Becoming a Test Pilot
 

Hello all,

First off I'm unsure whether this should go in the Wannabes forum or here, but I placed it here since it seems the majority of the wannabes forum is oriented towards airline careers. Apologies if it is in the wrong place.

Also, I've had a good look at the FAQ sticky and I've gained some good info from there, though most of it seems circa 2003-2005 so I was wondering how much has changed.

I'm in my very early twenties, and I was wondering if anyone could give me any additional pointers on how to become a civilian test pilot. The military route is unfortunately not an option, since the RAF aircrew door has been understandably shut because I had some very mild, very infrequent wheeziness as a kid - diagnosed as childhood asthma. I'm unsure whether that would also 'close the door' to being a test pilot. I'm still looking to get some military experience whether that's through the RAF reserves or Uni Air Squadron.

It seems to me that the route
Engineering Degree BEng/MEng >> FTE >> Build Hours and gain CPL/ other additional licences >>> Test Pilot
seems to be the way that's recommended here. Would that be true? Are there other courses available nowadays?

I realise it's an incredibly difficult thing to do, and there are no guarantees, the path I've set out above is just a kind of 'ideal scenario' I've put together from reading the older posts on the subject.

I've looked at various test pilot schools and it seems like you need a minimum of 750 hours turbine time for most, and a sponsorship from a company that will put you through the course and employ you.

I've tried to research quite a few careers in aviation and this seems to be the toughest one to gain information on! I'm basically looking for any advice, all advice is appreciated and if people require further info about me/qualifications or want to discuss it further I'd be happy to send you my email via PM. Thanks.

Inquisitiv,
Firstly I should state that I'm not a pilot but was in civilian Flight Test for close to twenty five years. The route you mapped out is probably the only one I've seen that can lead to a TP position but, as you say, it's a very slim chance to succeed that way. If you've done the research, you should also have realised that for every TP there are many more members of the test team, all of whom must do their job correctly to complete the required testing and achieve the certification of an aircraft. It can be a very satisfying experience to be part of the team even if you're not sitting up front.
Bear in mind that, even if by some miracle, you could follow the military path, you're up against a one in thousand or more chance to get an entry to ETPS, AX, Pax River or Edwards. I've been privileged to work with some of these (some graduates of more than one) and they are both exceptional pilots and analytical engineers.

Iflier, welcome. As said, you've set the bar really high for yourself. I would never want to say that something can't be done, maybe it can. But the competition for a TP position is big, and there are many very well qualified and experienced pilots from whom to draw.

I have worked and flown with quite a few test pilots. Each one I can think of was chosen, rather than choosing that role. The test flying I have done similarly found me, rather than me applying for it. I was proposed as being the most suitable person based upon my experience. For my experience, there is not a tremendous amount of work out there for many test pilots, and I know a few who have retired, or gone back to commercial, to keep earning. For myself, I would only fly 20 to 40 hours a year of flight test. The rest of my flying is recreational, or personal transportation. You can't make a living, much less return the investment in training, on 40 hours a year of working that job.... My success has come from flying types which are little known to the ex military TP's (like floats and taildraggers).

So you have to have the piloting experience first. For what I have seen, several thousand hours on the class of aircraft for civil test flying. And you'll need a keen awareness of the test methods and certification criteria. Start reading the books on the sticky thread in this forum.

It can be done, but you'll have to put so much into it, you may not be able to see the end point for a while, as you work toward it.... But everything starts somewhere...

As a mentor used to say: "It's amazing what you can do, when you don't know what you can't do!".

Inquistive,

Afraid to say in the UK any Flight testing on CS25, or twin CS23 seems to be the reserve of the ex-military (ex ETPS).

I have seen several examples in the US and Canada where Aero Engineering Degree, CPL/IR and FTE position can lead to the position of Test Pilot.


The only Test Pilots from a pure civilian background I know of in the UK are at the LAA/home build level. One of those even had FTE training at ETPS.

The FEEs to self sponsor at NTPS even if you get the flight experience are prohibitive.

Realistically I always found as a pure civvy I had to choose between flying commercially or becoming an FTE. I think I would have preferred FTE over commercial flying.

Your best chance of becoming an FTE is probably getting into QinetiQ.

Pretty much.

I have bits of paper saying that I am a TP, and am in current practice. I took the degree --> FTE --> CPL route sliding slowly but not entirely from back to front seat along the way, and am quite proud of where I've got.

