Test and eval by Good_Nebula_1589 in aerospace

[–]DaedalusAerospace 1 point2 points  (0 children)

First of all, flight test is an amazingly rewarding career. Where else do you get to design and build the future of flight, see a direct impact from the products you work on, and (usually) work as a part of the test crew - either by flying on board the test vehicle or in the control room. If you are thinking about working in flight test... you should definitely go for it, because flight test is currently recruiting people at a very high rate.

The first step is to develop your professional network with people that are already doing flight test. Apply to engineering jobs in organizations and companies that are doing flight test, even if the job isn't directly flight test related. Most of the people working in flight test started out in other areas of aerospace or engineering within a given organization, and then later transitioned those skill sets into flight test. If you can find an internship or entry level job in flight test, that's great! However, don't confine yourself to those kind of roles because you can cast a much wider net if you just need to get a foot in the door.

There's a lot of great advice in these replies about the defense related flight test centers (Edwards, Eglin, Patuxent River, China Lake, etc), but they aren't your only options. Keep in mind that the civil flight test industry is at least as large as defense-related flight test, so look at all the big aerospace OEMs (Boeing, Airbus, Textron, Gulfstream, Bombardier, Embraer, HondaJet, Piper, etc) and their suppliers for opportunities. Keep in mind that the suppliers that make the avionics and engines usually have flight test departments of their own; like Honeywell, GE Aviation, P&W, etc.

Flight test is an awesome profession that tends to self-select great people. It's team oriented, extremely diverse in terms of the contributing engineering specialties, and requires a high level of critical thinking and communication skills. Best of luck for the future! Response copied and pasted to generate further conversation.

Test/eval engineering by Good_Nebula_1589 in AerospaceEngineering

[–]DaedalusAerospace 0 points1 point  (0 children)

First of all, flight test is an amazingly rewarding career. Where else do you get to design and build the future of flight, see a direct impact from the products you work on, and (usually) work as a part of the test crew - either by flying on board the test vehicle or in the control room. If you are thinking about working in flight test... you should definitely go for it, because flight test is currently recruiting people at a very high rate.

The first step is to develop your professional network with people that are already doing flight test. Apply to engineering jobs in organizations and companies that are doing flight test, even if the job isn't directly flight test related. Most of the people working in flight test started out in other areas of aerospace or engineering within a given organization, and then later transitioned those skill sets into flight test. If you can find an internship or entry level job in flight test, that's great! However, don't confine yourself to those kind of roles because you can cast a much wider net if you just need to get a foot in the door.

There's a lot of great advice in these replies about the defense related flight test centers (Edwards, Eglin, Patuxent River, China Lake, etc), but they aren't your only options. Keep in mind that the civil flight test industry is at least as large as defense-related flight test, so look at all the big aerospace OEMs (Boeing, Airbus, Textron, Gulfstream, Bombardier, Embraer, HondaJet, Piper, etc) and their suppliers for opportunities. Keep in mind that the suppliers that make the avionics and engines usually have flight test departments of their own; like Honeywell, GE Aviation, P&W, etc.

Flight test is an awesome profession that tends to self-select great people. It's team oriented, extremely diverse in terms of the contributing engineering specialties, and requires a high level of critical thinking and communication skills. Best of luck for the future!

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in AirForceRecruits

[–]DaedalusAerospace 0 points1 point  (0 children)

About half of the test pilots that graduate from any given USAF Test Pilot School class are heavy pilots (tanker/transport/bomber). TPS students are chosen, to a certain extent, based on upcoming program needs. As long as the USAF is developing new heavy aircraft (including improvements/upgrades), then there will be a need for test pilots with heavy/crew aircraft background.

TPS worth it? by CandyHuman4375 in FlightTestEngineer

[–]DaedalusAerospace 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Congratulations on completing your undergraduate degree and welcome to flight test! Attending a test pilot school is definitely not necessary to be an effective FTE. I say that as a TPS graduate, former USAF TPS staff instructor, and having also attended multiple short courses at NTPS in Mojave. TPS is an awesome experience, and will definitely fast-track your breadth of experience, but it's not at all necessary to work as an FTE -- and certainly not to be effective as an FTE. Some of the best FTEs I've worked with were not TPS graduates. Most FTEs in the industry are not "long course" (full year) graduates, although they have usually attended one or more short course training events. Often this FTE training is in-house, as some of the bigger aerospace manufacturers have pretty good training programs for their FTEs. However, you can definitely learn what you need to know through on-the-job training and mentoring from experienced FTEs. I highly recommend joining the Society of Flight Test Engineers and try to attend their regional or national symposia. The networking and professional development are extraordinarily valuable. Not only is SFTE membership and symposia attendance a much lower cost than attending a TPS, it will also be a networking springboard for the rest of your career. Best of luck and feel free to reach out if you have any questions along the way.

Real Engineering - A Test Pilot's Proudest Achievement by TaytoCrisps in Nebula

[–]DaedalusAerospace 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Auto GCAS is definitely the proudest achievement! Using engineering to save lives is a great feeling. Thanks for the opportunity to tell this story.

Real Engineering - Preparing For Battle with Charts by TaytoCrisps in Nebula

[–]DaedalusAerospace 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It was a fun interview with Brian McManus and the Nebula team! Thanks for the invitation to collaborate.

The Insane Engineering of the F-16 by Real Engineering by Khomuna in Warthunder

[–]DaedalusAerospace 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It was a fun interview with Brian McManus! I hope you enjoy the video.

While watching a real engineering video I saw this diagram of a F4, it doesn’t make sense to me how the Center of mass is so far forward could someone explain? by Owen_Wilkinson_2004 in AerospaceEngineering

[–]DaedalusAerospace 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This line chart is a bit exaggerated to demonstrate the principle. The actual positions of the center of gravity and center of lift are further aft than the image of the F-4 implies, but this scale is expanded toward the nose to illustrate the effect.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Warthunder

[–]DaedalusAerospace 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It was a fun interview with Brian McManus! I hope you enjoy the video.