From Classroom to Cockpit: Preparing for Test Pilot School

Have you ever dreamed of being an innovator? Dreamed of being a person who sets off into the unknown and pushes the envelope in pursuit of bringing new technology to humanity? Perhaps you aspired to become an astronaut when you were younger. Well, if you’ve ever thought about this, Test Pilot School might be the place for you! 

SkyBlazer Magazine was invited to the United States Air Force Test Pilot School (USAF TPS) at Edwards Air Force Base in California to bring you insight into the world of Test Pilot School and the ways you can get involved to help lay a path forward in flight testing.

What is a Test Pilot?

What does it mean to be a test pilot?

Well, Major Alexander Hutcheson, callsign “Starski”, a Test Pilot School instructor and experimental test pilot explained it in this simple way: “If you think about a normal pilot, right, there’s a mission. A test pilot, we take a step back from that.” 

So, understanding what Hutcheson told us, that “step back” is what separates testing from flying as an operational pilot. An operational pilot uses his or her aircraft to accomplish a mission. A test pilot on the other hand uses their understanding of the aircraft itself — its performance, limitations, capability, and modifications to make these platforms better suited for the operational pilot. 

When people think of being a test pilot, they might imagine operating a wide variety of aircraft types. Although that might be true, being a test pilot is more than just operating many different aircraft. As Maj. Hutcheson described, test pilots are engineers by trade. They are expected to plan, understand and mitigate risk, gather relevant flight or performance data, and be able to analyze that data. As stated before, an operational pilot goes out on a mission knowing what is expected of the aircraft. A test pilot might be evaluating and testing a system for the very first time. These are two completely separate missions for the same aircraft and a stark contrast to what someone would expect. 

Seemingly, the goal isn't to remove risk. With flying, there is always some sort of inherent risk. In hindsight, being a test pilot is about understanding your platform well enough to make an informed decision should something go awry. 

That is where the journey of Test Pilot School begins and never ends. Once a test pilot, always a test pilot. Not necessarily by being in the cockpit, but by learning how to think in a different time, place, and environment.

If you’re a college student, you can plan to be a test pilot. It’s never too late. Although Test Pilot School may seem distant, there is a foundation that can develop years before you even have an opportunity to apply. 

Something that is extremely important is the application of engineering, academics, and experience over a period of time. Hutcheson explained this simply: “We are all essentially engineers by trade,” he said. 

For those looking toward this pathway of being involved in testing, especially at one of, if not the top testing facilities in the United States, developing an engineering mindset begins with a strong foundation in mathematics and engineering. But this is not the only way you can become a test pilot. Hutcheson explained that there are other pathways, provided that the necessary mathematics and engineering skillsets are developed. 

Although classroom work before TPS is a part of the foundation, experience matters too.

There's a difference. Experience is broad, necessary, and valuable. For an aspiring TPS pilot, it can mean learning to operate in an unfamiliar environment. For an engineer, it can mean taking part in projects that allow you to gain exposure to flying and flight testing.

The important part is not only having experience listed on a piece of paper. Yes, that looks cool, but that's not what experience is meant to be. Experience is meant to evolve you into something better than you were before you endured it. That is the type of experience they are looking for when evaluating candidates.

Brief History of Test Pilot School

The USAF’s Test Pilot School has helped gather and produce some of the most accomplished individuals not only in aerospace — but in human history. And even after achieving their feats, many of these individuals returned to TPS to help train the next generation of test professionals. 

As mentioned earlier, Chuck Yeager was the first person to break the sound barrier and he accomplished this just a year after graduating from TPS (then called the Air Materiel Command Flight Performance School). Decades later he returned to become the first commandant of the USAF Aerospace Research Pilot School where he helped further test pilot and astronaut training during the pivotal years of the Space Race. Incidentally, it was during this time that his famous NF-104 accident occurred, with an example of one of the two surviving NF-104s now being displayed outside of TPS.

Another notable TPS commandant that many are familiar with is astronaut Buzz Aldrin, the second person to walk on the Moon. He assumed command just a few years after the Apollo 11 mission and while he himself was not a TPS graduate, his experiences as an engineer, fighter pilot, astronaut, and lunar module pilot made him uniquely qualified to lead the school which over the span of its history has helped to train dozens of astronauts at some point in their career.

How Can You Position Yourself for Test Pilot School?

For some individuals, Test Pilot School is the ultimate destination once they reach the latter half of their careers in the USAF. So, should you try to become a test pilot or engineer overnight? The real answer is no.

For most students, experience, education, and knowledge doesn't come in a short period of time. There's a big gap between sitting in a college classroom and arriving at Edwards as a TPS student.

You might ask: Why? Why TPS? Why should I try?

TPS changes the way you approach flying platforms. You are placed in an unfamiliar aircraft and situation with a great deal of information that you need to learn to absorb over a short period of time. You do not simply learn to fly aircraft; you learn to understand them at a fundamental aeronautical engineering level. So yes, you do get to fly aircraft, but you learn them inside and out and then apply these practices to make the fleet better than what it was yesterday.

Being a test pilot, engineer, and overall knowledgeable resource when it comes to aircraft and systems is a dream, a goal, and a promise. It has been built on the foundation of making a better life for pilots since 1944 and to give the United States the edge in the fight — to push the envelope in what was once thought possible. 

The purpose has remained centered around giving the warfighter an advantage through test and evaluation.

That is why you should try to become a test pilot, engineer, or part of the test community at Edwards AFB.

Hutcheson described one of the most important lessons learned at Test Pilot School as being able to learn how to be “comfortable being uncomfortable.”

