pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

is a person who flies or navigates an aircraft. Pilot or The Pilot may also refer to:

Common meanings

Maritime pilot A maritime pilot, marine pilot, harbor pilot, port pilot, ship pilot, or simply pilot, is a mariner who has specific knowledge of an often dangerous or congested waterway, such as harbors or river mouths. Maritime pilots know local details s ...

, a person who guides ships through hazardous waters *

Television pilot A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie) in United Kingdom and United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television netwo ...

, a television episode used to sell a series to a television network *

Pilot experiment A pilot experiment, pilot study, pilot test or pilot project is a small-scale preliminary study conducted to evaluate feasibility, duration, cost, adverse events, and improve upon the study design prior to performance of a full-scale research pr ...

, a small-scale preliminary study conducted prior to a full-scale research project

Arts, entertainment and media

Fictional characters

* Pilot (''Farscape''), a member of a race known as Pilots * Jennifer "Pilot" Chase, a character in the Canadian-American science fiction-action television series ''

Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future ''Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future'' is a science fiction-action television series, merging live action with animation based on computer-generated images, that ran for 22 episodes in Canadian and American syndication. A toy line was ...

Film and television

* ''Pilot'' (2024 film), a 2024 South Korean film * ''Pilots'' (film), a 2000 Malayalam film * ''The Pilot'' (film), a 1980 film * "The Pilot" (''Doctor Who''), the first episode of the 10th series ** The Pilot episode (Doctor Who), the first episode of the British science-fiction television series * "The Pilot" (''Seinfeld''), the finale of the 4th season * '' The Pilot. A Battle for Survival'', a 2021 Russian film *

, a trial episode of a show

Literature

* '' The Pilot: A Tale of the Sea'', an 1824 novel by James Fenimore Cooper * "Pilot" (short story), a 1993 short story by Stephen Baxter * ''The Pilot,'' a 1976 novel by

Robert P. Davis Robert P. Davis (October 8, 1929 – November 7, 2005) was an American author, screenwriter, and film director whose works are primarily centered on aviation. His 1960 short film, '' Day of the Painter'', won an Academy Award in 1961 for Best ...

Publications

* ''Pilot'' (British magazine), a general aviation magazine * ''The Pilot'' (Massachusetts newspaper), the official newspaper of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston, U.S. * ''The Pilot'' (North Carolina newspaper), a semiweekly newspaper * ''

The Pilot News ''The Pilot News'' is a six-day-a-week daily newspaper serving Plymouth, Indiana, United States, and the surrounding area, with a circulation of 4,435. Covering local news and sports both online and in print, it delivers Monday through Saturday ...

'', a newspaper serving Plymouth, Indiana, U.S. * ''

The Virginian-Pilot ''The Virginian-Pilot'' is the daily newspaper for Hampton Roads, Virginia. Commonly known as ''The Pilot'', it is Virginia's largest daily. It serves the five cities of South Hampton Roads as well as several smaller towns across southeast Virgi ...

'', the daily newspaper of Norfolk, Virginia, U.S. * ''The Pilot'' (Dublin newspaper), published 1830s–1840s by

Eaton Stannard Barrett Eaton Stannard Barrett (1786 – 20 March 1820) was an Irish poet and author of political satires. He also wrote a comic novel: ''The Heroine; or, Adventures of a Fair Romance Reader'' (1813). Career Born in County Cork, son of Richard Barre ...

's brother Richard

Music

Bands

Pilot (Scottish band) Pilot are a Scottish rock group, formed in 1973 in Edinburgh by David Paton and Billy Lyall. They achieved considerable mainstream success during 1974–1975, primarily with the release of " Magic" which reached number one in Canada, five on ...

, a Scottish rock group *

Pilot (Russian band) Pilot, also known as PilOt () is a Russian rock band from Saint Petersburg, founded by Ilya Knabengof in 1997. History The roots of the band stretch back to 1994, at which point it was called Military Jane. In April and May 2022, Pilot parti ...

, a Russian rock band

EPs

* ''Pilot'' (Mallory Knox EP), 2011 * ''Pilot'' (Reuben EP), 2001 * ''Pilot'', a 2014 EP by

Amber Run Amber Run are a British indie rock band from Nottingham, composed of Joshua "Joe" Keogh, Tom Sperring, and Henry Wyeth. The band have released three full-length albums, three mini-albums, and five EPs. Initially called Amber, they later changed ...

Songs

* "Pilot" (song), by 50 Cent, 2014 * "Pilots" (song), a 2001 song by Goldfrapp * "The Pilot" (song), by Double Experience, 2017 * "Pilot", a song by Aldous Harding from the 2019 album ''

Designer A designer is a person who plans the form or structure of something before it is made, by preparing drawings or plans. In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, products, processes, laws, games, graphics, services, or exper ...

