Come to think of it the only time we are ever even really shown Anakin’s great piloting skills in a real dog fight on screen is in ANH as Vader in the suit during the Death Star battle… when he wasn’t even written into the part of being Luke’s father yet… How sad is that.
Winning the Podrace, destroying the Trade Federation Command Centre, Battle of Coruscant? Or are you just referring to the OT? Because in that case that line about his skills was referring to a then dead character to set-up Luke having inherited his skills, hence justifying Luke’s sudden piloting skills during the Death Star attack at the end of ANH.
I did say in a dog fight did I not? Sure he drives the podracer pretty well, but I don’t think that really qualifies as showing him as “the best star pilot in the galaxy”. What did he do in the Trade Federation battle other than that neat little spinning trick… he was a little kid who just kind of lucked into destroying the command center no? What does he do in the battle of Corsuscant? I can’t really recall much besides getting some buzz droids on his ship and crashing into a hangar.
The way Vader surgically disposes of the rebel fighters in the first Death Star battle is far cooler than anything we see Anakin doing in the prequels… I always imagined him doing something similar before his turn with him coming to save the day for the good guys. I remember my first viewing of ROTS thinking we were finally going to get something like it in that battle at the beginning and just ended up being extremely disappointed.
It is just funny is all that in my mind his best moments as a “star pilot” comes from scenes when he wasn’t even intended to be the same character and that nothing even came close in the 3 movies where he was intended to be shown as that great pilot that Obi-Wan referenced.
So yes it is sad that the Vader we see in ANH better presents the qualities of Luke’s father that Obi-Wan speaks of when it is a complete coincidence given that he was a separate character at the time. It just shows how much the prequels failed to deliver on expectations.