"Pilots were a major problem in aviation development. They were exposed as feeble, vulnerable, and inefficient as aircraft flew higher, faster, and farther. Pilots asphyxiated or got the bends at high altitudes; they blacked out during high-G maneuvers; they spun into the ground…
Introduction -- The pathology of flight -- Engineering the human machine -- Flying blind -- The changing role of the human component -- Flight without flyers -- The modern pilot, redefined -- New horizons of flight -- Conclusion: the past and future of pilots "Pilots were a maj…