List of pilots

From the episodes "Act of Contrition" through "Pegasus", Galactica's combat ability was severely limited by her manpower - more so than her shortage of mechanical resources. This list was created to keep track of Galactica's current and former Viper pilots, Raptor pilots, and ECOs, and now includes members of the crew of Pegasus as well.

Active

Galactica

Vipers

• Capt. Lee "Apollo" Adama - CAG.
• George "Catman" Birch - briefly promoted from Lieutenant to Captain and CAG after Lee Adama's defection. Current rank unknown. (Home, Part I)
• Lt. Simes - senior pilot after Capt. Lee Adama and Lt. Kara Thrace (Fragged)
• Mueller - Described as a "malcontent" by William Adama. (Home, Part I)
  • The following callsigns have not been matched to names, so Simes and Mueller might be among their number.
  • "Joker" - Seen on whiteboard in Act of Contrition after the accident.
  • "Stinger" - Seen on whiteboard in Act of Contrition after the accident.
  • "Hyper" - Seen on whiteboard in Act of Contrition after the accident.
  • "Greenback" - Seen on whiteboard in Act of Contrition after the accident.
  • "Spinner" - Flew in Strike Force One in the Battle for the Tylium Asteroid.
  • "Deadbolt" - Flew in Strike Force One in the Battle for the Tylium Asteroid.
  • "Buzzer" - Flew in Strike Force One in the Battle for the Tylium Asteroid.
  • "Kingston" - Sorties against two Cylon Raiders in Final Cut.
  • "Grayshirt" - Sorties against two Cylon Raiders in Final Cut.
  • "Snake" - flew as Jo-Jo's wingman in Scar
• Lt. Tucker "Duck" Clellan
• Lt. J.G. Brendan "Hot Dog" Constanza
• Lt. J.G. Louanne "Kat" Katraine

Pilot Count:

As of the mini-series, Starbuck informs Cmdr. William Adama that "there are 20 of us climbing the walls down in the Ready Room". This is excluding the 20 members of Ripper's wing already sortied, and Apollo, on escort detail, and probably doesn't include ECOs. Also in the mini, three Mark VII Vipers are seen in formation inside the ragtag fleet before they hooked up with Galactica. These could have been left behind with the non-FTL capable ships, or could have been carried to Ragnar in other ships as Apollo was.

After the accident in Act of Contrition, Capt. Adama states to Lt. Thrace that there are 21 pilots remaining, by which he probably refers only to the Viper pilots. It is difficult to imagine that Sergeant Hadrian made the same distinction when she referred to the 13 killed and 7 injured in the incident, since the most notable victim was actually a Raptor, not a Viper pilot. Of the 11 present for funeral services, at least one (Crashdown) and possibly two (unidentified #4?) are known to be ECOs. Racetrack and the fourth ECO are clearly not present. Another one (Boomer) and possibly two (unidentified #5 or #7?) are known to be Raptor pilots. This leaves 7, or at most 9, Viper pilots depicted in this scene. Adding the 7 injured pilots, we have a total of 14-16 Viper pilots accounted for, meaning that 5-7 surviving and uninjured pilots must not have been present for some reason (perhaps performing a Combat Air Patrol).

8 nuggets were then recruited to fill out the ranks, including Kat, Hot Dog and Chuckles, bringing the total to 29.

File:Nuggetextra1.jpg	File:Nuggetextra2.jpg	File:Nuggetextra3.jpg	File:Nuggetextra4.jpg	File:Nuggetextra5.jpg
Unidentified nuggets from Act of Contrition. #3 (Stepchild) and one other were killed in The Hand of God.

In The Hand of God, Starbuck is seen giving combat flight training to an expanded class of 14 nuggets. Although nobody specifically discusses it in this episode, we can only assume that they have enlisted 6 more candidates from the civilian fleet, probably from the "next group" that according to Apollo had "never even been in a cockpit" at the time of Act of Contrition. Later on in this episode, a total of 19 Vipers and 2 Raptors is deployed. (Starbuck is inactive at this time due to her knee injury.) Fireball, Chuckles, Stepchild and one unidentified pilot are killed in action, leaving "Galactica" with 31 Viper pilots. (According to scifi.com, three nuggets are killed and four Vipers destroyed in this episode, so we must assume that Stepchild and the unidentified death were among their number.)

In Scattered, "Galactica" fields 18 Vipers. If no other pilots than Flyboy were killed in Valley of Darkness, then with Joe Palladino in the brig, and with Louanne Katraine on medical leave, Galactica had at most 28 pilots available for duty by the end of the episode Final Cut.

However, in the next episode Flight of the Phoenix, 42 Vipers are sortied -- not only more pilots, but also more planes than Galactica has on hand! The most reasonable conclusion is that this is simply an effects gaffe. But if we are to take it literally as an increase in their ranks, then Galactica may have inducted even more than 6 extra nuggets into the squadron since Act of Contrition, and may be continuing to recruit despite Kat's assertion in Final Cut that "there are no replacements coming up".

After encountering fellow battlestar Pegasus, Galactica finally received a number of transfers to fill her depleted ranks. It's unlikely that any Pegasus crewmen were actually deployed against their compatriots at the climax of the episode. So with Kat reinstated to flight status, but minus Apollo and Starbuck (transferred to Pegasus), Galactica can muster 27 Vipers against Pegasus. However, only 15 of Galactica's Mk. II Vipers can be clearly seen as the episode ends.

As of the episode "Scar", the Fleet has begun training many new nugget pilots in earnest (perhaps with flight simulators that are aboard the more-advanced Pegasus), and has obtained enough metal ore from asteroid mining to construct 2 entire squadrons of Vipers (on Pegasus, since that ship has production facilities that Galactica does not). Thus, following "Scar", it will be difficult to find out the exact numbers of Viper pilots (by subtracting the dead from pre-existing numbers) because their numbers are actually growing.

Raptors

• Emmitt "Sweetness" Jones
• Jarrell "Fuzzy" Kier
• Stubbs

Others: Galactica is able to field six raptors simultaneously in "Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II." The crews of Raptor 1 and Raptor 3 are accounted for. Boomer then pilots a raptor to the basestar in orbit of Kobol, while three raptors are sent to board Colonial One. These three probably did not need ECOs, given the target's lack of defensive options, but they certainly required pilots.

Note: Apollo is qualified to pilot a Raptor (Resistance, Pegasus), and may have piloted one of the boarding party in "Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II." This would (awkwardly) mean that he flew himself back to Galactica while under arrest.

ECOs

• Lt. JG. Karl "Helo" Agathon
• Lt. Margaret "Racetrack" Edmonson
• Unidentified ECO of Raptor 1 in Fragged.

Note: The survival of two specialist ECOs by the time of Fragged means Apollo's headcount of surviving pilots in Act of Contrition could not have included them.

Others

Present at funeral services in Act of Contrition are 11 pilots and ECOs, including Apollo, Starbuck, Boomer and Crashdown. The next ready room scene is in Resistance, and features 20 people in addition to Apollo. Still present from the previous episode are:

• File:Contritionextra2.jpg
• File:Contritionextra6.jpg
• File:Contritionextra3.jpg - Several possible matches?

Note: Cmdr. William "Husker" Adama flew a Viper Mk. II during the Cylon War, and can also pilot a Raptor (as seen in Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down). Col. Saul Tigh was also a Viper pilot of the same vintage, but there is less to suggest he has retained any sort of flight status.

Pegasus

Vipers

• Capt. Kara "Starbuck" Thrace - CAG. Transferred to Pegasus in "Pegasus", promoted to CAG in "Resurrection Ship, Part I".
• Capt. Cole "Stinger" Taylor - former CAG of Pegasus. (May have been demoted)
• "Whiplash" - Shows off his Viper's scorecard in "Pegasus". Also mentioned in the ready room in that episode.
• "Thumper" - Mentioned in Pegasus Ready room in "Pegasus".
• "Nacho" - in the dog fight tangling with "Kat" in "Resurrection Ship, Part I".

Assignment Unknown

• Fei "Freaker" Firelli - credited in "Resurrection Ship, Part I", but not identified in dialogue.
• Richard "Buster" Bayer - credited in "Resurrection Ship, Part I", but not identified in dialogue.

