Originally Posted by deptrai
Regarding the "qualified test pilot non-debate". There's always been more or less subtle conflicts between pilots with different backgrounds. Hearsay has it that Chuck Yeager questioned Neil Armstrong's abilities because he was not only a pilot, but also a qualified engineer. (and to the best of my knowledge, none of of them attended any "test pilot school"). If the scaled pilots were not qualified, I have no doubt at all that the NTSB will uncover that. If there ever was a red herring, the question about the pilots qualifications is a prime example.
I think you'll find they did. As an example, according to Michael Collins' autobiography, he attended "Class 60-C, USAF Experimental Flight Test Pilot School, commencing 29 August 60, course duration 32 weeks".
AFAIK all the early test pilots and astronauts took a similar route.