Back in the late 1970s, I was privileged to drive Battle of Britain hero Bob Stanford Tuck from Rhode Island to Boston to catch a flight back to his home in England. Almost 40 years after his last combat in a Spitfire, Tuck astounded me with his eyesight — identifying species of distant birds “judging by the wing flap.”
For some, spotting “bandits” is a God-given talent. As the saying goes, “Anatomy is destiny,” and fighter pilots with the keenest eyes were the ones who scored highest — and survived longest. In today’s techno-rich airspace, collision avoidance is enhanced by avionics. But you still can’t beat a clean windshield and a good pair of Mark I eyeballs.
