Empire Test Pilot's School
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The Empire Test Pilots' School (ETPS) is a British training school for
test pilot A test pilot is an aircraft pilot with additional training to fly and evaluate experimental, newly produced and modified aircraft with specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques.Stinton, Darrol. ''Flying Qualities and Flight Testin ...
s and
flight test engineer A flight test engineer (FTE) is an engineer involved in the flight testing of prototype aircraft or aircraft systems. Overview The flight test engineer generally has overall responsibility for the planning of a specific flight test phase, which i ...
s of
fixed-wing A fixed-wing aircraft is a heavier-than-air aircraft, such as an airplane, which is capable of flight using Lift (force), aerodynamic lift. Fixed-wing aircraft are distinct from rotorcraft, rotary-wing aircraft (in which a Helicopter rotor, r ...
and
rotary-wing A rotary-wing aircraft, rotorwing aircraft or rotorcraft is a heavier-than-air aircraft with rotor wing, rotary wings that spin around a vertical mast to generate lift (force), lift. Part 1 (Definitions and Abbreviations) of Subchapter A of Chapt ...
aircraft at
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Boscombe Down MOD Boscombe Down ' is the home of a military aircraft testing site, on the south-eastern 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 D ...
in Wiltshire, England. It was established in 1943, the first of its type. The school moved to RAF Cranfield in October 1945, then to the
Royal Aircraft Establishment The Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) was a British research establishment, known by several different names during its history, that eventually came under the aegis of the Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), bef ...
, Farnborough in July 1947, before returning to Boscombe Down on 29 January 1968. Its motto is "Learn to test; test to learn". ETPS is run by the MoD and
defence contractor A defense contractor is a business organization or individual that provides products or services to a military or intelligence department of a government. Products typically include military or civilian aircraft, ships, vehicles, weaponry, and ...
QinetiQ QinetiQ ( as in '' kinetic'') is a British defence technology company headquartered in Farnborough, Hampshire. It operates primarily in the defence, security and critical national infrastructure markets and run testing and evaluation capabili ...
under a long-term agreement.


History

In 1943, Air Marshal Sir Ralph Sorley, Controller, Research and Development,
Ministry of Aircraft Production Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian mi ...
, formed the "Test Pilots' Training Flight" at
RAF Boscombe Down MOD Boscombe Down ' is the home of a military aircraft testing site, on the south-eastern 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 D ...
after many pilots died testing the many new aircraft introduced during the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. On 21 June 1943, the unit became the ''Test Pilots' School'' within the
Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment The Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE) was a research facility for British military aviation from 1918 to 1992. Established at Martlesham Heath, Suffolk, the unit moved in 1939 to Boscombe Down, Wiltshire, where its wo ...
(A&AEE) at Boscombe Down. The school was "to provide suitably trained pilots for testing duties in aeronautical research and development establishments within the service and the industry". It graduated one group of students, the Number 1 Course, which began in mid-1943 and formally ended on 29 February 1944, before the school's name was changed to the "Empire Test Pilots' School" (ETPS) on 28 July 1944. The first training course, held by the Commandant,
Wing Commander Wing commander (Wg Cdr or W/C) is a senior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Wing commander is immediately se ...
Samuel "Sammy" Wroath with G. Maclaren Humphreys, a civilian, as Technical Instructor, was initially attended by 18 pilots, drawn largely from the
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...
(RAF) and the
Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is the naval aviation component of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy (RN). The FAA is one of five :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, RN fighting arms. it is a primarily helicopter force, though also operating the Lockhee ...
of the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
but included three civilian attendees (all from the
Bristol Aeroplane Company The Bristol Aeroplane Company, originally the British and Colonial Aeroplane Company, was both one of the first and one of the most important British aviation companies, designing and manufacturing both airframes and aircraft engines. Notable ...
). Five students found the standard of maths required on the course to be too high and left within the first week; the 13 students who completed the first course comprised 11 from the RAF (including one American, Sqn Ldr JC Nelson, who was serving with one of the
Eagle Squadrons The Eagle Squadrons were three fighter squadrons of the Royal Air Force (RAF) formed with volunteer pilots from the United States during the early days of World War II (1940), prior to the United States' entry into the war in December 1941. ...
) and two from the FAA. Of those who attended No. 1 Course, five eventually died testing aircraft. Due to the rapid growth of the A&AEE, at Boscombe Down, the school moved to RAF Cranfield in October 1945. On 12 July 1947, it was attached to the
Royal Aircraft Establishment The Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) was a British research establishment, known by several different names during its history, that eventually came under the aegis of the Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), bef ...
, Farnborough, where it remained for almost 21 years, flying a wide variety of aircraft types, before returning to Boscombe Down on 29 January 1968. Until 1963, the course catered to both fixed-wing and rotary-wing pilots, with the latter specializing late in the course. In 1963, a separate rotary-wing course was established, followed in 1974 by a course for
Flight test engineer A flight test engineer (FTE) is an engineer involved in the flight testing of prototype aircraft or aircraft systems. Overview The flight test engineer generally has overall responsibility for the planning of a specific flight test phase, which i ...
s. The school also offers a number of short courses "to meet specific Air Test and Evaluation (AT&E) training needs of the wider flight test community". In 2001, ETPS was included with those research departments sold off by the Government to Carlyle Group during the formation of QinetiQ. It is now a partnership between QinetiQ and the UK MoD. The Empire Test Pilots' School was the first of its kind, and was soon followed by other similar schools, such as the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School at
Edwards Air Force Base Edwards Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force installation in California. Most of the base sits in Kern County, California, Kern County, but its eastern end is in San Bernardino County, California, San Bernardino County and a souther ...
, California in 1944, 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 experim ...
in
Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...
in 1945 and the EPNER in France (École du Personnel Navigant d'Essais et de Réception) in 1946. Other schools in India (
Indian Air Force Test Pilot School The Indian Air Force Test Pilot School is a unit of the Indian Air Force (IAF) that evaluates aircraft and systems for induction into user organisations. Most new aircraft types and major airborne systems must have ASTE's stamp of approval to b ...
in
Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...
) and Japan were established in later years. Some of these schools operate exchange programmes, which expand the variety of aircraft the students have available to them for gaining flight test experience. In addition to such student exchanges, British, French and American schools share access to their aircraft, so that students can experience a wider range of aircraft types during their respective courses.


