Superpower Wiki
Don't have an account?
Register
Advertisement
Register
Superpower Wiki
Superpower Wiki
25,211
pages
in: Powers, Technology-based Powers, Skills, Flight

Aviation Mastery

Sign in to edit
"The duty of the fighter pilot is to patrol his area of the sky, and shoot down any enemy fighters in that area. Anything else is rubbish."
― Baron Manfred von Richthofen
"There ain't nothin' an ol Jet jockey like me can't pilot."
― Ben Grimm/The Thing (Marvel Comics)

The ability to be a master of piloting aircraft, either innately or through training. Variation of Vehicular Mastery.

Also Called[]

  • Ace Pilot/Air/Flying Ace
  • Aircraft/Flying Machine Expertise/Intuition/Mastery/Proficiency
  • Aviation Expertise/Intuition/Proficiency
  • Enhanced Aviation/Piloting Skill
  • Expert/Master/Skilled Aircraft Pilot/Pilot/Aviator
  • Piloting Expertise/Intuition/Mastery/Proficiency

Capabilities[]

Users, either innately or through training, are masters of piloting aircraft. They usually credited with shooting down several enemies during aerial combat and accounted for the majority of air-to-air victories in any battle/war.

Applications[]

Variations[]

By Methods of Lift[]

  • Aerodyne: Heavier-than-air aircraft, such as airplanes, must find some way to push air or gas downwards so that a reaction occurs (by Newton's laws of motion) to push the aircraft upwards. This dynamic movement through the air is the origin of the term. There are two ways to produce dynamic upthrust — aerodynamic lift, and powered lift in the form of engine thrust.
    • Fixed-Wing Aircraft: A heavier-than-air flying machine, such as an airplane, which is capable of flight using wings that generate lift caused by the aircraft's forward airspeed and the shape of the wings.
      • Airplane/Aeroplane/Plane: A fixed-wing aircraft that is propelled forward by thrust from a jet engine, propeller, or rocket engine.
        • Seaplane: A powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of taking off and landing (alighting) on water.
          • Floatplane: A type of seaplane with one or more slender floats mounted under the fuselage to provide buoyancy. By contrast, a flying boat uses its fuselage for buoyancy. Type of seaplane may also have landing gear suitable for land, making the vehicle an amphibious aircraft.
          • Flying Boat: A type of fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in having a fuselage that is purpose-designed for floatation, while floatplanes rely on fuselage-mounted floats for buoyancy. It differs from an amphibious aircraft by lacking wheels, skis, or skids to land on a solid surface rather than water.
      • Glider Mastery
      • Kite Proficiency
    • Lifting Body: An aircraft body shaped to produce lift. If there are any wings, they are too small to provide significant lift and are used only for stability and control. Lifting bodies are not efficient: they suffer from high drag and must also travel at high speed to generate enough lift to fly.
    • Powered Lift/VTOL (Vertical Take-Off and Landing)/V/STOL (Vertical and/or Short Take-Off and Landing) Aircraft: A powered lift/VTOL/V/STOL aircraft takes off and lands vertically under engine power but uses a fixed wing for horizontal flight. Like helicopters, these aircraft do not need a long runway to take off and land, but they have a speed and performance similar to standard fixed-wing aircraft in combat or other situations.
      • Convertiplane: A convertiplane uses rotor power for vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) and converts to fixed-wing lift for normal flight.
        • Tiltrotor Aircraft: An aircraft that generates lift and propulsion by way of one or more powered rotors (sometimes called proprotors) mounted on rotating shafts or nacelles usually at the ends of a fixed wing. Almost all tiltrotors use a transverse rotor design, with a few exceptions that use other multirotor layouts.
        • Tiltwing Aircraft: A tiltwing aircraft features a wing that is horizontal for conventional forward flight and rotates up for vertical takeoff and landing. It is similar to the tiltrotor design where only the propeller and engine rotate. Tiltwing aircraft are typically fully capable of VTOL operations.
      • Direct Thrust/VTOL/V/STOL Jet Aircraft: A type of aircraft that use a jet engine(s) to lift itself vertically.
        • Coandă Effect Aircraft: Aircraft in which VTOL is achieved by exploiting the Coandă effect are capable of redirecting air much like thrust vectoring, but rather than routing airflow through a duct, the airflow is simply routed along an existing surface, which is usually the body of the craft allowing less material and weight.
        • Lift Fan Aircraft: Lift fan is an aircraft configuration in which lifting fans are located in large holes in an otherwise conventional fixed wing or fuselage. It is used for V/STOL operation.
        • Lift Jet Aircraft: A lift jet is an auxiliary jet engine used to provide lift for VTOL operation but may be shut down for normal wing-borne flight.
        • Vectored Thrust Aircraft
          • Tiltjet Aircraft: An aircraft propulsion configuration that was historically tested for proposed VTOL-capable fighters.
      • Tail-Sitter: A type of VTOL aircraft that takes off and lands on its tail, then tilts horizontally for forward flight.
    • Rotorcraft/Rotary-Wing Aircraft: A heavier-than-air aircraft with rotary wings or rotor blades, which generate lift by rotating around a vertical mast. Several rotor blades mounted on a single mast are referred to as a rotor.
      • Autogyro/Gyrocopter/Gyroplane/Rotaplane: A type of rotorcraft that uses an unpowered rotor in free autorotation to develop lift. While similar to a helicopter rotor in appearance, the autogiro's unpowered rotor disc must have air flowing upward across it to make it rotate.
        • Gyrodyne: A type of VTOL aircraft with a helicopter rotor-like system that is driven by its engine for takeoff and landing only and includes one or more conventional propeller or jet engines to provide forward thrust during cruising flight.
      • Helicopter: A type of rotorcraft in which lift, and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally.
      • Rotor Wing Aircraft: An aircraft with a rotor wing that is a lifting rotor or wing which spins to provide aerodynamic lift. In general, a rotor may spin about an axis which is aligned substantially either vertically or side-to-side (spanwise). All three classes have been studied for use as lifting rotors and several variations have been flown on full-size aircraft, although only the vertical-axis rotary wing has become widespread on rotorcraft such as the helicopter.
      • Rotor Kite/Gyrokite: An unpowered, rotary-wing aircraft. Like an autogyro or helicopter, it relies on lift created by one or more sets of rotors in order to fly. Unlike a helicopter, gyrokites and rotor kites do not have an engine powering their rotors, but while an autogyro has an engine providing forward thrust that keeps the rotor turning, a rotor kite has no engine at all, and relies on either being carried aloft and dropped from another aircraft, or by being towed into the air behind a car or boat or by use of ambient winds for the kiting.
  • Aerostat: A lighter-than-air aircraft that gains its lift through the use of a buoyant gas.
    • Airship/Dirigible Balloon: A type of aerostat or lighter-than-air aircraft that can navigate through the air under its own power. Aerostats gain their lift from a lifting gas that is less dense than the surrounding air.
      • Blimp/Non-Rigid Airship: An airship (dirigible) without an internal structural framework or a keel. Unlike semi-rigid and rigid airships (e.g. Zeppelins), blimps rely on the pressure of the lifting gas (usually helium, rather than hydrogen) inside the envelope and the strength of the envelope itself to maintain their shape.
      • Rigid Airship/Zeppelin: A type of airship (or dirigible) in which the envelope is supported by an internal framework rather than by being kept in shape by the pressure of the lifting gas within the envelope, as in blimps (also called pressure airships) and semi-rigid airships.
      • Semi-Rigid Airship: An airship which has a stiff keel or truss supporting the main envelope along its length. The keel may be partially flexible or articulated and may be located inside or outside the main envelope. The outer shape of the airship is maintained by gas pressure, as with the non-rigid "blimp".
    • Balloon: An unpowered aerostat which has no means of propulsion and must be either tethered on a long cable or allowed to drift freely with the wind.

