I'm usually playing around in my head with various character concepts, for fun and also to have some replacement ideas if my current character in any game dies, and today it's pilot time.

It;s obvious the best career to make a spaceship pilot from is Void-master.

I also know that Rogue Trader and Dark Eldar (via Skyterror alt rank) can also do it to a point.

I'm curious though, are there any alt ranks/backgrounds/whatever that grant access to piltoing skills for other careers(I'm interested mainly in Spacecraft, but Fliers is also a bonus)?

Don't forget that you can look at background options. There are a lot of skill options through your background, more than you might think. I am reasonably sure you can find it in one. If not, taking a single skill as an Elite advance isn't that bad.

Don't forget that you can look at background options. There are a lot of skill options through your background, more than you might think. I am reasonably sure you can find it in one. If not, taking a single skill as an Elite advance isn't that bad.

That's my thinking. As long as the background is good, I'd accept Pilot(Spacecraft) as an elite advance. The trick is in having enough Agility to make it worthwhile.

You were right, there's plenty in the background options to get you started:

Homeworld: Battlefleet > Pilot (spacecraft) trained

Birthright: In service to the Throne (tithed)> Drive (ground vehicles) or Navigation (Stellar) trained

Trials and Travails: Press-ganged> one skill trained

Motivation: Prestige> talented (one skill)

So it's possible to start with Pilot (spacecraft)+10, Talented (Pilot (spacecraft)) and Navigation (stellar) regardless of career....not bad.

Most classes I'd make it kind of a gimme, you're on the ship for months at a time you might as well learn a job and if you're important you might as well learn an important job. I've got an Arch Militant and whenver he's aboard during a ship combat he operates the gunnery station on the bridge (makes the BS tests for shipboard weapons) and while nobody has so far asked me to produce a related skill I came up with my own excuse. Anyone asks I just say that when he worked for another RT the two of them would play a game where they'd both get fall down drunk as they took turns shooting space junk and see who couldn't make their shots first. If the GM ultimately decides I need to pay for it that's fine I will, but so far I think he enjoys my high BS when I'm GM and I have my guy operate the guns for his character when he's in command.

I've got an Arch Militant and whenver he's aboard during a ship combat he operates the gunnery station on the bridge (makes the BS tests for shipboard weapons) and while nobody has so far asked me to produce a related skill I came up with my own excuse.

We might be getting off-topic, but I don't believe there is a skill for shooting starship weapons. Anyone can do it. Void-Master's are just (potentially) better at it, since they can elect to choose the "Master of Gunnery" trait which allows them to re-roll all failed shooting actions aboard starships (see core rulebook, page 72).

The rules for shooting ship weapons are on page 219 of the core rulebook:

"When firing a Weapon Component, the character directing

different characters if the party chooses."

Well we're kind of circling around to the original question with the concept of ship actions, in that does it make sense for just any party character to know how to operate one or all of the ship's major systems? Since there is no stated skill prereq for shooting I agree just generate some flimsy fluff reason and do it.

As for the voidmaster being better at ship gunnery not in our party, ours took master of small craft and is a helmsmen/fighter pilot/melee-Reaver and his BS is awful and he takes further penalties when outside a ship or a building. So unless he's paired with a good gunner his best strategy is pretty much flying a ship across the sector to where you are, jumping in a fighter to get to the surface, outmaneuvering the anti-air and then jumping out running over and hitting you with a sword.