However, I have never flown as TP anything above 1500kg - I might get to 5700kg but have no real expectation of ever assessing part 25 aircraft as a pilot (as an FTE certainly, I have many times, similarly various military aircraft) and it's been far more a skillset feeding my overall work in Aeronautics. I make a very comfortable living doing the various things that I do - but realistically fly 20 hours test piloting in a good year - I might have managed 40 hours test piloting on a couple of exceptional years.. It isn't viable as a main job - even for the majority of ex military people.

Come and join us in FT - it's a fantastic place to work, and you can make it as a TP on part 23 and lighter. But not in Europe, as a full time TP or in part 25 aircraft, without the military TP background. [In theory you could, but the number of people I've met who have done so are absolutely tiny.] On the other hand, within a broader aerospace engineering career, it is incredibly rewarding. It's also, needless to say, pretty tough to get into, so you'll really need to want to be here.

G

Inquistivflyer

Have you done much research into what a test pilot actually does ? I mean "the typical day in the life of" what it is like to be test pilot.

I am not a test pilot myself but I have participated in a formal test flying program. The company I used to work for converted a large T - Prop airliner for the aerial forest fire suppression mission by fitting a large external tank to carry fire retardant plus other mods.

After a fully qualified test pilot crew did the initial flights and cleared the flight envelope I acted as an FO for the rest of the test program. This was required to gather all the data required to redo the AFM performance charts as well as confirm compliance with the performance requirements of the certification regime it was to be operated under.

It was a week of long days and frankly was pretty tedious. We spent hours and hours flying around gathering data one test point a time. After we recorded the numbers at the test point we then changing something ( eg speed/power/altitude etc) and then noted the new data. This was done for hundreds of test points.

I do quite a bit of flight instructing and my experience is non pilots arrive with a preconceived notion of where they want to take their flying career but many find other directions actually end up more appealing to them after they gain experience.

My advice is get an aeronautical engineering degree. Regardless of how life turns out for you an engineering background is a good thing to have. Go learn to fly and see where that takes you. If test flying is in your future it will find you not the other way around.....

Thanks
 

Wow, and here I was thinking this looked like a less-active subforum! Thanks to everyone for the replies, realistic advice, encouragement and confirming some of what I had said.

I guess if I head down this route my work really is cut out for me - not necessarily a bad thing. My difficulty now is really making the decision whether I proceed or not.

I'm passionate about aviation, and I'd love a job which focuses on it. Getting a commercial flying job is really appealing to me but I feel flying the big jets I'd miss getting my teeth into the sort of engineering style 'problems' (for lack of a better word) you might tackle as part of a flight testing team, working with some very talented engineers/pilots. Most of you have mentioned working as an FTE of some sort so I'm sure you'll understand.

But then when I think about becoming a FTE, I'd miss a lot of the aspects that come with commercial flying. Agh, it's a tough one when you factor in the financial outlay in both cases.

ICT_SLB, I definitely need to keep the team thing in mind, I'm very much a team player but I can get a bit focussed on wanting to fly.

Pilot DAR, Yeah actually admittedly I hadn't considered that even with a 'TP job' you might not have enough hours to make a living. Genghis touched on this too, thanks.

portsharbourflyer This is the exact decision I feel I need to make too, and it isn't easy! Why do you think you prefer FTE?

Genghis the Engineer, your job sounds excellent but thanks for the realistic advice on the hours you get as TP. I hadn't fully considered it could be that low, something to think about.

Big Pistons Forever, I have to say I really like this piece of advice
"I do quite a bit of flight instructing and my experience is non pilots arrive with a preconceived notion of where they want to take their flying career but the majority find other directions actually end up more appealing to them after they gain experience."

I know that's really what I need to do, but with the majority of the FO jobs on the commercial circuit seemingly being filled by cadets from places like CTC/oxford I almost feel I need to make a decision before I begin. :hmm:

Also best to keep in mind the realities of a job like you said.


Apologies for the long post, but yeah thanks very much for the replies. It's a tough one.

BPF makes a valid point about what TPing is really like. I'd be interested in DAR's numbers, but at a rough guess I'd say that for every 90 minute test flight, I probably do 2-3 days of preparation, and at-least half a day of reporting and analysis. When I was an FTE it was several times that. Military TPs or people in big FT departments *might* half the prep time because of the larger teams sat behind them.

