Test Pilot
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A test pilot is an
aircraft pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...
with additional training to fly and evaluate experimental, newly produced and modified
aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines ...
with specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques.Stinton, Darrol. ''Flying Qualities and Flight Testing of the Airplane.'' American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc., 1996, p. 265


History

Test flying as a systematic activity started during the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, at the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) in the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
. An "Experimental Flight" was formed at the
Central Flying School The Central Flying School (CFS) is the Royal Air Force's primary institution for the training of military flying instructors. Established in 1912 at the Upavon Aerodrome, it is the longest existing flying training school. The school was based at ...
. During the 1920s, test flying was further developed by the RAE in the UK, and by the
National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) was a United States federal agency founded on March 3, 1915, to undertake, promote, and institutionalize aeronautical research. On October 1, 1958, the agency was dissolved and its assets ...
(NACA) in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. In the 1950s, NACA was transformed into the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, or NASA. During these years, as work was done into aircraft stability and handling qualities, test flying evolved towards a more qualitative scientific profession. In the 1950s, test pilots were being killed at the rate of about one a week, but the risks have shrunk to a fraction of that because of the maturation of aircraft technology, better ground-testing and simulation of aircraft performance,
fly-by-wire Fly-by-wire (FBW) is a system that replaces the conventional manual flight controls of an aircraft with an electronic interface. The movements of flight controls are converted to electronic signals transmitted by wires, and flight control ...
technology and, lately, the use of
unmanned aerial vehicle An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without any human pilot, crew, or passengers on board. UAVs are a component of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), which includes adding a ground-based controller ...
s to test experimental aircraft features. Still, piloting experimental aircraft remains more dangerous than most other types of flying. At the insistence of President
Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...
, the first American
astronauts An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...
, the
Mercury Seven The Mercury Seven were the group of seven astronauts selected to fly spacecraft for Project Mercury. They are also referred to as the Original Seven and Astronaut Group 1. Their names were publicly announced by NASA on April 9, 1959; these sev ...
, were all military test pilots, as were some of the later astronauts. The world's oldest test pilot school is what is now called the
Empire Test Pilots' School The Empire Test Pilots' School (ETPS) is a British training school for test pilots and flight test engineers of fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft at MoD Boscombe Down in Wiltshire, England. It was established in 1943, the first of its type ...
(motto "Learn to Test – Test to Learn"), at
RAF Boscombe Down MoD Boscombe Down ' is the home of a military aircraft testing site, on the southeastern outskirts of the town of Amesbury, Wiltshire, England. The site is managed by QinetiQ, the private defence company created as part of the breakup of the Def ...
in the UK. There are a number of similar establishments over the world. In America, the
United States Air Force Test Pilot School The U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School (USAF TPS) is the Air Force's advanced flight training school that trains experimental test pilots, flight test engineers, and flight test navigators to carry out tests and evaluations of new aerospace wea ...
is located at Edwards Air Force Base, the
United States Naval Test Pilot School The United States Naval Test Pilot School (USNTPS), located at Naval Air Station (NAS) Patuxent River in Patuxent River, Maryland, provides instruction to experienced United States Navy, Marine Corps, Army, Air Force, and foreign military experi ...
is located at
Naval Air Station Patuxent River Naval Air Station Patuxent River , also known as NAS Pax River, is a United States naval air station located in St. Mary’s County, Maryland, on the Chesapeake Bay near the mouth of the Patuxent River. It is home to Headquarters, Naval Air S ...
, Maryland and EPNER (''Ecole du Personnel Navigant d'Essai et de Reception'' – "School for flight test and acceptance personnel"), the French test pilot school, is located in
Istres Istres (; Occitan: Istre) is a commune in southern France, some 60 km (38 mi) northwest of Marseille. It is in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, of which it is a subprefecture. Location ...
, France. There are only two civilian schools; the
International Test Pilots School The International Test Pilots School Canada (ITPS Canada) located in London, Ontario, is one of the eight test pilot schools recognized globally by the international Society of Experimental Test Pilots and the Society of Flight Test Engineers. T ...
in
London, Ontario London (pronounced ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River, approximate ...
, and the
National Test Pilot School The National Test Pilot School (NTPS) is the only civilian test-pilot school in the United States, located in Mojave, California. It is organized as a not-for-profit educational institute under California state law and is governed by a board of ...
, a not-for-profit educational institute is in Mojave, California. In
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
, there is a Russian aviation industry
Fedotov Test Pilot School The Fedotov Test Pilot School or FTPS (''russian: link=no, Школа лётчиков-испытателей имени А. В. Федотова or russian: link=no, ШЛИ'') is one of two test pilot schools in Russia (the other one ...
(founded 1947) located in Zhukovsky within the
Gromov Flight Research Institute The Gromov Flight Research Institute or GFRI for short (russian: link=no, Лётно-исследовательский институт имени М. М. Громова, russian: link=no, ЛИИ) is an important Russian State Researc ...
.


