by the seat of your pants

by the seat of (one's) pants

Without a clear plan or direction. Often used in the phrase "fly by the seat of (one's) pants." I know my parents think that I'm just flying by the seat of my pants ever since I dropped out of college, but I just signed with a record label and am launching my singing career!
See also: by, of, pant, seat
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

by the seat of your pants

by instinct rather than logic or knowledge. informal
This expression was first used by pilots in the mid 20th century, in the form fly by the seat of your pants , meaning ‘fly a plane by relying on human judgement rather than navigational instruments’.
1977 Martin Walker National Front Mussolini had governed by the seat of his pants, guided in part by his early Socialism, in part by his…bombastic nationalism.
See also: by, of, pant, seat
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

(fly) by the seat of your ˈpants

act without careful thought and without making a plan in advance, hoping that you will be lucky and successful: He made careful plans and then found that everything had changed at the last minute, so in the end he had to fly by the seat of his pants.This idiom was first used by pilots to describe flying by using the way the plane felt as a guide to its condition. The seat of your pants is the part of your trousers/pants that you sit on.
See also: by, of, pant, seat
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
See also:
  • by the seat of (one's) pants
  • by the seat of one's pants
  • by the seat of pants
  • seat
  • seat of the pants, by the
  • by the seat of the pants
  • poop (one's) pants
  • cream (one's) pants
  • cream one’s pants
  • crap (one's) pants
References in periodicals archive
Everything's come so quickly you've got to fly by the seat of your pants and hope you've covered everything, then come back later and give a second look.
Constructing new markets for spent foundry sand
If we had an independent Scotland you wouldn't be flying planes, you'd be flying by the seat of your pants."
Fury at RAF cuts 'joke'
So make sure voltage checks are done by the book, not by the seat of your pants.
The shock of your life
I have to say if we had an independent Scotland you wouldn't be flying planes, you'd be flying by the seat of your pants."
Lossie bashing for Nats
Performing preventive maintenance by memory is nothing more than maintenance by the seat of your pants, or maintenance on-the-fly, which ends up hit or miss.
Maintenance by memory
"This one, it's much more fly by the seat of your pants and less concentrated to one sound."
Just trying a new vibe