By Propulsions[]

  • Powered Aircraft: Powered aircraft have one or more onboard sources of mechanical power, typically aircraft engines although rubber and manpower have also been used.
    • Jet Aircraft: An aircraft (nearly always a fixed-wing aircraft) propelled by jet engines. Whereas the engines in propeller-powered aircraft generally achieve their maximum efficiency at much lower speeds and altitudes, jet engines achieve maximum efficiency at speeds close to or even well above the speed of sound.
    • Propeller Aircraft: Propeller aircraft use one or more propellers (airscrews) to create thrust in a forward direction. The propeller is usually mounted in front of the power source in tractor configuration but can be mounted behind in pusher configuration. Variations of propeller layout include contra-rotating propellers and ducted fans.
    • Rotorcraft: Some rotorcrafts, such as helicopters, have a powered rotary wing or rotor, where the rotor disc can be angled slightly forward so that a proportion of its lift is directed forwards. The rotor may, like a propeller, be powered by a variety of methods such as a piston engine or turbine.
  • Unpowered Aircraft: Unpowered aircraft can remain airborne for a significant period of time without onboard propulsion. They can be classified as fixed-wing gliders, lighter-than-air balloons and tethered kites. This requires a trajectory that is not merely a vertical descent such as a parachute.

By Usages[]

