Recently, Peter Duniho posted:

"Andrew Sarangan" wrote in message
ups.com...
All you need to fly an airplane is motivation, perseverence, basic
intelligence, money and spare time. We are not talking about
becoming a Chuck Yeager or Niel Armstrong. Anyone with basic
intelligence and basic motor skills can be turned into a basic pilot.

Anyone with basic intelligence and basic motor skills can be turned
into someone who can control an airplane. That does not mean that
they can be turned into a pilot, even a basic one.

Even the lowest levels of FAA certification are beyond the reach of
some people who may well have basic intelligence and basic motor
skills.

This thread has made me wonder whether pilots really do differ from the
general population in some ways other than just the desire to fly.
Remember those aptitude tests that we (in the US, at least) were given at
different times during our elementary and secondary education? I suspect
that good "stick and rudder" pilots also scored high on the 3D
visualization parts of those tests. Good navigators probably scored high
on math and abstract association.

Neil