Lyneham Lad
4th Apr 2016, 12:54
Have not seen this posted, but if wrong please combine or delete.
OBITUARY: Edward Strongman – from air force to Airbus (https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/obituary-edward-strongman-from-air-force-to-airbu-423776/)
With a flight-test career which ran through five decades, Edward Strongman – known to all as Ed – amassed more than 11,000h at the controls of multiple aircraft types for the Royal Air Force, Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE), UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and Airbus.
Born in Cornwall in 1949, Strongman completed an engineering degree at the University of Bristol before beginning his career in aviation with the RAF. After completing his flying training, he spent five years as an operational pilot, including on the service’s newly-introduced Lockheed Martin C-130 tactical transport.
In 1979, he underwent test pilot training at the US Air Force’s Edwards AFB in California. On returning to the UK, he flew multiple transports, fighters and helicopters at RAE Bedford, where he worked until 1986.
After a post-military stint working as a certification pilot for the CAA, Strongman seized the opportunity to move to Airbus. He joined the European manufacturer’s flight-test team in 1995, initially as a project pilot on the A330 and A340 programmes. In April 2001, with Capt Claude Lelaie, he piloted the first A340-600, which at the time was the longest commercial aircraft in the world. He was also subsequently involved in the flight-test development campaign for its A380: the biggest.
But with his past experience as a Hercules pilot, it was little surprise that the former RAF officer would become involved in the poster project of the company’s Airbus Defence & Space unit: the A400M. Working as chief test pilot, military; Strongman threw himself into the activity, and on 11 December 2009 was at the controls as the first flight test example took to the air from the company’s Seville final assembly facility in Spain.
Following the 3h 45min flight, he hailed the A400M for its military handling, which he commented was “far more agile and manoeuvrable than a civil aeroplane”.
Click the link for the remainder of the obituary.
RIP
OBITUARY: Edward Strongman – from air force to Airbus (https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/obituary-edward-strongman-from-air-force-to-airbu-423776/)
With a flight-test career which ran through five decades, Edward Strongman – known to all as Ed – amassed more than 11,000h at the controls of multiple aircraft types for the Royal Air Force, Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE), UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and Airbus.
Born in Cornwall in 1949, Strongman completed an engineering degree at the University of Bristol before beginning his career in aviation with the RAF. After completing his flying training, he spent five years as an operational pilot, including on the service’s newly-introduced Lockheed Martin C-130 tactical transport.
In 1979, he underwent test pilot training at the US Air Force’s Edwards AFB in California. On returning to the UK, he flew multiple transports, fighters and helicopters at RAE Bedford, where he worked until 1986.
After a post-military stint working as a certification pilot for the CAA, Strongman seized the opportunity to move to Airbus. He joined the European manufacturer’s flight-test team in 1995, initially as a project pilot on the A330 and A340 programmes. In April 2001, with Capt Claude Lelaie, he piloted the first A340-600, which at the time was the longest commercial aircraft in the world. He was also subsequently involved in the flight-test development campaign for its A380: the biggest.
But with his past experience as a Hercules pilot, it was little surprise that the former RAF officer would become involved in the poster project of the company’s Airbus Defence & Space unit: the A400M. Working as chief test pilot, military; Strongman threw himself into the activity, and on 11 December 2009 was at the controls as the first flight test example took to the air from the company’s Seville final assembly facility in Spain.
Following the 3h 45min flight, he hailed the A400M for its military handling, which he commented was “far more agile and manoeuvrable than a civil aeroplane”.
Click the link for the remainder of the obituary.
RIP