  • Civilian Aircraft: A type of aircraft used by civilians.
    • Airliner/Passenger/Transport Aircraft: A type of aircraft for transporting passengers and air cargo. Such aircraft are most often operated by airlines. Although the definition of an airliner can vary from country to country, an airliner is typically defined as an airplane intended for carrying multiple passengers or cargo in commercial service.
      • Cargo/Freight Aircraft/Freighter: A fixed-wing aircraft that is designed or converted for the carriage of cargo rather than passengers.
      • Mail Plane: An aircraft used for carrying mail.
    • Private Aircraft: An aircraft owned by a civilian, such as a rich or a businessperson.
  • Experimental Aircraft: An aircraft intended for testing new aerospace technologies and design concepts.
  • Military Aircraft: Any fixed-wing or rotary-wing aircraft that is operated by a legal or insurrectionary military of any type.
    • Combat Aircraft: Combat aircraft are designed to destroy enemy equipment or personnel using their own aircraft ordnance.
      • Attack Aircraft/Attack Bomber/Attacker/Strike Aircraft/Striker: tactical military aircraft that has a primary role of carrying out airstrikes with greater precision than bombers and is prepared to encounter strong low-level air defenses while pressing the attack. This class of aircraft is designed mostly for close air support and naval air-to-surface missions, overlapping the tactical bomber mission.
      • Bomber Aircraft/Bomber: A military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles.
        • Dive Bomber: A bomber aircraft that dives directly at its targets in order to provide greater accuracy for the bomb it drops. Diving towards the target simplifies the bomb's trajectory and allows the pilot to keep visual contact throughout the bomb run. This allows attacks on point targets and ships, which were difficult to attack with conventional level bombers, even en masse.
        • Heavy Bomber: A bomber capable of delivering the largest payload of air-to-ground weaponry (usually bombs) and longest range (takeoff to landing) of their era. In the second half of the 20th century, heavy bombers were largely superseded by strategic bombers, which were often smaller in size, but had much longer ranges and were capable of delivering nuclear bombs.
        • Interdictor: A type of attack aircraft or tactical bomber that operates far behind enemy lines, with the express intent of air interdiction of the enemy's military targets, most notably those involved in logistics. Interdiction prevents or delays enemy forces and supplies from reaching the battlefront; the term has generally fallen from use.
        • Light Bomber: A relatively small and fast type of military bomber aircraft that was primarily employed before the 1950s. Such aircraft would typically not carry more than one ton of ordnance.
        • Medium Bomber: A military bomber aircraft designed to operate with medium-sized bombloads over medium range distances; the name serves to distinguish this type from larger heavy bombers and smaller light bombers. Mediums generally carried about two tons of bombs, compared to light bombers that carried one ton, and heavies that carried four or more.
        • Night Bomber: A bomber aircraft intended specifically for carrying out bombing missions at night.
        • Penetrator: A long-range bomber aircraft designed to intrude against and penetrate enemy defenses.
        • Strategic Bomber: A medium- to long-range penetration bomber aircraft designed to drop large amounts of air-to-ground weaponry onto a distant target for the purposes of debilitating the enemy's capacity to wage war. Unlike tactical bombers, penetrators, fighter-bombers, and attack aircraft, which are used in air interdiction operations to attack enemy combatants and military equipment, strategic bombers are designed to fly into enemy territory to destroy strategic targets (e.g., infrastructure, logistics, military installations, factories, etc.).
        • Tactical Bomber: A short- to medium-range bomber designated to drop a small amount of air-to-ground weaponry onto a distant target. They are designed specifically for the primary role of tactical bombing, even though many other types of aircraft ranging from strategic bombers to fighters, interceptors, and helicopters have been used in tactical bombing operations.
        • Torpedo Bomber: A military aircraft designed primarily to attack ships with aerial torpedoes.
      • Fighter Aircraft/Fighter: A fixed-wing military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiority of the battlespace.
        • Air Superiority Fighter: A fighter aircraft designed to seize control of enemy airspace by establishing tactical dominance (air superiority) over the opposing air force. Air-superiority fighters are primarily tasked to perform aerial combat against agile, lightly armed aircraft (most often) enemy fighters and eliminate any challenge over control of the airspace, although some (e.g. strike fighters) may have a secondary role for air-to-surface attacks.
        • Day Fighter: A fighter aircraft equipped only to fight during the day. More specifically, it refers to a multi-purpose aircraft that does not include equipment for fighting at night (such as a radar and specialized avionics), although it is sometimes used to refer to some interceptors as well.
        • Escort Fighter: A concept for a fighter aircraft designed to escort bombers to and from their targets. An escort fighter needed range long enough to reach the target, loiter over it for the duration of the raid to defend the bombers, and return.
        • Heavy Fighter: A historic category of fighter aircraft produced in the 1930s and 1940s, designed to carry heavier weapons, and/or operate at longer ranges than light fighter aircraft. To achieve performance, most heavy fighters were twin-engine, and many had multi-place crews; this was in contrast to light fighters, which were typically single-engine and single-crew aircraft.
