Flight Test Engineering?

N

Newbie

New Member
Anybody here know much about this career? Not test piloting itself, but rather being part of the team that plans/coordinates/monitors/evaluates the results of flight tests.

My tentative findings so far include:

1. Engineering degree(s) required.
2. It entails more analytical wonking than flying, but flying experience is a plus (maybe even a prerequisite?), and an eventual move into the test pilot's seat is possible.

...and that's it so far. Seems like this might even be a good "in-case-I-lose-my-medical" career? Any insights?
 
Doug,

My original posts don't go to the intro page for anyone to see...they just languish. Have I misbehaved?
 
A possibility!

It's showing up on mine, but I bet your browser is showing a 'cached' page.
 
i was/am able to see your post...just don't know an answer for ya!
smile.gif
 
Ahhh, flight test engineer questions.....I was a FTE for Boeing for about 2 years. Good money but I hated the job and is why I'm pursuing a career as a pilot. You will need an engineering degree. The job itself sounds A LOT more glamorous than it really is. Basically you'll write test plans and reports. Depending on the project or company you work for you will fly occasionally. For instance, I got to fly in the jumpseat of a 747 during one of our tests which was pretty cool. Other than that, you'll be spending long hours sitting in a cubicle writing test reports and more time than not you'll be sitting around with not much to do waiting for your next test to begin.

It's a great career for those intersted but wasn't the right gig for me. I know that at Cessna you have the option of moving up to a pilot slot after accumulating around 1000 hours flight time.
 
Braidkid...looks like you might be the only one here with knowledge re this. I sent you a PM because it looked like there wasn't much interest on the board, but the recent inquiries from electrical engineers (and about engineering as a "main job" generally) might change that...maybe I shouldn't try to hog your knowledge all for myself. lol

To all the recent engineer arrivals (2 of you?)..Flight Test Engineering might be a good engineering job that puts you closely into contact with aircraft (so you sort of get your fix) and also pays well and steady enough to support the actual flying habit...and maybe eventually turns into test piloting itself at some point after accumulation of sufficient flight hours.
 
Hi Newbie I am looking into engineering myself but I don't know many careers that I could take as one, As a flight test engineer could I get the job with a bachelors or would I need a higher degree? And when you say the pay is good about how money are you talking about? Engineering sounds interesting but I really don't know about the specific jobs they take.
 
Loooking more into the big manufacturer's sites(Boeing, Airbus...), I noticed most engineering positions require hands on experience. They got some pretty interesting jobs but you would have to work for a smaller company to start out in. What kind of engineering would I need to work on avionics?
 
Brian,

I don't really know much yet...I'm still researching everything myself. I think we'll need masters degrees, though, and my guess for avionics would be electrical engineering. I'm sort of in the same boat as you, though...fishing for info. Not sure what the career progression and pay are, yet.
 
To be a FTE you only need a bachelors, not a masters. Master degrees in engineering are worthless in most cases. FTEs can be of all kinds of engineers: mechanical, electrical, industrial, etc....

Pay for me straight out of college a couple years ago was $45k/year. I was making close to $60k when I quit last year. If you want to transition into a flight slot you're better off going to a smaller company like Cessna, Cirrus, Raytheon, etc...
I knew FTE's working at Cessna who made the transition into a flight slot after working as an FTE for about 5 years.
 
I couldn't really say. It's probably not as high a demand as other engineering positions because it's a little more specialized.
 
But is it like flying, where the demand is way low? It seems that engineers in general would be in high demand. Is this true?
 
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