Flight Gear 1.0 comes with a pilot figure. This 3D figure is found in the folder : FlightGear/aata/Models/Aircraft/ and is named tespilot.ac
The standard pilot, testpilot.ac, appears as below - "no hands" which I added later, and no shoes, which can be added very easily. The colors in the form of materials can be easily applied here, and the result is quite good. I do not intend to fly my simulator aircraft without pilots: that looks strange in flight and even stranger in the chase view playbacks.
testpilot.ac as imported into Blender 2.49
testpilot.ac converted to testpilot.3ds
in Wings 3D
The final test pilot with hands and shoes. Colors through materials. PilotFigurFromc172_Jan10V4.wings
Modifying and painting the pilot.
The steps to modifying the pilot and painting him : import .ac file from the Flight Gear folder into Blender 2.49. Export it to .3ds form. Then import it into Wings 3D (2.1 for Linux in this case), add the materials, extend the hands and then add the shoes as smoothed blocks.
The pilot is to be hosted online on SourceForge.
Remember to keep the swap Z and Z axes checked in Wings 3D.
Other Pilots
Wikipedia