Also it's important to realise that a CPL and BEng are only part of the education and training needed to do the job - there's a lot more to learn on top of that. There are some good books that'll give you an idea of the material - Stinton and Askew are probably the best, but you can find FAA's AC90-89 online for free, which will give you a good idea.

It's a great job, and can be pretty intensive - but actually flying an aeroplane is quite a small part of the whole.

I actually do around 100 hours per year, but the bulk is training, getting somewhere in an aeroplane, or instructing.

G

Iflier et al,
Just to give you an idea of the timeline and what's required for a typical flight test mission.
About 6 months before: Certification Plan including test requirements written by DER/DAD and sent to Authority for review & comment.
At least one month before: Test Procedure written by System Engineer (often preceded by Rig testing but that's another story). Reviewed & signed off by DER/DAD, FTE (and TP or Safety Officer if potentially hazardous).
At least two weeks before: Flight Test Plan written by FTE including Hazard Analysis/Risk Mitigation if needed. Signed off as Test Procedure.
Day of Test:
Aircraft Status Briefing by Aircraft Controller/Maintenance Lead followed by Flight (Test Plan) briefing by FTE. This attended by PIC, Co-Pilot, FTE(s), System Engineers, Vendor Representatives plus, if required, ground or telemetry room staff - can last up to two hours.
Actual flight (three - four hours)
Debrief - snags for Maintenance, outline of flight followed by detailed review of each test point (if required) with Q & A from engineers.
Post-Flight (immediate to two weeks after)
Formal Flight Log & Report including relevant Aircraft Configuration written up & filed by FTE (may also require pilot input if handling or flight qualities related).
Analysis of recorded data and assessment of test success or failure by engineer or vendor rep. If failure, engineers will need to ascertain what exactly caused the problem and come up with a fix, which will need to be retested.
Test Report written by system engineer or vendor. This is then reviewed by DER/DAD and full report or summary transmitted to Certification Authority.

This timeline is for a Part 25 aircraft aka "heavy iron" but from it you can see that there's probably a minimum of 20 hours of effort before and after one hour of actual flight - and this doesn't include the maintenance activity & inspections to keep the aircraft operating safely. The Safety Review process will probably add many more hours if potentially hazardous flying involving stalls, envelope expansion or specialist maneuvers like Low Visibility Takeoffs or Autoland are involved. Most manufacturers will also rehearse such flying in a simulator. As i said before, Flight Test is a team sport (and it's a big team).

Inquisitive,

In answer to your question, difficult for me to answer without revealing my true identity.

To clarify I came very close to working as a FTE at one point I time, but with a CPL/IR to keep current, I couldn't justify staying in a low paid trainee airworthiness position while waiting for the FTE promotion. I had completed the introductory FTE course (as most holders of an approved Aeronuatical degree will have). My Engineering background in recent years has been heavily involved in analysis for certification rather than direct involvement in flight test.

Having done both engineering and flying, I know I would like to be able to have a job that combines the two, as said from a civvy background FTE is the position which allows you to do both.

Get your degree and get your PPL, if within 5 to 6 years it looks unlikely you are going to get the break into an FTE position you can still use your PPL as the basis for a modular CPL.

You don't need to make the decision now. As a lot of people have said you can choose to work in Aerospace it isn't always easy to choose exactly what you do in Aerospace. I have found it was always a case of what opportunities presented itself when you are looking.

The reasons you have cited are also why I think I would prefer FTE.

Yup, I'd agree with that. BPF has accurately captured the main theme - tedious. In one case, I was required to make 64 three minute timed climbs in a DA-42, to gather climb performance data. Much more than three days analyzing that! Happily, most of the test flying I do is validating handling, rather than performance, so less post flight analysis.

But the only "glamour" associated with it, is that you walk out to the "new" or "different" plane on the ramp. Otherwise, it's hours of tedium, with moments of "Oh boy, here we go....:eek:

If you are in the right place, at the right time, with nearly enough experience, test flying will call you. Knocking at the TP door will be time consuming, focus on just being where the work is being done, and learning from those doing it now. When they step back, you could be next in line - I was....

Whatever else I've ever found flight testing, even performance testing, I don't think that I have ever found it tedious. But then, I find the challenge of constantly learning about new aircraft and systems, often the best part of my professional life.

G

Maybe "tedious" is the wrong word to describe the test flying I did. "Not glamorous" might be a better descriptor.