        • Interceptor Aircraft/Interceptor: A type of fighter aircraft designed specifically for the defensive interception role against an attacking enemy aircraft, particularly bombers and reconnaissance aircraft. Aircraft that are capable of being or are employed as both ‘standard’ air superiority fighters and as interceptors are sometimes known as fighter-interceptors.
          • Bomber Destroyer: Bomber destroyers were World War II interceptor aircraft intended to destroy enemy bomber aircraft. Bomber destroyers were typically larger and heavier than general interceptors, designed to mount more powerful armament, and often having twin engines. They differed from night fighters largely in that they were designed for day use.
        • Light/Lightweight Fighter: A fighter aircraft towards the low end of the practical range of weight, cost, and complexity over which fighters are fielded. The light or lightweight fighter retains carefully selected competitive features, in order to provide cost-effective design and performance.
        • Night Fighter: A fighter aircraft adapted for use at night or in other times of bad visibility.
      • Electronic-Warfare Aircraft: A military aircraft equipped for electronic warfare (EW), that is, degrading the effectiveness of enemy radar and radio systems by using radar jamming and deception methods.
      • Gunship: A military aircraft armed with heavy aircraft guns, primarily intended for attacking ground targets either as airstrike or as close air support.
      • Maritime Patrol Aircraft: A fixed-wing aircraft designed to operate for long durations over water in maritime patrol roles — in particular anti-submarine warfare (ASW), anti-ship warfare (AShW), and search and rescue (SAR).
      • Multirole Combat Aircraft (MRCA)/Multirole Fighter: A combat aircraft intended to perform different roles in combat. These roles can include air to air combat, air support, aerial bombing, reconnaissance, electronic warfare, and suppression of air defenses.
        • Fighter-Bomber: A fighter aircraft that has been modified, or used primarily, as a light bomber or attack aircraft. It differs from bomber and attack aircraft primarily in its origins, as a fighter that has been adapted into other roles, whereas bombers and attack aircraft are developed specifically for bombing and attack roles.
        • Strike Fighter: A multirole combat aircraft designed to operate both as an attack aircraft and as an air superiority fighter. As a category, it is distinct from fighter-bombers. It is closely related to the concept of interdictor aircraft, but it puts more emphasis on aerial combat capabilities as a multirole combat aircraft.
    • Non-Combat Aircraft: Non-combat aircraft are not designed for combat as their primary function but may carry weapons for self-defense. These mainly operate in support roles.
      • Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) System: An airborne radar system designed to detect aircraft, ships, vehicles, missiles, and other incoming projectiles at long ranges and perform command and control of the battlespace in an air engagement by directing fighter and attack aircraft strikes. AEW&C units are also used to carry out surveillance, including over ground targets and frequently perform battle management command and control (BMC2).
      • Liaison Aircraft: A small, usually unarmed aircraft primarily used by military forces for artillery observation or transporting commanders and messages. The concept developed before World War II and included also battlefield reconnaissance, air ambulance, column control, light cargo delivery and similar duties.
      • Military Glider: Military gliders (an offshoot of common gliders) have been used by the militaries of various countries for carrying troops (glider infantry) and heavy equipment to a combat zone. These engineless aircraft were towed into the air and most of the way to their target by military transport planes, or bombers relegated to secondary activities. Most military gliders do not soar, although there were attempts to build military sailplanes as well.
      • Military Transport/Military Cargo Aircraft Aircraft/Airlifter: A military-owned transport aircraft used to support military operations by airlifting troops and military equipment. Transport aircraft are crucial to maintaining supply lines to forward bases that are difficult to reach by ground or waterborne access and can be used for both strategic and tactical missions.
      • Reconnaissance Aircraft: A military aircraft designed or adapted to perform aerial reconnaissance with roles including collection of imagery intelligence (including using photography), signals intelligence, as well as measurement and signature intelligence. Modern technology has also enabled some aircraft and UAVs to carry out real-time surveillance in addition to general intelligence gathering.
      • Surveillance Aircraft: An aircraft used for surveillance. They are operated by military forces and other government agencies in roles such as intelligence gathering, battlefield surveillance, airspace surveillance, reconnaissance, observation (e.g. artillery spotting), border patrol and fishery protection.
    • Military Helicopter: A helicopter that is either specifically built or converted for use by military forces. A military helicopter's mission is a function of its design or conversion.
      • Armed Helicopter: A military helicopter equipped with aircraft ordnance.
        • Attack Helicopter/Helicopter Gunship: An armed helicopter with the primary role of an attack aircraft, with the offensive capability of engaging ground targets such as enemy infantry, military vehicles and fortifications. Due to their heavy armament, they are sometimes called helicopter gunships.
      • Military Transport Helicopter: a military helicopter used for transporting troops.
      • Utility Helicopter: A multi-purpose military helicopter capable of fulfilling many different roles.

