Everyone knows the man or woman in the left seat up front of the aeroplane is the person we entrust with our lives the moment we get into the air. It is usually an aeroplane, but it can also be a balloon or a helicopter.

Some still say, if God had meant us to fly, he would have given us wings. Still, it’s quicker to fly sometimes than drive, and I’ve always had the desire to learn to fly a plane, but just never got around to it.

A pilot doesn’t have to be in charge of a plane; he or she can also be in charge of a ship, generally when they arrive at a port and have specific navigational information getting the ship to the berth.

Of course, it can apply to anyone who is steering the ship.

And it can also mean to guide people through a difficult phase, a forest, or a hike.

First episode, when a TV show is commissioned, the first episode is always called a pilot. It’s used to test the audience’s reaction, and sometimes it still amazes me what succeeds and what fails. It seems my favourite shows generally last only one season.

There’s a pilot light, which is a small continuous fire, used to ignite a larger one.

A pilot program is rolled out to a few people as a test before introducing it on a much larger scale. I used to use these when creating teaching programs for computer skills.