History Main / AcePilot

** Jack O'Neill from ''Series/StargateSG1'' isn't so bad himself. Even though he transferred from fighters to special ops a long time ago, he hasn't lost his touch and gets to demonstrate it a couple times, most notably in the opening episode of Season 7 in which he needs to make a hyperspace microjump to place himself inside an enemy superweapon's shields, level out before crashing into the superweapon, and then take out the small thermal exhaust port, while dodging enemy fighters on the way in and out. He labels it "the wackiest plan we've ever come up with," then proceeds to execute it perfectly.

** ''Series/StarTrekStrangeNewWorlds'' has Erica Ortegas, whose flying skills are demonstrated multiple times in the early episodes alone, often by flying dangerously close to some dangerous astronomical phenomenon while dodging enemy fire. Taken UpToEleven in "[[Recap/StarTrekStrangeNewWorldsS2E04AmongTheLotusEaters Among the Lotus Eaters]]", when Ortegas loses her memories and doesn't know what to do while the ship is in an AsteroidThicket and is being hit with small rocks. The computer reveals to her who she is and that she's the pilot. Her SurvivalMantra becomes, "I'm Erica Ortegas. I fly the ship." She then proceeds to fly on instinct and procedural memory alone, managing to not only safely navigate between giant asteroids but also punches a hole in one with phasers and flies through it.

** ''Series/StarTrekStrangeNewWorlds'' has Erica Ortegas, whose flying skills are demonstrated multiple times in the early episodes alone, often by flying dangerously close to some dangerous astronomical phenomenon while dodging enemy fire.

* ''VideoGame/{{Far Cry 5}} '' Has both the player character and Nick Rye who can provide you with support from the air using his modified crop duster [[AceCustom Carmina]]

* The entire ''VideoGame/StarFox'' Team, of course... except maybe Slippy and Krystal.

* René Paul Fonck, Allied ace of aces in UsefulNotes/WorldWarI and of all time. His 75 confirmed victories (just short of von Richthofen's count) exceeds the tallies of any allied WWI and WWII pilot, though he claimed up to 140. He was a combo Sniper/Bushwhacker, known to stalk a target before taking it down with a single short machine gun burst. In his own words: "I put my bullets into the target as if I placed them there by hand."

* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans-Ulrich_Rudel Hans-Ulrich Rudel]], possibly the most deadly man in an aircraft. He got the ''Knight's Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds'' (an award ranked second only to the ''Grand Cross of the Iron Cross''), the only man who got that. His claims include destroying a total of 2,000 targets destroyed; including 800 vehicles, 519 tanks, 150 artillery pieces, 70 landing craft, nine aircraft, four armored trains, several bridges, a destroyer, a cruiser, and severely damaging the Soviet battleship ''Marat''.

* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans-Ulrich_Rudel Hans-Ulrich Rudel]], possibly the most deadly man in an aircraft. He got the ''Knight's Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds'' (an award ranked second only to the ''Grand Cross of the Iron Cross''), the only man who got that. His claims include destroying over 600 vehicles, along with sinking a battleship, two cruisers, four armored trains, and 51 enemy aircraft.

Note that ImprobablePilotingSkills or ImprobableAimingSkills do not guarantee anyone becoming an ace. The most important factor is luck; that is, to actually meet enemies and face them in the air. In WWII, only 50% of American fighter pilots ever met Axis airplanes in the air. On the other hand, in a target-rich environment, such as that which the RAF faced at Malta, ''any'' pilot will eventually become an ace if he survives long enough. The second important factor is rank: it must not be too low nor too high. Most kills are scored by flight and squadron leaders. Ranks below First Lieutenant usually serve as wingmen, while Lieutenant Colonel and higher ranks are usually preoccupied with desktop jobs. Many pilots have actually ''refused'' promotion in order to be able to fly and score victories.

Another classification, coming from the Finnish Air Force, is differentiating pilots who fly with their "brains" versus pilots who fly with their "muscles". Those who fly with their brains usually have superb mathematical and 3D skills, being able to manage the situation like a computer and form a clearer view of the chaotic scene of battle. They are excellent shots and do not take unnecessary risks but rather attempt to attack the enemy from his blind spots and break off ASAP. Those who fly with their "muscles" are superb pilots, extremely aggressive, prefer dogfights and maneuvers, and are good with aerobatics but not necessarily crack shots. Either can become aces. "Bushwackers" and "snipers" are "brain" pilots while "steamrollers" and "pluggers" are "muscle" pilots. The difference is best illustrated by the von Richthofen brothers: Manfred (the original RedBaron with 80 kills) was a "brain" pilot, while his little brother Lothar (with 40 kills) was a "muscle" pilot.

Civilian examples exist as well, and [[BadassDriver not just for aircraft]]. While civilian pilots, obviously, don't ''technically'' meet the military definition because the goal of civilian flight is to ''not'' kill people (which means most who weren't military before do not have kills), some civilian pilots have saved lives and property with overwhelming skill and capability, overcoming multiple engine failures, hydraulic failures, or ''many'' other incidents which would fall under NoOneCouldSurviveThat.