It was a very demanding days of flying as very accurate flying is required to get good data. It took a lot of personal discipline to bare down and keep the flying to a high standard when you where in hour 3 and doing essentially the same maneuver for the 40th time.

I guess the bottom line is the TP flying was professionally satisfying but very hard work. Personally I am not sure I would want to do it as a career.

I will add a caveat as I was only exposed to one element of test flying. I am sure if you are doing the full suite of flight test cards you will find others that are more fun, however my suspicion is most of the flight testing won't be ripping around doing cool stuff, it will be a program of slow and methodical maneuvers done over and over again.

Pilot DAR, Big Pistons, ICT,

I would like to point out that "over the pond" in US and Canada there seems to be a far more positive reception from companies to those holding dual Engineering and Flying qualifications. Add to that in the US/Canada you actually have a number of civil manufacturers that still make entire Airframes.

Here in the UK on the civil side only Britten Norman still make entire aircraft. There are a handful of GA type projects on going but 98% tend to run out of funds or go bankrupt before anything gets certified.

So as our original poster is UK based the options are a lot more limited than had he / she been born State side.

Big Pistons: Out of interest, was it an Electra that was converted for the fire fighting role?

I suspect that in Canada, "OEM" test flying is somewhat limited too. With the exception of a little I have done with Diamond, all of my test flying has been to support modification approvals on certified aircraft - mostly booms and pods hanging from aircraft, and some float and ski installations.

As such, I write my own test plans, and by agreement with the authority, test only those elements requiring evaluation. But, still, sometimes that it still tedious! When you must fly dozens of climbs, with extremely precise airspeed control, and write down data constantly, it can seem like "work", when you land to top off the tanks, to go for more...

Portsharbourflyer,
The demise of the airframe industry is the reason there is a high percentage of British TPs & engineers in Flight Test on this side of the pond (including yours truly). Even over here there's probably three or four Avionics or engine update programs for every "new" airframe (and the majority of those simple - or not so simple - stretches). A common saying was "The British aircraft industry is alive & well and living in Wichita, KS".

I am sadly in no position to deny the paucity of the British airframe industry - but hasn't a large proportion of all airworthiness and flight test work been all about modifications. Certainly in my lifetime.

G

Well irrespective of if we are talking about FTE work at the incarnation stage or post production modification or mid life updates, it still stands there are more options in the US.

Of course there are - it's a vastly bigger industry.

G

Apologies suppose I am stating the obvious.

It isn't just the size of the industry it is a point I made earlier, in the US dual qualified pilots / Engineers seems to be encouraged. Where as my experience of holding dual qualifications in the UK has generally been quite negative.

In my previous contract I was speaking to a Engineer who was cleared for test flying a citation, although he was only cleared for system / avionics tests, it was still the case his company had helped him obtain the flying experience and gain the approvals from the FAA to do this. He was from a pure civil trained flight background and flight hours less than 2000.

That would never happen in the UK.

Even Michael Alsbury of the tragic Space Ship Two incident was an Aero Graduate with a Civil Flight training background, and not a trace of military fast jet experience.

So it just highlights the contrast in attitude between the UK and the US.

I think it might be 'tp' not 'TP', pedant that I am.

Depends upon whether it's a postnominal or a convenient shorthand.

G

I believe she was profiled in the Flight International career section back pages once.

I believe if I remember correctly (I may stand to be corrected) she had been through the BA cadet scheme when it was a fully funded scheme.

Therefore I would assume one of the reasons she was able to self fund ETPS or NTPS was she didn't have to fund or have debts from the initial training for the "frozen" ATPL.

Realistically tuition fees on an engineering degree, followed by a "frozen" ATPL, gaining the relevant flying experience and then self funding a test pilots course represents a lottery worth of funding.

I am a test pilot, or even Test Pilot, which I commonly abbreviate in written and spoken English to "TP".

There is an entitlement that graduates of ETPS can use "tp" as a postnominal. I am not a graduate of ETPS, therefore I am not Genghis Engineer tp. I am however Genghis Engineer MSETP, as I met the stringent membership requirements of that august body.


Not sure how we got to grammar and postnominals. Anyhow the lady you're discussing says in this article that she studied at ETPS, although doesn't say which course.

Female pilots: Meet the young woman who tests the world's biggest planes for a living - Telegraph

G

Did she graduate from ETPS after the long Course or a short course ?
Seems she is an acceptance pilot at HAM.

