Such a restricted poll.
And where's Shin???
I voted Hikaru! Overall. (if it was a dogfight between those 4 i'd imagine Isamu would win, he's naturally a gifted fighter like Max)
But! The question states best hero pilot not which pilot you think would win in a battle royale of the select 4.
Hikky... yes he has some of the most impressive luck out of all i'd imagine, but he is quite scary when determined. (lots of examples from series)
I go by DYRL? finale most of all, warming up to his prime, i can only imagine how good he got post flashback...
he had to start from scratch, when VF-1's and variable fighters in general were just being born pretty much.
Just remember he had to learn the hard way, and placed in a battle of more than a thousand in the air, no combat experience, only aerobactical talent.
If Shin was in there i'd have a problem separating him and Hikaru. Hikaru more so because he has gone up against some impossible odds.
You could argue he didn't do much other than draw fire, get Roy out of formation and in danger, and crashed the VF-1 into a city.
Whilst Shin, only had fun in a crippled but still workable VF-0 gerwalk, and actually took a chunk out of Nora. lol he's a bloody legend.
But yeah, glad max isn't in there, coz everyone would pick him on natural talent and pure kick ass.
With Isamu, he's pure brilliance, but by the time UN Spacy would have devised a better training program for pilots, so maybe that's a minus and a plus for Hik.
Also Isamu is reckless.
If Guld was there, i'd place him above Isamu, he pushed him self till his eyeballs popped! But, that's not advisable. :-/
How else do you stop that monster??? (Ghost X-9)