U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School - Curriculum

Curriculum

  • There are two classes held a year, each 48 weeks each (aka long class). There are 3 tracks that students can apply for: Experimental Test Pilot (ETP), Flight Test Engineer (FTE), or Flight Test Navigator (FTN). The upper class is called the senior class, while the lower class are called the juniors, determined by what point they are at in their studies at TPS. The class size at TPS varies. Over the past few years there have been over 20 TPS students per class.
  • 4 main subdisciplines taught by the USAF TPS Education Division:
    • Performance
    • Flying Qualities
    • Systems
    • Test Management
  • TPS also offers short courses in the following areas
    • Aerospace Vehicle Test Course
    • Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Flight Test Engineering
    • Electronic Warfare Flight Test Engineering
    • Test Management
    • Equations of Motion
    • Propulsion
    • Senior Executive Course
  • Organization of the class uses the following chain of command
    • Commandant—TPS Commander
    • Deputy Commandant—TPS Deputy Commander
    • Class Leader— assigned by the front office based on seniority and academic curriculum to assist the student population
    • Students
  • Facilities include
    • two fully functional Control Rooms
    • RADAR and Electro-Optics Labs
    • Variable-Stability In-Flight Simulator Test Aircraft or VISTA
    • student library
    • 100 airborne laboratories over the course of the academic year from Mig-15 to B-2

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