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An aviator is a person who flies aircraft for pleasure or as a profession. The word is most often applied to pilots, but it is also applied more broadly to include people such as navigators, bombardiers, flight engineers, radar operators, and electronic warfare officers. This should not be confused with the term naval aviator, which refers crew members in the United States Navy, Marines and Coast Guard. There are also such minor aviation characters as wing-walkers who take part in an aerobatic-display sequence. The feminine word aviatrix is sometimes used of all women flyers, reflecting the word's Latin root. The term aviator (as opposed to 'pilot' or other terms) was more used in the early days of aviation, before anyone had ever seen an airplane fly, and it had connotations of bravery and adventure. For example, the editors at the Dayton Herald, in an article of December 18, 1903, referred to the Wright Brothers' first airplane, "The weight, including the body of the aviator, is slightly over 700 pounds". These editors had never seen an airplane fly. To ensure the safety of people in the air as well as on the ground, it soon became a requirement for an aircraft to be under the operational control of a properly trained, certified and current pilot at all times, who is responsible for the safe and legal completion of the flight. The first certificate was delivered by the Aero Club de France to Louis Blériot in 1908, followed by Glenn Curtiss, Leon Delagrange, and Robert Esnault-Pelterie. The absolute authority given to the Pilot in Command is derived from that of a ship’s captain.[citation needed]
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