Originally Posted by
SpringHeeledJack
Just out of interest, in case anybody might know, the Marshall's test pilots/engineers are the ones flying all the various MIL C-130;s that go through Cambridge every year agreed ? That being the case, it is probably likely that no civilian is allowed to fly MIL aircraft in many of these client country's Air Forces, correct ? That being the case, how does it work for anything more than static engine/systems testing ? Do the aircraft lose their MIL-status as soon as they go into Mx, or is there some other workaround ?
Interesting question.
In the case of the USMC C-130s, I'd be surprised if there was any requirement to fly the aircraft between its arrival and eventual departure.
Even heavy checks don't typically need an airtest - in the days when I was hands-on with such activities, the only such flights that I can recall were very occasional ones where a fault couldn't be reproduced on the ground and a memorable one (which I hitched a ride on) after a tailplane was replaced on a Viscount (which, for reasons I never understood, involved doing stalls and engine shutdowns, probably just because the crew couldn't resist the opportunity and I certainly wasn't about to shop them
).