There was a time before test pilot schools when pilots became ‘test pilots’ and engineers became ‘test engineers’ by experience. Some gained test knowledge by trial and error, some by apprenticeship and others by mentorship. The test pilot schools have formalized, standardized and accelerated this process of acquiring flight test knowledge but a test pilot school is not the only way to acquire flight test knowledge.
A certificate or diploma from a recognized or accepted test pilot school is a solid foundation on which to build a career in flight test but it does not, in and of itself, a test pilot make. A test pilot school is a structured and controlled environment-a safe place to acquire knowledge and skill under watchful and experienced eyes. The real world of flight test is a different environment and most test pilot school graduates require additional training and knowledge to complete their metamorphosis.
A single training and experience standard to be involved in the flight testing of aircraft seems like a good idea but different services have different requirements; different countries have different standards. Manufacturers strive to discover new and improved methods in every aspect of design and flight test. In-breeding in any species can have negative aspects and flight test is no different.
We do not need more examinations. There is no examination that can definitively predict who is qualified to be a test pilot. Nor should there be a single standard to be considered a test pilot. More than a few manufacturers’ test pilots believe that military test pilots should not be considered test pilots because they are not involved in the full design and test process. There are experienced test pilots who are of the opinion that unless you have been assigned the project pilot or project engineer for at least one successful first flight of an original design aircraft you are not a real test pilot or test engineer. Few test pilot school graduates would qualify as ‘test pilot’ or ‘test engineer’ if these unique criteria were applied.
Before the flight test community advocates tests and special certificates we should first consider carefully what we hope to achieve. Will an exclusive test pilot club whose only entry requirement is a certificate from an approved school lead to improved standards, methods and procedures for the safe and accurate quantitative and qualitative measurements necessary in flight test?