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A flight test engineer (FTE) is an engineer involved in the flight testing of prototype aircraft or aircraft systems.
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A flight test engineer (FTE) is an engineer involved in the flight testing of prototype aircraft or aircraft systems.
The flight test engineer generally has overall responsibility for the planning of a specific flight test phase, which includes preparing the test plans in conjunction with other analytical and/or systems engineers, overseeing the buildup of the aircraft to the proper configuration, working with the flight test instrumentation engineer to ensure the sensors and recording systems are installed for required data parameters, and preparing the maneuver-by-maneuver plan for each test flight (enshrined typically in a higher level document called a "test plan" and then an operational document usually called the "test cards"). The FTE and the experimental test pilot are jointly responsible for the safety of the test flying. The FTE is also responsible for the overall analysis of the data acquired during a test flight. Finally, the flight test engineer will coordinate with specific analysis and/or systems engineers to write the final flight test report, documenting the results of a specific flight test phase.
The FTE may or may not fly on board the test aircraft, depending on the aircraft type or mission objectives. When not in the test aircraft, the FTE normally monitors the test in real-time via data transmitted to a special flight test data center. In this case, the FTE will be in radio contact with the test pilot along with the ground-based team, providing safety of flight monitoring and real-time data analysis.
Multiple test aircraft may be required on major aircraft development flight test programs. The test activities of all test aircraft must be coordinated by a senior flight test engineer. On complex test programs, it is also common for each test aircraft to have several FTEs assigned, each with a specific area of responsibility and testing.
Often a flight test engineer will be required to come up with techniques for monitoring a specific variable or system, which requires a bespoke piece of equipment to be fabricated. Owing to the specialized nature of the techniques in manufacturing and electronics involved, a flight test engineer is usually highly skilled and will have undergone in-depth training.
The flight test engineer may have a degree in aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering or cognitive science. A bachelor's degree is generally required, and a master's degree is recommended. Many university aerospace engineering departments offer elective flight test courses for those interested in this field of engineering.
The military services have formal training programs for experimental flight test pilots and flight test engineers. These training programs may be attended by selected military or government-employed civilian pilots and engineers. Most military test pilot schools combine pilot and engineers in one class, where they work together just as they would in the real world.
Flight Test Schools:
A number of Flight Test Schools offer degrees in flight test engineering:
While not required, many FTEs are also civilian or military rated pilots. Although FTEs do not actively control the aircraft during tests, this flight background is valuable in understanding flight operations.
Robert Franklyn "Bob" Overmyer was an American test pilot, naval aviator, aeronautical engineer, physicist, United States Marine Corps officer, and USAF/NASA astronaut. Overmyer was selected by the Air Force as an astronaut for its Manned Orbiting Laboratory in 1966. Upon cancellation of the program in 1969, he became a NASA astronaut and served support crew duties for the Apollo program, Skylab program, and Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. In 1976, he was assigned to the Space Shuttle program and flew as pilot on STS-5 in 1982 and as commander on STS-51-B in 1985. He was selected as a lead investigator into the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster in 1986, retiring from NASA that same year. A decade later, Overmyer died while testing the Cirrus VK-30 homebuilt aircraft.
The U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School 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 weapon systems and also other aircraft of the U.S. Air Force. This school was established on 9 September 1944 as the Flight Test Training Unit at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (AFB) in Dayton, Ohio. To take advantage of the uncongested skies, usually superb flying weather, and the lack of developed zones in the event of crashing, the test pilot school was officially moved to its present location at Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert of Southern California on 4 February 1951.
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.
École nationale de l'aviation civile (ENAC) is one of 205 colleges accredited to award engineering degrees in France. ENAC is designated as a grande école by the Conférence des Grandes écoles (CGE), a non-profit organisation which certifies and monitors grandes écoles. ENAC was founded on 28 August 1949 to provide initial and continuing education in the field of civil aviation. The school is an établissement public à caractère scientifique, culturel et professionnel, and operates under the oversight of the Ministry of Ecological Transition. Affiliated with the University of Toulouse and Aerospace Valley, it is one of the five founders of France AEROTECH.
Flight testing is a branch of aeronautical engineering that develops specialist equipment required for testing behaviour and systems of aircraft or testing the atmospheric phase of launch vehicles and reusable spacecraft. Instrumentation systems are developed using proprietary transducers and data acquisition systems. Data is sampled during the flight of an aircraft, or atmospheric testing of launch vehicles and reusable spacecraft. This data is validated for accuracy and analyzed to further modify the vehicle design during development, or to validate the design of the vehicle.
The Air Operations Branch is a personnel branch of the Canadian Forces (CF). All members of the branch wear the air force uniform.
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Kevin Anthony Ford is a retired United States Air Force Colonel and NASA astronaut. Ford has received a number of special honors and awards, some of which are the Air Force Meritorious Service Medal, Air Force Commendation Medal, Aerial Achievement Medal and the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal. Ford has also logged more than 6,100 flying hours and also holds FAA certificates for airplanes, helicopters, gliders, and balloons. Ford has served in many roles at NASA since his selection in July 2000. The roles include as a Capsule Communicator or CAPCOM. He was also the Director Of Operations at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia from January 2004 to January 2005. He was pilot of STS-128 and flight engineer 2 of Soyuz TMA-06M from October 23, 2012, to March 16, 2013. He served as ISS flight engineer for Expedition 33, and commander of Expedition 34.
Michael Timothy "Bueno" Good is a retired NASA astronaut, engineer and retired commissioned officer in the United States Air Force, holding the rank of Colonel. Mike Good flew aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis for its STS-125 mission. STS-125 was the final Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission. Good flew as mission specialist 2 to the International Space Station on STS-132.
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 trustees. NTPS is one of the seven test-pilot schools worldwide recognized by the international Society of Experimental Test Pilots, giving pilot graduates of NTPS instant initial acceptance into their society. In 2016, NTPS became the first test-pilot school in the world to be certified as a Flight Test Authorised Training Organisation by the European Aviation Safety Organization.
François Hussenot was a French engineer, credited with the invention of one of the early forms of the flight data recorder.
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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 similar, but deals with the electronics side of aerospace engineering.
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The International Test Pilots School 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. The school trains test pilots and flight test engineers. It is the first civilian test pilot school in Canada. ITPS Canada is registered as an Authorized Training Organization by the European Aviation Safety Agency. It shares some facilities with and neighbours the Jet Aircraft Museum at London International Airport.
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Anthea Comellini is an Italian aerospace engineer and reserve astronaut. Comellini completed a PhD on space rendezvous at the Institut Supérieur de l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace, in France, with aerospace company Thales Alenia Space in 2021. She then worked in space navigation operations for the European Space Agency, and the following year, was hired for research and development at Thales Alenia Space. She was chosen as a reserve astronaut in the European Astronaut Corps in 2022.