Originally Posted by
nodrama
I've been maintaining helicopters for over 20 yrs, military to begin with and civil for the last 10 (a few fix-wing types aswell). I'm an EASA licensed aircraft maintenance engineer.
Got a technical aerospace HNC and I'm just over a year into a part-time BSc (Hons) in aircraft maint engineering.
Love my job, especially the trouble-shooting/ fault-finding part of it, and the pay is alright, but have become more and more interested in the how & why & how could it be better of helicopter design.
I spent a short time at Boscombe doing rotorwing maintenance, a few years back now, and got a brief insight into the R & D there. I have met a few serving and x- ETPS TPs throughout my career who have impressed me with their knowledge and approach to the post maintenance flight tests we have been involved with together.
I may be a little too late in my career to take a road into flight test engineering, but I'm interested in it and looking to find out more about it.
Offering a personal opinion only - I'm not hiring!, maintenance qualifications and experience are valuable in that they show a strong understanding of the aircraft environment, and of aircraft systems. What you probably need to move into FTEing is something more genuinely academic. The BEng is a good basis, but being maintenance based lacks the specific analytical and reporting skills that are really fundamental to FT.
I'd suggest finishing off the BEng as fast as possible, then moving onto a good MSc - that, plus your obviously considerable experience, may well put you in the frame for FT jobs. Cranfield is probably the best first port of call for a high quality aerospace MSc, and their
Aerospace Dynamics MSc in particular is very highly regarded in the flight test world.
G