Flight Testing vs Test Flying
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Posts: 62
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John Farley - I may need to explain myself a bit better. I am in favour of any professional being licensed/registered, the rest of the post was aiming to describe the difficulties that may arise, and why it may not be practicable. I would rather employ a professional with a recognisable licence/registration than one who has not, this applies to everyone from plumbers to brain surgeons. However, for FT, and probably other professions as well, any system may become so unwieldy and smothered in red tape that it would interfere with the job. This may also result in capable people not getting a licence (and therefore, a job), no matter how good they may be. I also did not mean that any foreign system would be a good basis for any new system, as my knowledge of other systems is so small as to be negligible.
In summary: I am in favour of licences, but believe that it will be too difficult to do without great cost (either excluding people or money).
Genghis - Totally agree, the core skills of test and evaluation will be the same, and ideally could form the basis of a licence. But if the licence is this simple, then the CV, log book and references way of doing it starts to look much easier, cheaper and much less complex.
Another point I have been thinking about, who would be the best people to administer the system? Should it be the CAA, or a voluntary 'code of practice' type arrangement run by SETP/SFTE? Either way it will cost money and pain when it's first implemented, and maybe for a long time after that.
Grey Area - Nicely put, I'll remember that one for future use if I may.
Marxism may sound like a great idea, but has anyone ever made it work successfully?
In summary: I am in favour of licences, but believe that it will be too difficult to do without great cost (either excluding people or money).
Genghis - Totally agree, the core skills of test and evaluation will be the same, and ideally could form the basis of a licence. But if the licence is this simple, then the CV, log book and references way of doing it starts to look much easier, cheaper and much less complex.
Another point I have been thinking about, who would be the best people to administer the system? Should it be the CAA, or a voluntary 'code of practice' type arrangement run by SETP/SFTE? Either way it will cost money and pain when it's first implemented, and maybe for a long time after that.
Grey Area - Nicely put, I'll remember that one for future use if I may.
Marxism may sound like a great idea, but has anyone ever made it work successfully?
Taking that forward, maybe the whole thing could be set up, voluntary and cheap.
Lets say SETP and SFTE were to get together and produce a "flight test logbook". It could list...
- Formal training
- A checklist of minimum criteria met to show basic competence in flight-test.
- Specific experience in FT management, types of testing, classes of aircraft, etc.
- Possibly even specific test sorties (that would have made filling out SETP's membership application a lot easier) categorised against experimental / cert / FT training, etc.
- Flight test reports produced by the holder.
Just like any other logbook, verifying signatures can be put in by organisation heads of flight test, etc.
It could be produced, put in the public domain and left for those who wish to, to use it, and those who don't, to find their own means of demonstrating competence to current or potential employers.
Would then the benefits justify the effort?
G
Lets say SETP and SFTE were to get together and produce a "flight test logbook". It could list...
- Formal training
- A checklist of minimum criteria met to show basic competence in flight-test.
- Specific experience in FT management, types of testing, classes of aircraft, etc.
- Possibly even specific test sorties (that would have made filling out SETP's membership application a lot easier) categorised against experimental / cert / FT training, etc.
- Flight test reports produced by the holder.
Just like any other logbook, verifying signatures can be put in by organisation heads of flight test, etc.
It could be produced, put in the public domain and left for those who wish to, to use it, and those who don't, to find their own means of demonstrating competence to current or potential employers.
Would then the benefits justify the effort?
G
Genghis,
Fine in theory but do you really want to increase the amount of paperwork and bureaucratic process? It would actually take up time that should be used towards carrying out ones flight test duties! It is all a question of priorities.
Rgds
L
Fine in theory but do you really want to increase the amount of paperwork and bureaucratic process? It would actually take up time that should be used towards carrying out ones flight test duties! It is all a question of priorities.
Rgds
L
As you say, it may all be nugatory effort. One might ask...
(1) Do FT employers have a problem finding and proving the competence of TPs and FTEs?
(2) Do FT professionals struggle to prove their competence and experience?
(3) Do people trying to break into the profession struggle to find means of achieving and demonstrating competence.
I suspect that the answer to (1) is not at the "high value" end of the industry, but more often at the "lower value" end, (2) is sometimes but it's not a major problem, and (3) is yes, but a licensing or logbook system alone won't solve that.
And again, anybody moving organisation within flight test is on a steep learning curve at the new organisation regardless of their experience, training and qualifications.
Is this a solution looking for a problem? I honestly don't know. One might ask the same about the various professional societies that we all belong to, but don't strictly need to.
G
(1) Do FT employers have a problem finding and proving the competence of TPs and FTEs?
(2) Do FT professionals struggle to prove their competence and experience?
(3) Do people trying to break into the profession struggle to find means of achieving and demonstrating competence.
I suspect that the answer to (1) is not at the "high value" end of the industry, but more often at the "lower value" end, (2) is sometimes but it's not a major problem, and (3) is yes, but a licensing or logbook system alone won't solve that.
And again, anybody moving organisation within flight test is on a steep learning curve at the new organisation regardless of their experience, training and qualifications.
Is this a solution looking for a problem? I honestly don't know. One might ask the same about the various professional societies that we all belong to, but don't strictly need to.
G
