Students of the United States Naval Test Pilot School in Switzerland
In order to become a test pilot or a flight test engineer, a long-term, special period of training at an international test pilot school is required. Among other things, this includes a final assignment in a partner country. Three prospective test pilots and one flight test engineer from different countries of origin from the «United States Naval Test Pilot School» thus found themselves in the Flight Test Centre of armasuisse Science and Technology at the beginning of May 2024 for their final assignment.
Lucas Ballerstedt and Anela Ziko, Staff, Science and Technology
The international exchange of students in the area of flight testing provides a great deal of added value. In addition to knowledge sharing, it encourages cooperation at various different levels.
The path to a career as a test pilot extends over a special, long-term period of training. Candidates are required to have completed training as a military pilot as well as have several years of experience with the Armed Forces. This is followed by a demanding year of training at an international test pilot school. In the western world, there is one school in France, one in the UK and two in the USA.
One very well-known training facility is the United States Naval Test Pilot School (USNTPS) in Patuxent near Washington, D.C. The prospective test pilots and flight test engineers each go to a partner country for the final assignment. Among other places, they also come to Emmen to the Flight Test Centre of armasuisse Science and Technology (S+T). Thus three prospective test pilots and one flight test engineer from different countries of origin arrived in Switzerland from the USNTPS at the beginning of May 2024.
A different type of final assignment
The final assignment and stay in the armasuisse S+T Flight Test Centre lasted just under two weeks. The school administration of the USNTPS defined one mission each for the Super Puma and the F-5. According to this, the students had to test and document the suitability of the aircraft on the ground and in the air. Depending on their background, the students only have experience on a few different aircraft. Working on an aircraft with which they are unfamiliar, they can put the knowledge they have acquired during training into practice themselves. In each case, the students have to analyse how well an aircraft is suited to the required mission. For the defined missions, two students worked on a Super Puma, while the other two focused on the F-5. They were supervised by trained and experienced test pilots and flight test engineers from armasuisse S+T.
In order to become familiar with the aircraft, the evaluation work on the suitability for the mission started with the flight manuals. The technical data of the aircraft was therefore assessed right at the beginning and what is known as a «ground evaluation» was carried out. This includes, for example, evaluating factors such as the field of vision within the cockpit, the mechanical features of flight controls, but also guideline values on the anatomy of the crew. The latter is important to ensure that during a flight with the impact of the g-force, for example, all control elements can still be operated safely. After the «ground evaluation», each student performed one or two test flights together with an armasuisse test pilot on «their» aircraft. After the last flight, the students had fourteen days’ time to write a comprehensive test report from the collected evaluation data and to submit a recommendation on the suitability for the mission of the aircraft.
Why this exchange?
Switzerland has been a partner of the USNTPS as well as other test pilot schools for several decades. In the past, Switzerland thus used to send their prospective test pilots and flight test engineers for their one-year training to the USA, the UK or France. One prospective Swiss test pilot and one prospective flight test engineer from armasuisse S+T are also currently in the final phase of their training year at test pilot schools in the USA.
Oliver Bachmann was responsible for this year’s visit. He has been head of the flight test engineers at armasuisse S+T for seven years and successfully completed his academic year and his final assignment at the École du Personnel navigant d'Essai et de Réception near Marseilles, France. This year, he supervised the two helicopter students in their final assignment. These international visits from students are particularly valuable for Oliver:
«It encourages knowledge sharing at various different levels. The students thus learn an awful lot in a short space of time and can put their knowledge to the test. In addition, we learn from the students about the current and international level of knowledge and are in constant close cooperation with the partner schools».
United States Naval Test Pilot School | NAWCAD (navy.mil) [en anglais]