frontseater

Noun

frontseater (plural frontseaters)

1. Someone who occupies a seat near the front of something.
   • Bible Twenty Questions. Divide into two teams— the backseat versus the frontseat. Each team picks a person or object from the Bible. For instance, the backseaters choose Noah's ark. The frontseaters try to discover the answer by asking twenty questions. They begin by finding out if it is animal...1984, Matilda Nordtvedt, The Family Idea Book: Praying and Playing Together, Chicago, I.L.: Moody Press, →ISBN, page 87
2. (specifically) In a plane with two cockpits: the pilot controlling the aircraft (even though both seats are equally to the front).
   • You undoubtedly know that each F-4 Phantom jet carried two pilots in separate, tandem cockpits. Major Dennis Harper was the frontseater and was the AC or Aircraft Commander. Jim was the backseater or the GIB.2002, Lynda Twyman Paffrath, Angels Unknown, San Mateo, C.A.: Lightbourne Books, →ISBN, page 257