ETPS commandants

Commandants' names prior to 1968 from the ETPS 25th anniversary brochure; 1968–88, from Wing Commander "Robby" Robinson's "Tester Zero One". The term "Commandant" was succeeded in 1976 by "Chief Instructor" and in 1980 by "Officer Commanding".


Aircraft

The Empire Test Pilots' School fleet consists of the following aircraft: In the past the school has operated: BAe Hawk T.1 XX343,
Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet The Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet is a attack aircraft, light attack jet aircraft, jet and advanced jet trainer co-manufactured by Dassault Aviation of France and Dornier Flugzeugwerke of Germany. It was developed specifically to perform trainer a ...
,
Hawker Siddeley Andover The Hawker Siddeley HS 780 Andover is a twin-engined turboprop military transport aircraft produced by Hawker Siddeley for the Royal Air Force (RAF), developed from the Avro-designed HS 748 airliner. The Andover was named after the Avro Ando ...
XS606, Beagle Basset,
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,
North American Harvard The North American Aviation T-6 Texan is an American single-engined advanced trainer aircraft, which was used to train pilots of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), United States Air Force (USAF), United States Navy, Royal Air Force, Ro ...
,
SEPECAT Jaguar The SEPECAT Jaguar is a British-French supersonic jet attack aircraft originally used by the British Royal Air Force and the French Air Force in the close air support and nuclear strike role. As of 2025, the Jaguar remains in service with the ...
,
Westland Lynx The Westland Lynx is a British multi-purpose twin-engined military helicopter designed and built by Westland Helicopters at its factory in Yeovil. Originally intended as a utility craft for both civil and naval usage, military interest led to t ...
,
Westland Sea King The Westland WS-61 Sea King is a British licence-built version of the American Sikorsky S-61 helicopter of the same name, built by Westland Helicopters. The aircraft differs considerably from the American version, with Rolls-Royce Gnome eng ...
,
Panavia Tornado The Panavia Tornado is a family of twin-engine, variable-sweep wing multi-role combat aircraft, jointly developed and manufactured by Italy, the United Kingdom and Germany. There are three primary #Variants, Tornado variants: the Tornado IDS ...
, Short Tucano, Eurocopter Squirrel, Bell 412, Bell 205, Saab Gripen.


