It is finally here! 4 years in the making, Flight Test: The Discipline, now available in print and ebook! Let me tell you how this all started…
The Job
Back in 2016, when I was working for AVIAN, I taught Test Planning, Test Reporting, and specialized Test & Evaluation (T&E) topics to flight test engineers, pilots, and operators at NAVAIR. This was full time for me, teaching at least 2 weeks per month. During the rest of my time, I developed training material. We spread the teaching across 6 different instructors, but I was the main one, backed up by the others.
The Class
AVIAN desired to leverage our collective T&E experience and package the training in a way that would reach a wider audience. That is where Flight Test: The Discipline was born. It started as an outline for a 2-day training event. The fundamental objective was to teach the basics of test planning, execution, and reporting. It covered a wide array of concepts, such as test risk management and critical thinking. We taught the course to a number of industry partners throughout the country.
From that class, the initial draft of the book was used as a student workbook/handout, printed in-house. Recently, however, I decided to revise and expand the book and take it to print!
The Book
Flight Test: The Discipline covers fundamentals of flight test, in a way that is applicable to the test and evaluation of any system, product, tool, or useful item. It explains why we test, how we test, and most importantly, what we do with the results from tests. The book is full of anecdotes and examples from the flight test experience of veteran test pilots (helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft), previous test pilot instructors, and aviation system program managers.
I hope that you enjoy it!
My Thanks
A special note of thanks is due to my contributing authors and partners in T&E training: Kevin Switick, Pat “Oxy” Moran, