Early barnstormers For pilots, there’s nothing like sitting in a plane’s cockpit. The switches, the levers, the buttons, the radios, the breakers, the gauges, the instruments, the this, the that.The pilots who fly a lot, for them, the cockpit becomes a second home. When you’re sitting in the airman’s seat aloft, not even the IRS has any control over your life. Unless you’re caught in the middle of a thunderstorm or your wings are collecting ice, all of your troubles are below; waiting for you to land, granted. But at least they’re not in the cockpit, screwing with your life ...