User:Skeet Shooter/Sandbox/TPS
Military unit / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School (USAF TPS) is a military unit that trains experimental test pilots, flight test engineers, and flight test navigators to carry out test and evaluation of aerospace weapon systems.[1] The school was established on September 9, 1944 as the Flight Test Training Unit at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (AFB) in Dayton, Ohio.[2] To take advantage of the uncongested skies and superb flying weather, the school was moved on February 4, 1951 to its present location at Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert of Southern California.[2] Edwards AFB is the home of the Air Force Flight Test Center and has been an integral part of flight testing for over fifty years.[3]
USAF Test Pilot School | |
---|---|
Active | 9 September 1944āpresent |
Country | United States |
Branch | Air Force |
Type | School |
Size | 150 |
Part of | 412th Test Wing |
Garrison/HQ | Edwards Air Force Base |
Motto(s) | Scientia est Virtus |
Commanders | |
Current commander | Mike Luallen |
Notable commanders | Chuck Yeager Buzz Aldrin |
The Test Pilot School was created to formalize and standardize test pilot training in order to reduce the high accident rate during the 1940s and increase the number of productive test flights.[4] In response to the increasing complexity of aircraft and their electronic systems, the school added training programs for flight test engineers and flight test navigators.[5] Between 1962 and 1972, the school included astronaut training for military test pilots, but these classes were dropped when the USAF manned spaceflight mission was eliminated.[6] Class size has historically been small with recent classes composed of approximately twenty students.[7] The school is a component of the 412th Test Wing of the Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC).[8]