Originally Posted by
sunday driver
At his talk near here a couple of years ago, the question I should have asked was "What precautions did you use to enhance your chances of survival?"
I hear from the media that his checklist is still used by ETPS at Boscombe.
Sounds useful - if only it were readily available.
Any thoughts?
SD
I heard that interview, saying that his checklist was taught at ETPS and used by millions of test pilots around the world.
Well, for a start, there probably aren't millions of pilots around the world, let alone TPs. The Society of Experimental Test Pilots has, globally, about 5,000 members, of whom probably half are in current practice. Offhand, around half the test pilots I've known are SETP members - so 4-5,000 TPs practicing globally, is a reasonable estimate.
Secondly, I was a student at ETPS 20 years ago, and have no recollection of anything being attributed to EMwB. There's also no mention of such a thing in Darrol Stinton's book - DS was an ETPS tutor in the 1980s (possibly 1970s?, before my time anyhow).
Much as I am a huge admirer of Eric Brown, as were most of the world's flight test community - I believe that the chap being interviewed on R4 really didn't know what he was talking about (although, he did, at-least, correct the presenter who said that Captain Brown was an RAF pilot!).
What we did learn at ETPS was a methodology for getting yourself safely into a new cockpit quickly and efficiently. I realised some years later when I found myself having a lot to do with the late, great, Anne Welch, that it was basically a development of the system used in the WW2 ATA Ferry Pilots' notes.
G