Okay, sorry to have been so awkward, but the answer isn't a straightforward one. I'll attempt to kick-off, and hopefully others will add their own slant on this.
First thing, in UK civil aviation there is no such thing as a Test Pilots License. Companies or organisations doing flight testing (with one exception, which I'll ignore since it's not relevant to this discussion) have something called B-conditions. B-conditions is permission from the CAA to fly aircraft without a valid CofA. To get B-conditions you have to submit to the CAA what is called an "Exposition", which is basically a rulebook saying who can do what and how they'll do it. If you've worked in Engineering you may have heard the term "Quality Manual", it's basically the same thing.
TPs are approved by the CAA as part of that exposition. So to get approval as a TP, you need to first convince the company that you're competent, then with them convince the CAA. You then get approved as a TP within the exposition.
So how do you get to this point? Well the most common route is to be an ETPS graduate - that's clearly not available to you. The next most common route is via significant experience as an FTE - that is Flight Test Engineer, who also holds a suitable license; your CPL/IR will cover the license part admirably. To get work as an FTE you probably need a degree in Aeronautics or something pretty similar and get a job within a flight test department. 2+ years in that role (and your CPL) and they *may* start to let you handle the controls on test flights, a couple more years and you *may* be in a position to look towards approval and slide into the left hand seat.
If I give the impression here that being a TP is an extension on being an Engineer, that's deliberate. In this part of the industry that's largely true. You'll find the situation is similar in the US and most other European countries, France and Germany are a bit more regulated and you do need a license, but frankly the route in is very similar. (It's the route I took, although I'm still primarily an Engineer and even now only do about 80hrs pa of left hand seat test flying).
Places to get an aeronautics degree are well known, but if you want steers or contacts, ask. Companies doing part 23 flight test work in the UK are, frankly, limited. Here's (I think) the complete list (in no particular order):-
- Qinetiq (who will only employ ETPS graduates as TPs but have oodles of openings as an FTE, mostly at Boscombe Down. They also put some FTEs through the ETPS FTE course, which is incredibly valuable.)
- Britten-Norman
- Slingsby
- Flight Refuelling Aviation
- PFA
The latter is an oddball, they use a strange mix of retired military TPs, CPLs and even high hour PPLs, with only very limited assessment and training. So, there's a route in there to gain experience, but little or no money to be made.
Similarly, although below the part 23 bracket, the BMAA has a formal training and exam system for microlight TPs (take a look at
http://www.avnet.co.uk/bmaa/014.pdf) which would give you a route in - but one which may (unfairly in my opinion, but I have a personal bias) not be all that highly regarded elsewhere. From the current issue of their magazine, I gather they're running a course in February if your 500 hours includes 100+ microlight hours it might be worth looking at.
Aside from all this, there is a beast called a "Check Pilot", that is somebody allowed to conduct regular CofA or permit air tests. The qualifications for this vary, and the remuneration again somewhat limited. If you want to look at this, if only as a means to gain experience in flight test practices, you need variously to contact CAA Flight Test Dept, PFA Engineering or the BMAA Technical Office who will respectively advise you.
At which point, I think I've given as much useful advice as I reasonably can. Over to the old and bold to add their own....
G
N.B. I saw on a notice board the other day "There are old pilots, and bold pilots, but the old and bold pilots have kept themselves very current."
N.B.B. Couple of websites to look at:-
http://www.setp.org/
http://trc.dfrc.nasa.gov/ftintro/
http://www.generalaviation.org/downl...Guide-Text.pdf (Long one this, but incredibly useful)
N.B.B.B. I'm trying to be realistic, but don't let me put you off; getting into flight testing took most of us years of dedication, and grief. But there's no more interesting job in aviation, for either an Engineer or a Pilot.