Test Pilot Hotbed

摘要

Mojave Air and Space Port in California is known today for its airliner graveyard and as a hub for entrepreneurial space programmes. Less well known is its unique place in aviation - it has the world's only accredited civilian test pilot school. A non-profit educational institution, the National Test Pilot School (NTPS) was founded in 1981 to meet the flight test training needs of both the US and international aerospace communities, Numerous militaries and aerospace companies send their best and most capable people to NTPS and the school prides itself in providing a wide range of flight test programmes moulded to fit the specific needs of those wishing to attend. The school holds many firsts in the industry of flight test education, not least because it is a civilian operation. It was the first such school to achieve European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) Approved Training Organisation (ATO) certification, the first to offer a curriculum in modules to improve a student's experience, master's degrees, and pre-syllabus courses to help students prepare for the demanding time in Mojave. It also pioneered systems testing as being 50% of the professional curriculum, led the way in electronic course material delivery and was the first test pilot school to develop and certify an optionally piloted and remotely piloted aircraft curriculum.