In the early days of powered flight, the design, construction and control of aircraft predominated. The main attributes of the first pilots were courage and the mastery of a whole new set of skills in the struggle to control the new flying machines. As the technical aspects of flight were overcome bit by bit, the role of the people associated with aircraft began to come to the fore. Pilots were supported initially with mechanisms to help them stabilise the aircraft, and later with automated systems to assist the crew with tasks such as navigation and communication. With such interventions to complement the abilities of pilots, aviation “human factors” was born.