Virginia Pilot

Good Apple Info Snapshot:

We haven’t been able to find many growers of this variety in our area. The book says it doesn’t do exceedingly well below 1000′ elevation, but we wonder how true that is, seeing as it was a noted apple by Lee Calhoun.

2024 is our first year growing Pilot and while it did get beat up a little, all the trees are doing fine. All but one are on the smaller end of this year’s trees.

Good Apple Info Difficulty Rating:

No info. Expected easy or medium, unsure yet.

Tree Habit:

No info other than it excels at higher elevations.

Apple Color:

Striped and shaded with dull red; dots numerous, large, whitish, areolar. Flesh yellowish.

Size:

Large, roundish or slightly oblate, often oblique.

Flavor:

subacid – flesh is firm, juicy, fine grained, and  slightly aromatic.

Bloom:

Midseason

Ripe:

October

History:

“The Pilot Apple, a natural seedling of Nelson County, Virginia, is the great apple of all apples in our acquaintance. The tree is a magnificent grower, absolutely hardy. The fruit is large, handsomely formed and of the finest flavor, both for dessert and for cooking.” — Professor J. Dinwiddie of the University of Virginia in 1872.

Thought to be extinct, this multi-purpose apple was found by Tom Burford in 1989.

Storage:

Excellent, 5+ months.

Uses:

Fresh Eating, Cooking, Cider, Stores well.