* In ''Series/TheExpanse'', Alex is this for the ''[[CoolSpaceship Rocinante]]'', the [[InsistentTerminology legitimately salvaged]] Martian gunship that the main heroes fly on. Alex is actually a fairly interesting case of playing with this trope: when piloting the ''Canterbury'', a humble cargo transport ship, he seems like a damn good pilot, but he later explains that he was considered not good enough to make the grade in the Martian Navy and says that he was "a glorified bus driver" during his time in the Navy. The implication at the time is that he's something of a NormalFishInATinyPond; amazing by the standards of a civilian transport pilot, but substandard in the eyes of the [[BadassArmy extremely badass Martian Navy]]. While he does do some [[TookALevelInBadass leveling up]] during the course of the series, including one period where he trains obsessionally to improve his performance, it soon becomes clear that he legitimately qualifies for this trope and the Martian military ''badly'' underestimated his skills and potential. This is also why Alex is particularly attached to both the ''Roci'' and the crew, as having the chance to actually pilot a Martian gunship after spending twenty years getting passed over in the navy is essentially a case of MyGreatestSecondChance for him.

-->-- '''Website/{{Wikipedia}}''', on Hans-Ulrich Rudel, aka [[RedBaron The Eagle of the Eastern Front]]

* The TropeNamer was Frenchman Céléstin Adolphe Pégoud, the second pilot to perform a loop before World War 1. After he shot down his fifth German plane he was lauded in the French papers as an "ace", which at the time was a general term for someone who had done something heroic or noteworthy. British and American journalists who saw this then generalized that a pilot qualified as an "ace" if he shot down five planes. Pégoud himself racked up another air victory before being shot down himself in 1915.
* The most famous RealLife ace would be [[TheCaptain Rittmeister]] [[BlueBlood Baron]] Manfred von Richthofen, ''[[TropeNamer the]]'' RedBaron. He is ''the'' [[TropeCodifier ace]]. In fact, he is usually referred to as the ''[[TookALevelInBadass ace of aces]]'', since ''ace'' simply wasn't enough (Richthofen was officially credited with 80 aircraft shot down, though he may have downed over 100). Richthofen was killed in 1918 (it's not definitively known who fired the kill shot, as it almost certainly came from the ground rather than from another plane). Considered a WorthyOpponent, the ''Allies'' gave him a full military funeral.\\\

* In ''Anime/VisionOfEscaflowne'' the heroes are both Steamrollers by default. WarriorPrince [[TheHero Van]] and KnightInShiningArmour [[TheLancer Allan]] both pilot LightningBruiser Guymelefs armed only with swords, forcing them to quickly close with the enemy and overwhelm them with skillful swordplay. Interesting, TheDragon Dilandua and his henchmen are clearly Bushwackers and Snipers, using stealth technology and advanced ranged weaponry to try to overwhelm the heroes rather than going toe to toe with them. Given the themes of honour and chivalry in the show, this contrast is more than a little thematically appropriate.

* Noa Izumi from ''Anime/{{Patlabor}}''. She's not really ''amazingly good'', though, so much as ''always reliable'', and in the ultimate RealRobot series that counts for a lot more. In one episode, her "forward" points out that her reaction time is worse than Ohta's, but her motions are more efficient (Ohta will start moving first, but Izumi will complete the action first).

* Lux Arcadia from ''LightNovel/UndefeatedBahamutChronicle'' is one of the best pilots in the series thanks to his skill with nothing more than just a quack job Drag-Ride that easily wants to get shot down. His fighting style is a Plugger as he usually just turtles until the opponent gets tired out but that's because he's just using the fight as nothing more than a training exercise.

* ''VideoGame/{{Solatorobo}}'' has Chocolat, a thirteen-year-old girl who can fly circles around the best of them [[ImprobablePilotingSkills with a chunky airship that's more of a flying home base than a fighter plane]].

* Glenn Quagmire from ‘’WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy’’ has been shown to be quite skilled as a commercial pilot, safely landing the damaged airline after it had been hijacked in the episode Passenger Fatty 7
* Captain Turanga Leela from ''WesternAnimation/Futurama'' is able to pilot the Planet Express ship through whatever wacky adventures the crew finds themselves in.

* The very first [[UsefulNotes/AcademyAward Oscar]]-winning film, ''Film/{{Wings}}'', has Jack, a UsefulNotes/WorldWarI ace.

** Uzgob has flown 52 missions by the end of the comic, leading to 14 dogfight victories, 89 assorted other kills and only two lost airplanes. By orkish standards, he's amazing.
** Killboy is the official Deff Skwadron ace, having flown 34 missions, scoring 10 dogfight victories and 60 other assorted kills. He's lost 36 airplanes, mostly [[RammingAlwaysWorks thanks to his unorthodox flying style]][[note]]he twice managed to hijack an enemy airplane, get back into the air, and then ram that one into an enemy as well[[/note]].
** In ''ComicBook/HuntersHellcats'', Snake Oil worked for a time as a barnstormer in carnivals before the war. He is in charge of flying the planes the Hellcats frequently steal when escaping enemy territory.

* ''VideoGame/{{Far Cry5}} '' Has both the player character and Nick Rye who can provide you with support from the air using his modified crop duster [[AceCustom Carmina]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Far Cry5}} '' Has both the player character and Nick Rye who can provide you with support from the air using his modified crop duster [[Ace Custom Carmina]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Far Cry5}} '' Has both the player character and Nick Rye who can provide you with support from the air using his modified crop duster[[ Ace Custom Carmina]]

* ''Project Sylpheed'', ''VideoGame/{{Freespace}}'', various ''Franchise/StarWars'' games, face it, you WILL be playing as an ace pilot in any space shooter. In ''Freespace'', you're not awarded an Ace medal until you've scored ''sixty'' kills: if it were five, you could be an Ace after your first flight. Double- and Triple-Ace medals also exist for reaching 150 and 350 kills.