Well obviously it is Han Solo, since he did the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs!  

Chewie getusouttahere!

^^^  Ha.  In that spirit...

Ben Afleck - Rafe McCawley

RAF fighter pilot

One of 2 P40s to get into the fight at Pearl

B25 pilot on the Doolittle raid

Wedge Antilles. Helped to kill two Death Stars, survived an Imperial assault on Hoth and still came back for more some 42 years later.. 

Special mention to actor James Stewart. As far as I can recall, the only movie he appeared in as a pilot (apart from the Air Force promo film for the B58) was Strategic Air Command, but in real life, he was a qualified pilot on the B17, B24, B36, B47 and B52.

Real G

Well obviously it is Han Solo

He does lose points for missing the runway and landing on a taxiway though.

Tojo72

In Midway,didnt Charlton Heston take off in one plane and land in another,thats a cool trick.

 

Well, that is legendary . But I didn't notice it. What is the difference?

Gordo Cooper in The Right Stuff. "Who's the best pilot you've ever seen?"

Seriously though, I'll go with Stuart.

Clint Eastwood in 'Firefox' because he's Clint Friggin' Eastwood... 

To be serious I'd go with Stewart too. 

Though I have to mention Jack Palance. He was a medium bomber pilot during the Second World War and ended up with the horrible burns on his face after his aircraft skidded off the runway and caught fire. Not sure if he ever played a pilot in a movie though. 

Tommy Webber, from Galaxy Quest.  How many of us could pilot a starship with no training, no script, and no clue?  Okay, he did scratch the ship out of space dock, and he did run into every single mine first time out.  But “Never give up, never surrender.”  That‘s fighting spirit.

Real G

Well obviously it is Han Solo, since he did the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs!  

Chewie getusouttahere!

 

Harrison Ford is a pilot... crashed a plane, crashed a helo, landed on a taxiway flying over a commercial airliner... so maybe a favorite but not the best lol

I have to go with James Stewart too. Twenty missions over the Reich in a B-24.

John Ridgley, pilot of the B-17 "Mary Ann" in the movie "Air Force."

Robert Taylor. Portrayed Paul Tibbets in "Wild Blue Yonder."

Dennis Morgan. Portrayed Robert Lee Scott in "God is my Copilot."

Dennis Morgan, James Cagney and Alan Hale in "Captains of the Clouds."

castelnuovo

Watched the Top Gun the other day and it made me think who is the best movie pilot? I can't think of anybody.

Real G

Well obviously it is Han Solo, since he did the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs!  

Chewie getusouttahere! 

From "Top Ten Ways 'Star Wars' Characters Would Kick Butt in the 'Star Trek' Universe":

Picard pilots the Enterprise through an asteroid belt at one-quarter impulse power.  Han Solo floors it.

None of the above!  It was actually Fred the bartender at The Happy Bottom Riding Club in "The Right Stuff".

"Ya'll want a drink of whiskey?". 

Gary

CAG Lee, The Bridges at Tokyo Ri...

leads by example, even the riskiest jobs... gets his butt chewed by the TF commander twice, stands his ground and barks back...

where do we get such men?

Hi;

 I have to go with CAG Lee, yup! Bridges at Toko Ri. My second Choice would be the Captain in The High and the Mighty ! Yeah, I loved the Duke in that one

My award for worst pilot goes to the guy who flies his fighter right into Guilala's head in 'The X From Outer Space'. 

Maybe he was doing a kamikaze run which does get him a badass award from me. 

Van Johnson in "Men of the Fighting Lady." His character escorted and guided a wounded, blind pilot to a successful carrier landing in his damaged F9F. Based on a true incident.

the Baron

 

 

castelnuovo

Watched the Top Gun the other day and it made me think who is the best movie pilot? I can't think of anybody.

 

 

 

 

Can't think of anybody?!

 

How can you not think of Captain Wild Bill Kelso?

 

Well, at the time of posting I couldn't think of anybody. Arni did a pretty good job with the Harrier in True Lies. Not flying for years, then hop in one, blast a bridge, catch his daughter and fire the bad guy through the building and take out a helicopter. 

John Belushi in 1941.

Major T.J. Kong

”Well boys, I reckon this is it- toe to toe nuclear combat with the rooskies”

Phil_H

Special mention to actor James Stewart. As far as I can recall, the only movie he appeared in as a pilot (apart from the Air Force promo film for the B58) was Strategic Air Command, but in real life, he was a qualified pilot on the B17, B24, B36, B47 and B52.

 

Hi,

Didn't Jimmy Stewart also play Charles Lindberg in "The Spirit of St Louis"?

Yes he did. And he also flew that cobbled-together wreck in Flight of the Phoenix, the prototype which killed the great Paul Mantz during filming, IIRC. Stewart was a one-of-a-kind, from the era when actors pulled strings to get INTO combat. In a B-24 yet!!! True greatness, along with the aforementioned Fred the bartender and Gordo Cooper.

GAF

None of the above!  It was actually Fred the bartender at The Happy Bottom Riding Club in "The Right Stuff".

"Ya'll want a drink of whiskey?". 

Gary

 

Ill have a Coca Cola... in a clean glass.

And a couple more nominees:

1. Peter Graves and Kareem in Airplane; (that cockpit scene is absolutely hysterical...)

2. Slim Pickens in Dr. Strangelove

3. Ted Stryker (Airplane)

stikpusher

 

 

GAF

None of the above!  It was actually Fred the bartender at The Happy Bottom Riding Club in "The Right Stuff".

"Ya'll want a drink of whiskey?". 

Gary

 

 

 

 

 

Ill have a Coca Cola... in a clean glass.

 

 

 

Best NF-104 movie ever.

Brig Gen Frank Savage from Twelve O'Clock High.  Great pilot, great leader.