Inactive

Galactica

Vipers

• Lt. Joe "Hammerhead" Palladino - In the brig for assaulting Saul Tigh as of "Final Cut".

Other

Raptors

• Sharon Valerii (Caprica copy) - currently incarcerated on Galactica (technically this Valerii was never a member of the Colonial Fleet, but she retains her collective knowledge on how to fly a Raptor).

Deceased

Twelve (12) others - dead Act of Contrition

Galactica

Vipers

• Capt. Jackson "Ripper" Spencer - KIA Mini-Series (First sortie)
• Lt. "Jolly" Anders - KIA Mini-Series (First sortie)
• Eighteen (18) other Viper Mk. VII pilots - KIA Mini-Series (First sortie)
• One Mk. II pilot - KIA Mini-Series (Second sortie)
• Seven Mk. II pilots - KIA Mini-Series (Third sortie)
• One Mk. VII pilot - KIA Mini-Series (Third sortie)
• "Fireball" - KIA The Hand of God
• Unidentified Viper pilot (a nugget) - KIA The Hand of God
• Cadet "Stepchild" - KIA The Hand of God
• Cadet "Chuckles" Perry - KIA The Hand of God
• "Flyboy" - KIA Valley of Darkness
• Reilly - KIA Scar
• "Beano" - KIA Scar
• Ensign Brent "BB" Baxton - KIA Scar
• Ensign Joseph "Jo-Jo" Clark - KIA Scar

Raptors

• Lt. JG Dwight "Flat Top" Saunders - Dead Act of Contrition
• Unidentified pilot of Raptor 3. - KIA Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I
• "Karma" - KIA Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I
• Lt. JG Sharon "Boomer" Valerii (Galactica Copy) - Dead Resistance

ECOs

• Unidentified ECO of Raptor 3. May be the same person as Unidentified Uninjured Pilot #4 above. KIA Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I
• Lt. "Crashdown" - KIA Fragged

Assignment Unknown

• Dipper (RDM) - KIA before Scar
• Sheppard - KIA before Scar
• Dash - KIA before Scar
• Puppet - KIA before Scar

Status Unknown

n.b. the majority of these are mentioned-only characters or extras.

Galactica

Vipers

• Ice Cap - Seen on whiteboard in 33, but not after the accident in Act of Contrition (his slot is replaced by Crashdown)
• T-Bone - Part of Apollo's squadron in 33, deleted scene. 13 unidentified pilots killed since.
• Wedge - Part of Apollo's squadron in 33, deleted scene. 13 unidentified pilots killed since.
• Winger - Part of Apollo's squadron in 33, deleted scene. 13 unidentified pilots killed since.
• Beehive - Apollo's wingman in Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down. 1 unidentified Viper pilot killed since (a nugget).

Raptors

• Stubbs - A Raptor pilot in The Hand of God. 1 unidentified Raptor pilot killed since.

Others

Present at funeral services in Act of Contrition are 11 pilots and ECOs, including Apollo, Starbuck, Boomer and Crashdown. The next ready room scene is in Resistance, and features 20 people in addition to Apollo. Not present from the previous episode are:

• File:Contritionextra1.jpg - Not present at Apollo's briefing
• File:Contritionextra4.jpg - Not present at Apollo's briefing. May have been the unidentified ECO of Raptor 3 (), KIA in Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I
• File:Contritionextra5.jpg - Not present at Apollo's briefing. May have been Karma, KIA in Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I
• File:Contritionextra7.jpg - Not present at Apollo's briefing. May have been Karma, KIA in Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I

In the intervening time, one unidentified Viper pilot, one unidentified Raptor pilot, and one unidentified ECO were killed.

Re-imagined Series definition: the senior pilot on a battlestar

Original Series definition: a title of nobility (e.g. Count Iblis)

Re-imagined Series definition: technology enabling travel across distances faster than the speed of light would permit, see: FTL

crew member handling electronic countermeasures of a craft; ECOs are standard crew aboard Raptors (see: ECO)

Re-imagined Series definition: student pilot ^{(TRS: "Act of Contrition", "Scar")}

used to refer to military personnel who are confirmed deceased during a military engagement, see: KIA ^{(TRS: "Sacrifice")}