When you’re at TPS, you’re expected to take what you learn academically and apply it once you get in the cockpit. While at TPS, students and engineers will fly up to 20 different aircraft throughout the course, moving from platform to platform and learning to be comfortable in an environment they’re unfamiliar with.

Learning through exposure becomes embedded into everyday life, and that's what makes testing the way it is. If you start gaining experience in unfamiliar environments, that is a skill that can help position you for TPS. Something as simple as an internship at a rocket company, for example, SpinLaunch, can expose you to an unfamiliar environment. The skills you gain from that can help position you for testing with the USAF. You can experience the same thing in other fields within aerospace, everything helps.

When you walk through the gates at Edwards AFB, you step into history. You’re stepping onto the grounds where the sound barrier was broken, where the Space Shuttle program took shape, and where a 15,000-foot runway and dry lake bed have defined the testing of some of the most historic aircraft known to man.

TPS itself sits in a larger ecosystem as part of the 412th Test Wing (412 TW), in a building that doesn't let you forget where you came from. The hallways are lined with history: every class and every commandant who has passed through since the school's founding in 1944. These halls aren't a museum, they’re a reminder to the students that walk through them that they are a part of something that goes back generations.

These traces of generational ties link back to the ramp, where students will fly a wide range of aircraft just like their predecessors. The goal isn't to master all the platforms, but to learn how to walk into a cockpit and extract the information it is relaying to you. The school's motto is Scientia est Virtus, which means “knowledge is power.” You could say this phrase is one of the ways that defines everything on the 412th Test Wing ramp.

The typical TPS course runs about 48 weeks, and it isn’t just for pilots. TPS trains experimental test pilots, flight test engineers, flight test navigators, combat systems officers, and remotely piloted aircraft pilots. Most recently, TPS has added a space test course to prepare Space Force members for the same mission but in a different domain. When you graduate from TPS, it is never the end — it’s just the beginning. 

The Future of Test Pilot School

TPS is not a static school. The school is constantly changing and evolving with the world and aviation around it. For instructors like Maj. Hutcheson, that means TPS has to continue changing with the technology that students will be tested on.

“The syllabus is never static,” Hutcheson explained. “We’re always trying to envelope the next new technology, the next thing so that the students are prepared to go out into the future.”

Now, in this new day and age, one of those technologies is artificial intelligence. TPS has already started bringing AI into the classroom. Hutcheson explained that students now take a one-week course focused on AI and emerging technologies. Those students are sent to Stanford or MIT, where they learn about AI, machine learning, large language models, and other technologies that are at the forefront of aviation and aerospace. The learning doesn't stop with that one-week course though. “We’ve also been incorporating more artificial intelligence type test management projects,” Hutcheson said. The school also has additional advanced technology classes that they did not disclose to us in the interview. AI is a relatively new technology, and the test community is figuring it out as they go. TPS is still understanding the applications that can be useful and where it could create problems, including security concerns.

Maj. Hutcheson made an excellent point when he told us, “How do you test something that may spit out a different answer every single time you ask it the same question? That’s a great question. We’re going to have to figure that out and that’s kind of what we’re in the process of doing.”

Hutcheson was very thoughtful in explaining the process. He emphasized that there is value in simply learning how the technology works and where it can be useful rather than being an expert from the moment you enter TPS.

Students can have different levels of experience with different technologies, and that’s what makes TPS unique because students are able to teach each other. An important part of the learning experience comes from your peers. AI does not define TPS; it is just another page in the books for what could and will be in the future.

Much like how the TPS syllabus evolves with the introduction of new technologies like AI, so does the domain in which testing occurs to leverage the benefits of these tools, which can help meet or even accelerate deadlines in a world where averting unnecessary delays is critical to mission success.

The future of testing will see the digital and real-world domains used increasingly hand in hand to augment test capabilities, and the ability to conquer both frontiers as a student will be crucial. The connectivity of these domains has already been demonstrated through the use of actual flight software and hardware with simulations, which has become particularly useful in the current environment as the use of virtual ranges can help provide more flexibility for real-world testing.

Space is something that is starting to become a major part of TPS.

During our visit, we learned that the space test course shares much of its teachings with flight test students before they go off into their respective concentrations. Hutcheson explained that the students remain connected through coursework, even if their testing environments are substantially different.

“Obviously space operations are much different than flight operations,” Hutcheson said.

In flight operations, you normally land the aircraft, inspect it, fix things that need to be fixed, and fly again within a certain period of time. With spacecraft, that's a different story.

“How do you test, change, or adapt a system under test when it’s already in orbit? That’s something that we’re teaching the students here,” Hutcheson explained.

The space test side of TPS is also growing. Hutcheson explained that the school is currently building up the curriculum and support as the Space Force continues to mature.

For someone looking towards a career in testing, specifically space technologies testing, this presents another opportunity to consider.

“So there's a flight test and there’s gonna be the Space Test Course,” Hutcheson said. 

There's a growing demand for testing, and it’s important to look at both and figure out what appeals to you because the space test course is just as valuable as test pilot courses.

For students who are still in college and looking to the future, you can plan on TPS being a little different from what it is today. But different is okay — test pilots are known for embracing change and taking on new frontiers.

SkyBlazer Magazine would like to thank the 412th Test Wing at Edwards Air Force Base for the opportunity to share how the next generation of pilots, engineers, and innovators can position themselves for a future in the United States Air Force’s Test Pilot School. We would personally like to thank Chase Kohler for his time and support in this effort.