A test pilot is an aircraft pilot with additional training to fly and evaluate experimental, newly produced and modified aircraft with specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques.
Léon Lemartin, the world's first professional test pilot, under contract to Louis Blériot in c. 1910
Jimmy Doolittle in 1928 with his Curtiss R3C-2, around the time he pioneered blind flying
Chuck Yeager and the Bell X-1, first test pilot to break the sound barrier at Mach 1 in 1947
Neil Armstrong and the North American X-15 after a research test flight in 1960
An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators because they are involved in operating the aircraft's navigation and engine systems. Other aircrew members, such as drone operators, flight attendants, mechanics and ground crew, are not classified as aviators.
U.S. Army Air Forces test pilot Lt. F.W. "Mike" Hunter wearing a flight suit in October 1942
Pilots landing a Boeing 777
A U.S. Air Force F-16 pilot in flight
A United States Air Force RPA pilot.