Which is not quite the same as an Experimental Test Pilot, of-course : a different role demanding in different ways.


I would guess, but don't know, that with Airbus behind her she was probably on a "special" course put together to meet specific company requirements. ETPS have done that for various aviation companies over the years.

G

Genghis,

I believe she went to ETPS before she was involved with Airbus, seems she has done two years at Cobham Aviation Services before working for Airbus.

Not trying to hijack this forum. But I am in the United states, hold a commercial pilots license with 600 hours, A&P mechanic, graduating with a bachelors in mechanical engineering next may, and I have similar aspirations to become a test pilot but here in the US. Most flight test engineer jobs I have seen require flight test experience and I didn't know if there was a way to gain the flight test experience so I may go through the route of FTE and eventually Test Pilot. Would a masters in flight test engineering be the best option? or just various commercial jobs: CFI, banner tow, jump pilot,... etc. Thanks for any help

mgrosso,

Check out the courses at NTPS, they offer a past graduate course in FTE, National Test Pilot School - The World's Test Pilot School


Had a lot of time on standby lately so chance to research on google, turns out she self funded the 13 week flight test diploma course at ETPS. Apparently the first person to self sponsor a course at ETPS.

The Violinist & Pilot | Swiss in Wales

Would be interesting to know what that costs?

Mgrosso,
May I suggest rereading my post about modern flight test being a team sport? With the qualifications you state, I would suggest applying to any of the airframe companies for an engineering position within their Flight Test department. Once there, you are likely to carry out flight tests as an engineer and, if you do not find that sufficiently rewarding, may be able to advance (?) to a full time FTE position. This is how the bulk of non-military path FTEs get into the business.

FWIW, My experience, and that of many test pilots I know, has been that they started in a non flying role in the company, and in the mean time, building piloting skills independantly. Often the beginning point was one of maintenance or production on the company's aircraft.

For my experience, a few thousand hours of GA flying in many types, coupled with maintenance check flying, and sale demonstration flying was the starting point. A non flying Transport Canada delegation for aircraft certification (issuing STC's) gave me the value to clients for STC test flight work.

But, for me, there's not enough work to make a living at it alone, much less pay the cost of a comprehensive flight test course. My training has been short courses and peer mentoring only, specific to what I flight test.

A lot has been said above, but my view, for what it is worth:

The reality is, that you have no hope of getting a job as a test pilot inthe UK in the current climate, unless you are a graduate from a recognised testpilot school, which means you need to be military.

The number of test pilot jobs in industry is fast shrinking, and the numberof mil TP grads will easily meet the demand of the current UK T&E requirements for a longtime, so industry does not need to invest in any future capability, since thegovernment does it on their behalf.

Flight test in Europe now requires specific licensing, which now mandatesappropriate training, so on the job routes in are no longer realistic (even ifindustry did want to invest in training). I believe Isabelle self-sponsored throughETPS, but did the shorter course as a Production Test Pilot, not Experimental.An enormous achievement, but not what you have asked about. Since ONE personhas achieved this in the history of ETPS, it should give you an idea of the likelihoodof you achieving it. Still worth trying if you want it enough, but no guaranteethat Airbus, or anyone else will give you a job at the end of it.

I suggest the best route for you in the UK would be to join QinetiQ as aTrials Officer -> Get selected for ETPS FTE course (and make sure yougraduate) -> Fly and do some hours building as a normal pilot -> Move tothe USA/Canada and work as an FTE and the hope to get moved across to testpiloting when you have built enough hours.

Alternatively, get a job at somewhere like BAE Systems or Marshall Aerospaceand try to get some on the job training that will get you into FTE’ing (thenfollow the same route as above). It will take you much longer, but sinceselection on to ETPS as an FTE is not certain, it may be academic.

The future is unmanned anyway, so there might not be many test pilots left in 10 years anyway! :8

Good luck

So she is not an Experimental Test Pilot (51 weeks) - she is a Production Pilot (13 weeks)

In other works, she cannot fly prototypes or new systems development...

And she paid for it ...

But ETPS has always been greedy for money since that they have been privatised - they even conduct two-days courses for airline pilots inside some major airlines... and guess how they call themselves after !

Although both achievements are very credible getting on the BAe cadet scheme and passing the ETPS short course, an equivalent cadet from the FPP route these day with an 84000 loan to their name would probably not be able to pursue the same route so easily or quickly.