Associations[]

Limitations[]

  • Users are just normal people outside of their planes.
  • Not invincible, as the craft can still suffer damage.
  • Users can cause unintentional damage to the surroundings.
  • May need a certain level of exposure or training to be an effective pilot.
  • May take time to achieve mastery.

Known Users[]

See Also: Ace Pilot and Improbable Piloting Skills.

  • Phoenix/Scarface 1 (Air Combat/Ace Combat 2)
  • Nemo (Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere)
  • Mobius 1 (Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies)
  • Wardog Squadron/Ghosts of Razgriz (Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War)
  • Galm Team (Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War)
  • Talisman/Garuda 1 (Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation)
  • Gryphus One (Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception)
  • Antares One (Ace Combat: Joint Assault)
  • William Bishop (Ace Combat: Assault Horizon)
  • Andrei Markov (Ace Combat: Assault Horizon)
  • Hoagie Gilligan Jr./Number Two (Codename: Kids Next Door)
  • Hans von Hammer/Enemy Ace (DC Comics)
  • Blackhawk Squadron (DC Comics)
  • Hal Jordan/Green Lantern (DC Comics)
  • Diana Prince/Diana of Themyscira/Wonder Woman (DC Comics)
  • Bruce Wayne/Batman (DC Comics)
  • Slade Wilson/Deathstroke (DC Comics)
  • Midnighter (DC Comics/Wildstorm)
  • H.A.W.X. squadron (Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X)
  • Strike Witches (World Witches/Strike Witches)
  • All Pilots (Aero Fighters series)
  • Shin Kudō (Macross Zero)
  • Alto Saotome (Macross Frontier)
  • George Joestar (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part II: Battle Tendency)
  • Joseph Joestar (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure)
  • Launchpad McQuack (Ducktales)
  • Kevin "Ace" Koss (Gold Digger)
  • Miles "Tails" Prower (Sonic the Hedgehog)
  • Skye (PAW Patrol)
  • Ace Sorenson (Paw Patrol)
  • Owlette (PJ Masks)
  • Trevor (Grand Theft Auto 5)
  • Colonel Steve Zodiac (Fireball XL5)
  • International Rescue (Thunderbirds)
    • Scot Tracy
    • Virgil Tracy
    • Alan Tracy
  • Hugh S. Forward/Bullseye (C.O.P.S.)
  • Pilots (TaleSpin)
  • Pete "Maverick" Mitchell (Top Gun)
  • Tom "Iceman" Kazansky (Top Gun)
  • Lance "Spider" Webb (Top Gun: Hard Lock)
  • Captain Stephen Hiller (Independence Day)
  • Captain Jimmy Wilder (Independence Day)
  • Russel Casse (Independence Day)
  • President Thomas Whitmore (Independence Day)
  • Jake Morrison (Independence Day: Resurgence)
  • Rain Lao (Independence Day: Resurgence)
  • Dylan Dubrow-Hiller (Independence Day: Resurgence)
  • Tom Natsworthy (Mortal Engines)
  • Anna Fang (Mortal Engines)
  • Ben Grimm/The Thing (Marvel Comics)
  • Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel (Marvel Comics)
  • Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Marvel Comics)
  • Sage/Tessa (Marvel Comics)
  • Glenn Quagmire (Family Guy)
  • Joseph Joestar (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure)
  • Tane Wilson (Silversun)
  • Black Noir (The Boys)
  • Valerie d'Avion/The Valkyrie (The Rocketeer TV series)
  • Muggshot (Sly Cooper)
  • Marco Pagot (Porco Rosso)
  • Kelly O'Brien (Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem)
  • Joel Rawlings (Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue)
  • Miles Lionheart (Las Lindas)
  • Norman Osborn/Green Goblin (Marvel Cinematic Universe)
  • Ninjas (Lego Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitsu)
  • Skyla (Pokémon Anime series)

Gallery[]

Videos[]

Analysis & Discussions[]

Community content is available under CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted.
More Fandoms
Advertisement

Fan Feed

More Superpower Wiki