- "Flying is for droids."
- ―Obi-Wan Kenobi
Pilot droids were droids used to pilot capital ships and light freighters. Unlike astromech droids, which were mostly concerned with repair and hyperspace navigation for ships without navigation computers, pilot droids were used primarily to fly vessels in normal space.[1]
During the Clone Wars, the Confederacy of Independent Systems made extensive use of pilot battle droids originally developed by the Trade Federation. In addition to flying spacecraft, some of these pilot droids were used as part of CIS boarding parties or to pilot ground vehicles. Confederacy leader, Count Dooku, utilized an FA-4 pilot droid to pilot his personal Punworcca 116-class interstellar sloop.
The FA-4 was a wheeled pilot droid manufactured by the SoroSuub Corporation. On Coruscant and other developed planets, pilot droids often worked in partnership with FA-5 valet droids, which escorted passengers to and from Sorosuub airspeeders.
Later, both the Galactic Empire and the Alliance to Restore the Republic used pilot droids such as the V1-series pilot droid. Unlike the pilot droids of the Clone Wars, these droids were unarmed and not designed for combat operations. The Alliance found them too expensive to purchase, though they gladly accepted donated droids or droids stolen from the Empire.[1]
Behind the scenes
In Star Wars: Battlefront, the OOM pilot droid is shown as a OOM-series battle droid with no markings, while the Demolitions battle droid is shown as a pilot with blue markings. In Star Wars: Battlefront II Pilot Droids could only be used in Space Battles.
Appearances
- Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace
- Jedi Quest: The Way of the Apprentice
- Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "Dooku Captured"
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "Monster"
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "Witches of the Mist"
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "Escape from Kadavo"
- Star Wars: Obsession
- Labyrinth of Evil
- Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith
- Star Wars Dark Times 5: The Path to Nowhere, Part 5
- Star Wars: Battlefront
- Star Wars: Battlefront II
- Lando Calrissian and the Mindharp of Sharu (First appearance)
- Death Star (Mentioned only)
- Star Wars: Blood Ties: Boba Fett is Dead 3
- Ewoks — "Battle for the Sunstar"
- "A Very Special Meal" — Shadows of the Empire Sourcebook (Mentioned only)
- Star Tours
- Before the Storm
- Vision of the Future
- The New Jedi Order: Star by Star
- The New Jedi Order: Ylesia
- Legacy of the Force: Fury
- Star Wars: Legacy 26: The Hidden Temple, Part 2
Sources
- Rebel Alliance Sourcebook (First Edition) (As "Pilot Droid")
- Rebel Alliance Sourcebook (Second Edition) (As "Pilot Droid")
- Shadows of the Empire Planets Guide
- Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire Micro Machines (Pack: Collection III) (backup link)
- Cynabar's Fantastic Technology: Droids
- Episode I: Jedi Power Battles: Prima's Official Strategy Guide
- Star Wars Battlefront: Prima Official Game Guide
- Star Wars Battlefront II: Prima Official Game Guide
- Episode I Insider's Guide
- Star Wars: Episode I The Visual Dictionary
- The New Essential Guide to Droids
- The Clone Wars Campaign Guide
- Legacy Era Campaign Guide
- Scum and Villainy
- Star Wars Character Encyclopedia