Al Haynes, who somehow managed to get United flight 232 onto the runway at Sioux City, without any hydraulics, good enough to save more than half the souls on board. Of course he had help from his partners in the cockpit, but he had to coordinate all the activities. I understand that a number of competent pilots attempted to duplicate the crews' actions on a simulator and none of them was able to make the runway!
I'm not going to criticize him, because everyone survived and he did a fine job. Nothing to criticize there. And he seems like a good guy-- I got to meet him once. However, just about any competent airline pilot, including the guy sitting just to his right, could (and would) have done the same thing with the same outcome.
I am digging back to a terrific electrical storm that we had at Langley Field one night. Iv'e told this story before where we were called out to search for two crew members that bailed out over the Chesapeake after their B-17 had been stuck by lightning. The pilot, a young Lt., landed the airplane in the middle of a blinding rain at 0100 without any instruments. Almost everything had been shorted or burned. It was a Mickey ship so it was jammed with radar that blinded everybody when it lit up ( the crew's description). The number one engine was physically destroyed by the strike. Anyway, the pilot got it down without any damage or injuries.
Ray Brooks was a friend of mine and a great WW-I pilot. Sponsored him during the 1987 Gathering of Eagles at Maxwell AFB.
Seems like the right thread for this... Navy Pilot Who Secretly Killed Four MiGs On One Mission Finally Recognized Capt. E. Royce Williams shot down four Soviet MiG-15 jets in a single mission over Korea, but his achievement was obscured for decades. ...Now aged 97, Capt. Williams received the Navy Cross in a ceremony at the San Diego Air and Space Museum, California, on January 20. The award was presented by Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro and comes on top of a Silver Star Medal that Williams had received in May 1953, weeks before the end of the Korean War.... https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/navy-pilot-who-secretly-killed-four-migs-on-one-mission-finally-recognized
I don't understand why the award of the Navy Cross at the time couldn't have been kept a secret, too. I'm glad he was alive to receive it, too.
In his autobiography, Eric Brown says he was given the flying bug by this man, to whom he regularly paid tribute: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_Udet Considered in his days to be one of the greatest fliers of all times, and he certainly led a colorful life; not exempt of bad judgements, but, according to those who have seen him fly in his days, a fabulous pilot. And a friend of Jimmy Doolittle... Rgds
