Naval aviator

A military pilot trained to operate aircraft from naval vessels and support naval missions, including carrier operations and maritime patrol.

Aircraft carrier: A warship designed to operate, launch, and recover aircraft at sea. Its flight deck and aviation facilities make shipboard pilot operations possible.
Carrier-based aircraft: Aircraft designed or adapted to operate from aircraft carriers. These aircraft are built for the launch and recovery conditions naval aviators face.
Eugene Ely: An American aviation pioneer who made early shipboard aircraft takeoffs and landings in 1910 and 1911. His demonstrations helped establish that aircraft could operate from naval vessels.
Military pilot: A pilot who operates aircraft as part of a nation's armed forces. Naval aviators are military pilots with specialized maritime and shipboard training.
Air force pilot: A military pilot who serves in an air force and operates aircraft for that service's missions. Air force pilots generally operate from land bases rather than naval vessels.
Aircraft catapult: A launch system that accelerates an aircraft along a short track to flying speed. Catapults let carrier aircraft take off from decks too short for ordinary runway launches.
Maritime patrol aircraft: Aircraft used to monitor ocean areas and conduct missions such as anti-submarine warfare and search and rescue. Their crews extend naval aviation beyond carrier decks to long-range ocean surveillance.
HMS Furious: A British aircraft carrier converted from a battlecruiser and used for early carrier aviation experiments. Its flight-deck arrangements illustrate the transitional ships on which naval aviation developed.
Carrier qualification: The process in which pilots demonstrate that they can safely launch and recover aircraft aboard an aircraft carrier. It tests the shipboard skills required before pilots can operate from a carrier.
Army aviator: A military pilot serving in an army aviation branch, often operating helicopters or other aircraft for ground forces. Army aviators primarily support land operations instead of naval missions.

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