How intelligent/smart must you be to be a pilot??

[apcooper]

At first glance I'm sure that seems like a silly and dopey question. However, my brother and I were arguing about this yesterday. He states that you must have a high IQ and be smart to be a pilot. I couldn't stop laughing! I told him a plane can be flown by an individual with avg intelligence who is properly trained. He still believes though that you have a high level on inate intelligence. Can you all set him straight?! Maybe I'm wrong and he's right!! Yea, and I'm of Royal descent too!! When replying, spell it out for HIM in a language he'll understand. Please no flame either, just tell him how he's simply incorrect!!

 

[imacdog]

Just tell him to look at some of the posts on this site. That should give him an idea of how little intelligence it takes to be a pilot.

 

[apcooper]

Just tell him to look at some of the posts on this site. That should give him an idea of how little intelligence it takes to be a pilot.

LOL! That's a good one!! If that won't convince him I don't know what will!!

 

[Goose Egg]

I don't think that flying requires an abnormally high level of intelligence, however, I do think that flying requires a specific kind of intelligence, i.e. the ability to absorb moderately technical information combined with above average (or highly refined) psychomotor skills. Separately those two traits aren't all that rare, but sometimes they are difficult to find in the same individual.

In other words, we think it's easy because we practice it every day and/or have natural aptitudes which allow us to be good at it. For others it may not be so simple. Yes, anyone can be a pilot--anyone with the same talents and abilities as us, that is. There is no way for us to know exactly how difficult the skill of flying might be to aquire for someone else.

-Goose

 

[Ralgha]

I don't think that flying requires an abnormally high level of intelligence, however, I do think that flying requires a specific kind of intelligence, i.e. the ability to absorb moderately technical information combined with above average (or highly refined) psychomotor skills. Separately those two traits aren't all that rare, but sometimes they are difficult to find in the same individual.

In other words, we think it's easy because we practice it every day and/or have natural aptitudes which allow us to be good at it. For others it may not be so simple. Yes, anyone can be a pilot--anyone with the same talents and abilities as us, that is. There is no way for us to know exactly how difficult the skill of flying might be to aquire for someone else.

-Goose

I disagree. Grab anyone at random off the street and chances are you can teach them to be a pilot. It's really not very hard to be a pilot, we just like to tell ourselves that it is to make us feel better.

 

[AdlerDriver]

I disagree. Grab anyone at random off the street and chances are you can teach them to be a pilot. It's really not very hard to be a pilot, we just like to tell ourselves that it is to make us feel better.

It depends on what kind of aircraft and what you'll be doing in that aircraft.

 

[MarineGrunt]

To be a pilot is not difficult and even someone with even below average intelligance can be one. There was a guy in my UPT class the was dumb as a sack of hammers. Seriously, this guy was out to lunch.

However, to be a safe, competant pilot, without a doubt, you need to be very intelligent.

 

[Goose Egg]

I disagree. Grab anyone at random off the street and chances are you can teach them to be a pilot. It's really not very hard to be a pilot, we just like to tell ourselves that it is to make us feel better.

For the sake of clarity, let me say that my previous example of the difficulty of flying applied to those who wished to make a career as a pilot. Anyone can aquire sufficient muscle memory and rote knowledge to do smash-'n'-go's at the local uncontrolled field. IFR, decision making, and qualifiying for type ratings are another matter entirely... or so I hear. =)

-Goose

 

[9GClub]

All the pilots I know are pretty sharp, but I think some of the folks who are smart but aren't good pilots are "intellectualizing" it. I agree with the others who have said that it's more a question of psychomotor and mechanical aptitude-- and just learning to feel the airplane and fly by the seat of your pants.

Flying aptitude is also a matter of personality. For example, those familiar with Meyers-Briggs might know that ISTPs tend to show up in cockpits with a higher frequency than other personality types. "The Killing Zone" by Paul Craig contains an interesting chapter towards the end on pilot personality that's an interesting read. His premise is basically that most pilots are smart, messy, spontaneous, independent, prideful, macho, and otherwise generally obnoxious jerks.

Check.

 

[U-I pilot]

I dont know....some people really just dont get the concept of multi-tasking and can't fly the airplane while doing other minor tasks like looking at a chart, tuning a frequency etc....
I suppose with enough practice anyone could fly but in typical timeframes....there are those who can and those who cant.

Just tell him to look at some of the posts on this site. That should give him an idea of how little intelligence it takes to be a pilot.

The one about the airplane on a treadmill should suffice.