'' * "Pilot", a song by Blue Cheer from the 1970 album ''

The Original Human Being ''The Original Human Being'' is Blue Cheer's fifth album. It was released in 1970 and shows Blue Cheer exploring a more psychedelic and laid‑back rock and roll with horn sections on a few of the songs. This album features a very unusual, and d ...

'' * "Pilot", a song by the Notwist from the 2002 album ''

Neon Golden ''Neon Golden'' is the fifth studio album by German indie rock band The Notwist. It was released on 14 January 2002 by City Slang. Composition ''Neon Golden'' is rooted in the experimental musical style that The Notwist had moved towards on the ...

'' * "Pilot", a song by Ravyn Lenae from the 2024 album ''

Bird's Eye Birds Eye is an international brand of frozen foods founded in the United States and now owned by Conagra Brands in the United States, by Nomad Foods in Europe, and Simplot in Australia. The former Birds Eye Company Ltd., originally named "Bi ...

'' * "The Pilot", a 1976 song by England Dan & John Ford Coley from ''

I Hear Music "I Hear Music" is a popular song composed by Burton Lane, with lyrics by Frank Loesser for the Paramount Pictures movie '' Dancing on a Dime'' (1940). In the film it was performed by Robert Paige, Peter Lind Hayes, Frank Jenks and Eddie Quillan. No ...

Businesses

Pilot (pen company) is a Japanese pen manufacturer based in Tokyo. It produces writing instruments, stationery and jewellery, but is best known for its pens. It is the largest pen manufacturer in Japan, with competition globally from other pen companies like Japan ...

, a Japanese pen manufacturer *

Pilot (studio) Pilot is a Russian animation studio based in Moscow. It was founded in 1988 by Alexander Tatarsky, Igor Kovalyov, Anatoly Prokhorov, and Igor Gelashvili, becoming the first private animation studio in the Soviet Union. They aimed at both auteur ...

, a Russian animation studio *

Pilot Flying J Pilot Travel Centers LLC, trade name, doing business as Pilot Flying J, is a North American chain of truck stops in the United States and Canada. The company is based in Knoxville, Tennessee. The company is owned by Berkshire Hathaway. The comp ...

, a North American chain of truck stops *

Pilot Company Pilot Company (or simply Pilot) is an American petroleum corporation headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee. Pilot operates the Pilot Food Mart convenience stores in Tennessee. Pilot was joint-owner of Pilot Flying J, the largest truck stop chain ...

, an American petroleum company *

Pilot Software Pilot Software, Inc. is a long-time United States business intelligence vendor that now focuses on operational performance management. SAP AG acquired Pilot Software in February 2007 and Pilot Software's product, PilotWorks, has been rebranded SAP ...

, an American business intelligence vendor

People

* Pilot (surname), including a list of people with the name * Pilot Baba, nickname of Kapil Singh (1938–2024), Indian spiritual guru and former fighter pilot

Places

Pilot, Davidson County, North Carolina Pilot is a populated place in Davidson County, North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, U.S. *

Pilot, Franklin County, North Carolina Pilot is an unincorporated community in southern Franklin County, North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the ...

, U.S. *

Pilot, Virginia Pilot is an unincorporated community in Montgomery County, Virginia, United States. Pilot is south-southeast of Christiansburg. Pilot has a post office with ZIP code 24138. The Guerrant House was listed on the National Register of Historic ...

, U.S. *

Pilot (župa) Pult or Pulat ( sq-definite, Pulti or Pulati), is a region in northern Albania. It is bordered by the Malësia Region to its north and by the Dukagjin Highlands to its east and its south. The region has traditionally been inhabited by the Plan ...

, a county of Serbia in the Middle Ages *

Pilot Glacier The Aviator Glacier () is a major valley glacier in Antarctica that is over long and wide, descending generally southward from the plateau of Victoria Land along the west side of Mountaineer Range, and entering Lady Newnes Bay between Cape Si ...

, Victoria Land, Antarctica *

Pilot Island Pilot Island is an island in Lake Michigan in the Town of Washington, in Door County, Wisconsin; it is part of Green Bay National Wildlife Refuge Green Bay National Wildlife Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge of the United States located ...

, in Lake Michigan, Wisconsin, U.S. *

Pilot Mountain (disambiguation) Pilot Mountain may refer to: * Pilot Mountain (Alberta), a mountain in the Canadian province of Alberta * Pilot Mountain (British Columbia), a mountain in the Canadian province of British Columbia * Pilot Mountain (North Carolina), a mountain in the ...

* Pilot Township (disambiguation)

Science and technology

PILOT An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

, a high-level programming language developed in the 1960s *

Pilot (operating system) Pilot is a single-user, multitasking operating system designed by Xerox PARC in early 1977. Pilot was written in the Mesa programming language, totalling about 24,000 lines of code. Overview Pilot was designed as a single user system in a high ...