ETPS graduates

ETPS graduates who have made significant contributions to aviation and/or space exploration. To collapse the expanded table, click on "hide"; to expand the collapsed table, click on "show" in the Name column header.


Course trophies and awards

Recipients' names prior to 1968 are taken from the ETPS 25th anniversary brochure. Others up to and including 1983, unless otherwise stated, from . In the tables of trophy winners the following abbreviation are used in the course names: * FW:  Fixed wing * RW:  Rotary wing * FTE: Flight test engineer Legend
The individual was killed in an aviation accident.


McKenna Trophy

In memory of the second Commandant of the School, Group Captain JFX McKenna, AFC, killed in a flying accident while serving in that post. . Initially the school awarded the McKenna Trophy to the best fixed-wing student, but it is now open to the rotary-wing course as well. To expand the collapsed table, click on "show" in the Year column header; to collapse again, choose "hide".


Edwards Trophy

This trophy is awarded by the
Edwards Air Force Base Edwards Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force installation in California. Most of the base sits in Kern County, California, Kern County, but its eastern end is in San Bernardino County, California, San Bernardino County and a souther ...
in California to the student who makes the greatest progress on the course. To expand the collapsed table, click on "show" in the Year column header; to collapse the expanded table, click on "hide".


Hawker Hunter Trophy

This trophy, a model of the
Hawker Hunter The Hawker Hunter is a transonic British jet propulsion, jet-powered fighter aircraft that was developed by Hawker Aircraft for the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It was designed to take advantage of the newly dev ...
, was first awarded in 1960 by the
Hawker Aircraft Hawker Aircraft Limited was a British aircraft manufacturer that was responsible for some of the most famous products in British aviation history. History Hawker had its roots in the aftermath of the First World War, which resulted in the ban ...
Company to the student who wrote the best Preview Handling report on the course. Since 1966 syndicates of two or three students have carried out the Preview Exercise; the trophy is awarded to the best team. To expand the collapsed table, click on "show" in the Year column header; to collapse again, click on "hide".


Patuxent Shield

This trophy, instituted in 1961, is awarded by the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School,
Patuxent River The Patuxent River is a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay in the state of Maryland. There are three main river drainages for central Maryland: the Potomac River to the west passing through Washington, D.C., the Patapsco River to the northeas ...
, to the runner-up for the McKenna Trophy. To expand the collapsed table, click on "show" in the Year column header; to collapse again, click on "hide".


Westland Trophy

The Westland Trophy, originally presented by Westland Aircraft Limited in 1963, is awarded to the best all-round student on the Rotary Wing Course. To expand the collapsed table, click on "show" in the Year column header; to collapse again, click on "hide".


Sir Alan Cobham Award

Presented to ETPS in 1974 by Michael Cobham, son of Sir Alan Cobham, this trophy is awarded to the fixed wing student who demonstrates the highest standard of flying during the course. The trophy is a silver model of a Short Singapore II flying-boat, which was originally awarded to Sir Alan and his wife in 1928 "in commemoration of their epic circuit of Africa flight in 1927 in such a flying-boat". To expand the collapsed table, click on "show" in the Year column header; to collapse the expanded table, click on "hide".


Dunlop Trophy

The Dunlop Trophy, initially awarded by the
Dunlop Rubber Dunlop Ltd. (formerly Dunlop Rubber) was a British multinational company involved in the manufacture of various natural rubber goods. Its business was founded in 1889 by Harvey du Cros and he involved John Boyd Dunlop who had re-invented and ...
company in 1974, is awarded to the best student on each Flight Test Engineers' course. To expand the collapsed table, click on "show" in the Year column header; to collapse the expanded table, click on "hide".


See also

*
List of test pilot schools There are several test pilot schools around the world, formed after the example of the original Empire Test Pilots' School in the UK with mission to train already experienced pilots and engineers to test new and experimental aircraft (listed below ...
* Rotary Wing Test Squadron *
Boscombe Down MOD Boscombe Down ' is the home of a military aircraft testing site, on the south-eastern 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 D ...


References


Notes


Citations


Bibliography

* , 68 pp. * * * . * . * . * .


External links

* * .
QinetiQ
* . * . The Indian Air Force's flight evaluation and test training school, Bangalore. * . * on the purpose and practice of the ETPS. {{Authority control Air force test units and formations Educational institutions established in 1943 1943 establishments in England Test pilot schools