hangar pilot

plural hangar pilots

1. informalaeronauticsSomeone who discusses or fantasizes about flying airplanes but does little or no actual flying.

   His greatest horror would be to become a hangar pilot, who only talks flying, or a pilot with dishpan hands - the little homebody.

   1945, Fred Hamann, “Diction-Air For Paddlefeets”, in Boeing Magazine, volume 15, number 1, page 13

   2 more examples

   -Most pilots who talk this way are sincere, though mistaken. A few, who might be called the Typhoid Marys of this disease, are not much more than hangar pilots.

   1967, Robert Blodget, “Follow Me Through”, in Flying Magazine, volume 80, number 5, page 88

   I don't want to get into hangar pilot stories because I'll forget what I came here to talk to you about. But, I have had my fun, as I am sure you have.

   1986, Society of Experimental Test Pilots (contributor), Cockpit, page 4