In the mid-50s, most of the test pilots started out as fighter pilots, but they were fighter pilots gone astray. More and more of the test pilots were engineers who were conservative, anal, by-the-book types, not hell-raising warriors. Test pilots were evaluators. Fighter pilots were applicators. Test pilots were pessimists who tried to find something wrong with an airplane. Fighter pilots were optimists who looked for something great in an airplane. Test pilots were detached from the airplane they flew. Fighter pilots fell in love with their airplane.