, designed by Xerox PARC in the 1970s *

PalmPilot The PalmPilot Personal and PalmPilot Professional are the second generation of Palm PDA devices produced by Palm Inc (then a subsidiary of U.S. Robotics, later 3Com). These devices were launched on March 10, 1997. Accessories and pricing ...

, a personal digital assistant produced by Palm, Inc.

Sports

Portland Pilots The Portland Pilots is the nickname for athletics at the University of Portland. The Pilots compete in the West Coast Conference (WCC) at the NCAA Division I level. History The Pilots started to gain attention when Clive Charles began coachi ...

, the nickname for athletics at the University of Portland, U.S. *

Seattle Pilots The Seattle Pilots were an American professional baseball team based in Seattle, Washington, during the 1969 Major League Baseball season. During their single-season existence, the Pilots played their home games at Sick's Stadium and were a me ...

, a 1969 American baseball team that became the Milwaukee Brewers

Transportation

Automobiles

Ford Pilot The Ford Pilot (''Model E71A'') is a medium-sized car that was built by Ford UK from August 1947 to 1951. It was effectively replaced in 1951 with the launch of Ford UK's Zephyr Six and Consul models, though V8 Pilots were still offered for sal ...

, a 1947–1951 American-British mid-size car *

Honda Pilot The Honda Pilot is a mid-size crossover SUV with three-row seating manufactured by Honda since 2002. Primarily aimed at the North American market, the Pilot is the largest SUV produced by Honda. Pilots are currently manufactured in Lincoln, Al ...

, a 2003–present Japanese-American mid-size SUV *

LDV Pilot The LDV Pilot was the final model in a series of panel vans produced from 1974 to 2005, originally launched as the 1974 Leyland Sherpa, which was developed by the Austin-Morris division of British Leyland and derived from earlier light commercia ...

, a 1997–2006 British panel van *

MG Pilot The MG HS is a compact crossover SUV manufactured by Chinese automobile manufacturer SAIC Motor under the British MG marque. The vehicle was launched in 2018, replacing the MG GS. In MG's global line-up, the HS is positioned above the subcompac ...

, a 2020–present British-Chinese compact SUV *

Rover Pilot The Rover 12 was a name given to several medium-sized family cars from the British Rover (car), Rover car company between 1905 and 1948. Rover 10-12 (1905-1907) The Rover 10-12 was the fourth model Rover made, following their 8 hp, 6 ...

, a British car produced 1932–33

Automotive marques

* Pilot Motor Car Company, early 1900s American automobiles with the Pilot marque * Pilot Cars Limited, early 1900s British automobiles with the Pilot marque *

Pilotmotorenwerke Bannewitz Pilotmotorenwerke Bannewitz (Pilot-Wagen) was a German carmaker that debuted in 1919 with the "Pilot" make.Pilot

, early 1920s German automobiles with the Pilot marque

Ships and boats

* ''Pilot'' (1813 ship), a convict transport to Australia * ''Pilot'' (1914 boat), a pilot boat and museum ship in San Diego, California, U.S. * ''Pilot'' (1924 boat), a pilot boat in Boston * ''Pilot'' (icebreaker), a Russian icebreaker ship, converted in 1864

Trains

Pilot (locomotive attachment) A cowcatcher, also known as a pilot, is the device mounted at the front of a locomotive to deflect obstacles on the track that might otherwise damage or derail it or the train. In the UK, small metal bars called ''life-guards'', ''rail gua ...

, or cowcatcher, a device mounted at the front of a locomotive to deflect obstacles * Pilot locomotive for

double heading In railroad terminology, double heading indicates the use of two locomotives at the front of a train, each operated individually by its own crew. The practice of triple-heading involves the use of three locomotives. The practice of multi-head ...

, an additional engine for additional traction, motive power, etc *

Station pilot A switcher locomotive (American English), shunter locomotive (British English), station pilot (British English), or shifter locomotive (Pennsylvania Railroad terminology) is a locomotive used for maneuvering railway vehicles over short distanc ...

, a shunting engine based at a major passenger station

Other uses

* , several Royal Navy ships *

PILOT (finance) A payment in lieu of taxes, abbreviated as PILT or PILOT, is a payment made to compensate a government for some or all of the property tax revenue lost due to tax exempt ownership or use of real property. Canada In Canada, payment in lieu of taxes ...

, in public finance, a payment in lieu of taxes

Common meanings

Arts, entertainment and media

Fictional characters

Film and television

Literature

Publications

Music

Bands

EPs

Songs

Businesses

People

Places

Science and technology

Sports

Transportation

Automobiles

Automotive marques

Ships and boats

Trains

Other uses

See also