A test pilot explains how he became one the unconventional way: through engineering and air racing instead of military fighter training. Most test pilot schools teach engineers to fly, but his path reversed it, requiring him to learn to fly first, then apply engineering knowledge to testing aircraft systems.
if you had to begin by just telling people what your job, your life, your life is, how would you describe it?
Yeah, I mean, test pilot. On my best day, that's what I'd like to call myself. But test pilot can mean a lot of different things in a lot of different communities. So in my case, coming from the engineering ranks, coming from Reno Air Racing and performance testing, power plant testing,, it's a different background than say like the movie, you know, Top Gun where he's coming from military background. So instead of, you know, the, the old joke is what is test pilot school or why is test pilot school so expensive? And, um, in most cases you're taking a fighter pilot and you're teaching them engineering. And guys like me, uh, you're taking someone who's been designing and building systems and you're teaching them, you know, making sure they're ready for the flying portion. Cause they know how to test the system. They understand that part of the flight, but you're making sure they're qualified for the rest of it. So that's been my path.