 

[Wesb737fo]

Good Question.

I don't think I am any smarter than the next guy. I multi-task well, I have confidence in my abilities, but most of all, I enjoy what I do. May be it's the view from the office. I have an engineering degree (I am currently studying "Fundamentals of Astrodynamics" just for the hell of it), but that and $5 bucks will get me a cup of coffee from Starbucks, and it certainly won't help me get a good landing on RNWY 22 in LGA.

A good deal of mental agility is required. You have to be able to perform under pressure, but, also, it is probably development of motor skills and hand eye coordination that makes a good pilot. If you are like me, you probably played too many video games as a kid. I couldn't tell you how many quarters I pumped into arcade games (Pole Position, Galaga, Galaxian...old school stuff)

Imacdog, that was funny...what's the story at com-air?

 

[Lead Sled]

There is an old USAF saying that goes...

Given enough time and bananas you can teach a monkey to fly.

Actually there was a program on the Military Chanel series Legends of Air power recently which documented the life of some USAF fighter pilot pack in the Vietnam era. He was the one who came up with the battle strategy adopted my the military and implemented so well in the two gulf wars. The guy had an IQ of 90 (ninety).

I guess that it all just goes to prove that it doesn't take a lot of "brights" to lay out $100K+ to get an education and a bunch of ratings then stand in line for a low paying job flying RJs.

'Sled

 

[imacdog]

Good Question.
Imacdog, that was funny...what's the story at com-air?

Voluntary Furlough for me. I can't hold my current base and will not move to, or commute to, JFK.


To answer the original question fairly though, pilots need to have certain spatial reasoning skills that are not required in other fields. However, they do not need to have the persuasive ability of a salesman, imagination of an author, or intuition of a detective. It's all relative, I guess.

 

[GVFlyer]

There's a lot of anecdotal evidence that suggests that it helps to be bright to be a pilot. All the services have an aviation aptitude selection process which excludes many. The USAF prefers that you have a technical degree; for years the Army required that you have a higher General Technical score (a test that is roughly equilalent to an IQ test) to go to Warrant Officer Flight Training than to go to Officer Candidate School.

In Air Force UPT, generally the better you do on academic and flight evaluations, the more likely you are to be FAR'd (Fighter, Attack, Recon) and go to aircraft with more complex missions.

As an interesting aside, there was a time that all the services believed that some simply were not meant to fly and eliminated those that failed evaluations or couldn't keep up with their peers. This is not currently the case. Due to the great expense of creating a military pilot, all the services now practice a kind of false economy - these pilot candidates are now provided additional training or are recycled. This saves money in the short term, but often costs more in both treasure and lives latter on.

My service's Safety Center thought this was a foolhardy practice. When I was assigned there as an accident investigator, the guys in Technical Research and Applications did a study following these pilots that failed evaluations but were given their wings anyway and later had major accidents (Class A Mishaps). They found that in a striking number of cases, the accident pilot made precisely the same mistake s/he had made in pilot training.

GV











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[PolarTwins55]

"The Killing Zone" by Paul Craig contains an interesting chapter towards the end on pilot personality that's an interesting read. His premise is basically that most pilots are smart, messy, spontaneous, independent, prideful, macho, and otherwise generally obnoxious jerks.

Check.

Describes me to a tee! No wonder I'm such a good pilot.imp:

 

[MissKittyKat]

There are various ways to get your iq tested. OMG, I would hope pilots are intelligent, the guys I have flown with over the years are smart guys! and I knew a smart lady flying a b-727 as well! She was the smartest lady!

 

[semperfido]

go for it

http://www.iqtest.com/

 

[GVFlyer]

go for it

http://www.iqtest.com/

Fido, you are an evil man.


GV

 

[MissKittyKat]

Thanks semp! I did mine on-line just for the hell of it!

Now semp, put a christmas bow on that dog! She/he is beautiful!

 

[pilotyip]

Direct Correlation

There is direct correlation between intelligence and the ability to succeed in flying. It may not predict the motor skills to fly an airplane, but a pilot with a higher intelligence score will most likely be more successful in the Captain's seat. I reference the Navy's AQT/FAR test. A 5 is the mean score, it goes up or down 1 for each standard deviation up or down. A 6 is one std div above the mean. A 9 is 4 std devs above the norm. There is marked difference in training a pilot who has a score of 9 versus a score of 5. 8 & 9‘s seem to get the picture quicker. We give a similar test in our screening process; it has a high level of predictability of success.