When Rolls Royce Test Pilot Phil O’Dell (POD to his friends and colleagues) broke the world electric flight airspeed record last year, nobody remarked upon his being in his late 50s. At 51, no one challenged me about my age when I recently made the first flight of the British all-electric Sherwood eKub prototype as a test pilot.
And yet, in the new Top Gun film (Top Gun: Maverick), “Maverick” Pete Mitchell’s age is a key plot point. He’s one of the best pilots the US has ever seen, but he’s 57 years old. His colleagues question whether he is too old to be a test and fighter pilot.
