intern_mike
E-175 f/o
what would the qualifications be for a civilian test pilot? Say, for Cessna or Boeing? How many years of flying commercially would it take to achieve?
Qualifications for test pilots
- Thread starter intern_mike
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intern_mike
E-175 f/o
Search turned up nothing as far as specific qualifications.
intern_mike
E-175 f/o
thanks mang.
desertdog71
Girthy Member
Don't go to Cessna you would be my neighbor...
Realms09
Well-Known Member
A recruiter for Cessna told me that they do not hire test pilots from the outside. They hire engineers who work in flight test and then work their way into production flight test of the pistons, and so on up the product line (this is good news for civilians such as yourself). Also, a great perquisite of working for Cessna is the employee flying club, where you can fly brand new Cessnas for very low prices and stay current while you are waiting for a pilot slot. If you are a strictly civilian pilot interested in flight test, I think it would be a great place to look into. The less general aviation oriented manufacturers would be a harder nut to crack.
desertdog71
Girthy Member
I live 5 miles from the Cessna Single engine and Mustang Plant and I know for a fact they hire from outside for the production test pilot slots. They require a good amount of hours a 4 year degree and they think highly of applicants with engineering, maintenance, avionics type backgrounds. Not impossible to get in at all. In fact they are hurting for pilots all the time here. They also hire a good amount of people to instruct for people that buy the planes since they are all G1000 now.
The test pilot gig would bore the crap out of you after a while. Flying the same airplanes, same approaches, same airport, same flat terrain all the time would get old quick I think.
Realms09
Well-Known Member
Per usual, take what a recruiter says with a grain of salt
Production test of single engine cessnas would likely get boring after awhile, but I would look at it as a stepping stone to engineering flight test and more exciting models. To a guy who loves the science aspect of flight, developmental flight test seems like the most engaging sort of flying out there. I think taking an aircraft, whether it is a 206, Caravan, or Citiation X, from conception to first flight would be an amazing experience, but to each his own!
desertdog71
Girthy Member
Per usual, take what a recruiter says with a grain of salt
I know a few guys here (old timers) stepped up from the SE to Mustang recently. Most everything is Skyhawk, Skylane, and a few Stationair. Caravans and Citation all are built in Wichita from what I understand. They are always looking for pilots though it seems. I hear new voices on the CTAF pretty regularly so they must be either turning over pilots or just adding more.
typhoonpilot
Well-Known Member
Boeing has two grades of test pilots. There are Experimental Test Pilots and Production Test Pilots. The main difference is that Experimental Test Pilots do all the flying prior to aircraft certification while the Production Test Pilots are just checking out the aircraft that come off of the production line.
To be an Experimental Test Pilot one would most likely have to be a graduate of one of the military or civilian test pilot schools and have a strong engineering background. To be a Production Test Pilot is much easier and only entails have some solid commercial transport experience. A test pilot and engineering background would be helpful, but it is not required.
When I was at Boeing ( Long Beach Division ) as a "Twin-Jet Pilot", one of my duties was as co-pilot on production test flights. Towards the end of my time there they were actually using the guys in my position as co-pilot on the experimental test flights for the B717. That was something new and I'm not sure if Seattle has started doing that yet.
It wasn't too difficult to move from the Flight Instructing position to Production Test at McDonnell Douglas and I would assume the same is possible at Boeing Seattle. So the best way to get in is to have 3000 hours PIC in one of the current Boeing models to first get hired as a Flight Instructor and then move on from there to Production Test. McDonnell Douglas required the 3000 PIC, not sure if Boeing does, but it would be a pretty significant level of experience.
Typhoonpilot