Qualifications

*Understand a test plan *Stick to a test plan by flying a plane in a highly specific way *Carefully document the results of each test *Have an excellent feel for the aircraft and sense exactly how it is behaving oddly if it is doing so *Solve problems quickly if anything goes wrong with the aircraft during a test *Cope with many different things going wrong at once *Effectively communicate flight test observations to engineers and relate engineering results to the pilot community, thus bridging the gap between those who design and build aircraft with those who employ the aircraft to accomplish a mission *Have an excellent knowledge of
aeronautical engineering Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is sim ...
to understand how and why planes are tested. *Be above-average pilots with excellent
analytical skills Analytical skill is the ability to deconstruct information into smaller categories in order to draw conclusions. Analytical skill consists of categories that include logical reasoning, critical thinking, communication, research, data analysis and ...
and the ability to fly accurately while they follow a flight plan. Test pilots can be experimental and engineering test pilots (investigating the characteristics of new types of aircraft during development) or production test pilots (the more mundane role of confirming the characteristics of new aircraft as they come off the production line). Many test pilots would perform both roles during their careers. Modern test pilots often receive formal training from highly-selective military test pilot schools, but other test pilots receive training and experience from civilian institutions and/or manufacturers' test pilot development programs.


Notable test pilots

*
Eric "Winkle" Brown Captain Eric Melrose "Winkle" Brown, CBE, DSC, AFC, Hon FRAeS, RN (21 January 1919 – 21 February 2016) was a British Royal Navy officer and test pilot who flew 487 types of aircraft, more than anyone else in history. Brown holds the worl ...
, flew more types of aircraft than any other pilot *
Chuck Yeager Brigadier General Charles Elwood Yeager ( , February 13, 1923December 7, 2020) was a United States Air Force officer, flying ace, and record-setting test pilot who in October 1947 became the first pilot in history confirmed to have exceeded the ...
, first pilot to break the sound barrier *
Tony LeVier Anthony W. LeVier (February 14, 1913 – February 6, 1998) was an American air racer and test pilot for the Lockheed Corporation from the 1940s to the 1970s. Early life Born Anthony Puck in Duluth, Minnesota, his father died while he was still ...
, chief engineering test pilot at Lockheed Corporation *
Scott Crossfield Albert Scott Crossfield (October 2, 1921 – April 19, 2006) was an American naval officer and test pilot. In 1953, he became the first pilot to fly at twice the speed of sound. Crossfield was the first of twelve pilots who flew the North America ...
, chief engineering test pilot at North American Engineering * David P. Davies, chief test pilot for the United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority


See also

*
List of aerospace flight test centres Flight test centers around the world all have similar missions: to conduct flight research and testing of new aircraft concepts and prototypes. Notable centers are listed below (by year of foundation): Government establishments * U.K. Aeroplane an ...
* '' The Right Stuff'' by Tom Wolfe


References


Notes


Bibliography

* Hallion, Richard P.''Test Pilots: Frontiersmen of Flight''. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Press, 1988. * Warsitz, Lutz: ''THE FIRST JET PILOT – The Story of German Test Pilot Erich Warsitz'', Pen and Sword Books Ltd., England, 2009,


External links


The Society of Experimental Test PilotsSociety of Flight Test EngineersWilson, George C. ''Flying the edge : the making of Navy test pilots''
Naval Institute Press, 1992. -
Memorial website for test pilots who died in flying accidents in the UK
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20101118084001/http://scottcrossfieldfoundation.org/ The Scott Crossfield Foundationbr>website on Erich Warsitz (world’s first jet pilot)
{{Authority control Occupations in aviation