Le Chaud Lapin writes:

There is something about the character of
some pilots in this group that makes them noticeably different from
any other newsgroup that I have encountered. It is hard not to use
perjorative terms without saying what this difference is, but if I had
to choose two, I would say that _some_ pilots here are not "entirely
receptive to new ideas", and a few feel that "their status as a
licensed aviators gives them the right to be rude" toward those who
are not licensed.

I should hope that most pilots were not this bad, and it seems that they are
not. I'm not sure why so many pilots in this newsgroup fit the description;
perhaps it is a combination of personality characteristics that produces it.

A few of us, the students, were sitting around in the lobby, talking
about experimental aircraft (Moller and possibility of flying cars),
and the licensed pilots were attacking us, not in a healthy way, but
in, "You have no idea what you are talking about." way. We were
discussing strength of materials, flight dynamics, and control theory,
and there were two people present who just happened to have experience
in strength of materials and control theory, at university level, but
the pilots did not know.

The owner of the flight school was present, watching from across the
room quietly until, two of the pilots started refuting vigorously
something that was clearly true. The owner interrupted in favor of
the students.

But it was not the details of the subject that mattered. It was the
sensitivity exhibited by the pilots. It was apparent that they simply
did not like the idea of someone who was not a pilot discussing the
dynamics of flight or control theory or anything that questioned dogma
in their presence. They found it offenssive. This is the only group in
USENET where I have encountered this type of sensitivity.

I think it is linked to insecurity. Some pilots probably use their licenses
as a basis for building up a large but fragile ego; subsequently, whenever
anything threatens that house of cards, they lash out defensively. It makes
them look overemotional and stupid, but they do not realize this. Smart
pilots are unlikely to be insecure and do not need a pilot's license for
self-validation, so I wouldn't expect them to behave in this way.

There are other groups, where the gap between what resident sages know
and what newbies know is much larger, say in sci.crypt and comp.dsp,
and the hostility is no where near what I have seen in this group.

Perhaps the status is less illusory among the knowledgeable people in those
groups.