I wouldn't wish to denegrate her achievements or dedication.

I'd guess that with the dedication she's shown so far, she'll be doing experimental testing in a few years on the big stuff she flies, and will have therefore become an Experimental Test Pilot. Best of luck to her in getting to that point.

Eric Brown didn't graduate from the ETPS long course either, and probably no other current living TP, wherever they trained, will come close to his standing in the profession. What matters ultimately is the skillset, and demonstration of that - not which school you went to and how long you were there.

G

[QUOTE=Genghis the Engineer;8946414

Eric Brown didn't graduate from the ETPS long course either, and probably no other current living TP, wherever they trained, will come close to his standing in the profession. What matters ultimately is the skillset, and demonstration of that - not which school you went to and how long you were there.

G[/QUOTE]

:ok:

BPF (Not a test pilot, but a pilot who has done some formal flight testing)

Very true Genghis but Eric Brown was also a product of his era.

I think you have to ask had an identical individual of equal ability been born between 1975 and 1985 how would their career progressed. Most likely they would have made it as RAF Fast Jet pilot, most likely they would have got selected for ETPS, but the variety and types available to work on would be extremely limited in comparison to the opportunities he had presented.

The chances are a "modern Eric Brown" would have been sent to the long course at ETPS.

Izzy does indeed fly prototypes on development work, although not as captain on envelope expansion tests. The ETPS course she completed was the then Diploma Course, which was progressively developed over the years until being dropped as the EASA FTL appeared. The syllabus included performance and flying qualities, including variable stability training, and was therefore wider than the more recent EASA production tp syllabus. Several past graduates of the Diploma Course were immediately used as experimental test pilots and FTEs by their companies after graduation.

I'm not sure what Reinhardt is getting at with his comment about paying for training. All courses at ETPS (and the other schools) are paid for by someone, be they private individuals, companies, or other organisations. If he's implying that Izzy bought her graduation, then the same must apply to all pilots who have paid for training of any sort, be it for a PPL, and ATPL, or a type rating. That doesn't mean that the qualification is guaranteed. ETPS has a proud reputation to maintain and graduating sub-standard students would be a sure way to lose it.

The test flying training world has changed a lot in recent years, and there are (and actually always have been) many different ways to achieve the end goal of a career as an experimental test pilot or FTE. Some (like me) are fortunate enough to have training offered to them for the taking via the military, others have to build up to the qualification via other routes. Either way, a huge investment of personal effort is required.

In fact, even major companies such as Airbus do internal development of pilots and FTEs, as well as hiring pre-qualified people. The former gives long-term in-depth knowledge of the company's products, whilst the latter brings fresh ideas. Both aspects are valuable.

If you want to make a career in flight test, you can. But you may need to be brave in your choices... Be bold!

Tester ...

I found this post from you on pprune, dated 22 Dec 2013 :

" My partner was a TRI/TRE on the 757/767 for a major flag carrier at the age of 23, and she is now a test pilot for Airbus. "

That's a fascinating piece of information, putting into perspective some of your comments from your post of today. I'm at pain trying to assess all the implications of it. Another post, also from Dec 2013 :

“After nearly 30 years of military and civilian flying… “

Waoww…. does everybody think the same as I do ? Sorry, you wrote all that, didn't you ? As for myself, I'm maintaining all my previous posts, which are based on facts, numbers and not ideas.

Expecting more from you in the same vein in the coming days !

Reinhart
 

I am assuming that you are not a flight test professional....you certainly do not sound like one.
You could learn a great deal from the careful and rational response from Tester 78.
Your "and she paid for it" remark sows the seeds of unpleasant implications yet your passive aggressive approach lacks the courage to state clearly and unambiguously what you mean by it.
Let's be clear: ETPS is a joint civil/military endeavour which does indeed have a commercial/business imperative behind it. That does not extend-however much you want it to-in the direction of awarding graduation certificates to anyone who pays the course fee. An ETPS course pass (long or short course) is a hard won qualification for each and every candidate and the school's standards have always been high and remain so.
If you doubt me, sign up for a course. Even you may find the short post maintenance flight test course illuminating......but you won't be able to call yourself a test pilot afterwards. Flight test jobs are for the self-motivated and dedicated.......don't dare criticise those positive qualities in someone you barely know.