Empire Test Pilots' School
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The Empire Test Pilots School is a training establishment based at MOD Boscombe Down in Wiltshire, England.
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[edit] History
In 1943 Air Marshal Sir Ralph Sorley, who had been concerned at the high rate of fatalities during testing of new aircraft, formed the "Test Pilots Training Flight" at Boscombe Down. In 1943 the first training course was held, finishing in early 1944. The scheme was a success, and the training flight soon became an institution in its own right, The ETPS. In 1963 the course diversified into the teaching of Rotary Wing testing, followed by a course aimed at Flight Test Engineers rather than pilots in 1974.
The Empire Test Pilots' School was the first of its kind, and was soon followed by other similar schools, such as EPNER in France (Ecole du Personnel Navigant d'Essais et de Réception), The U.S. Naval Test Pilot School in Maryland, and the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, California. Some of these schools operate an exchange programme, which serves to expand the variety of aircraft the students have available to them for gaining flight test experience.
[edit] Aircraft
Currently the ETPS uses the following types of Aircraft;
- BAE Hawk
- BAC 1-11
- Hawker Siddeley Andover
- Embraer EMB 312 Tucano
- Dassault-Breguet/Dornier Alpha Jet
- Beagle B.206R Basset
- Aérospatiale Gazelle
- Westland Sea King
- Westland Lynx
- Twin Squirrel
- Saab Gripen
