DCHP-1 Online
seat-of-the-pants flyer 
a pilot, especially a bush pilot, who flies by experience and knowledge of weather and terrain rather than by maps and instruments.
See also: bush pilot
- 1958 Jacklin is no "seat of the pants" flyer; rather, he is one of the most careful members of a careful fraternity. He knows his meteorology inside out, and has made enough forced landings in the Barrens to know what to do if something goes wrong.
- 1966 . . . the famous bush pilots of 30-odd years ago [were] the seat-of-the-pants fliers who began the modern opening of Canada's northern wilderness.
- 1958 Jacklin is no "seat of the pants" flyer; rather, he is one of the most careful members of a careful fraternity. He knows his meteorology inside out, and has made enough forced landings in the Barrens to know what to do if something goes wrong.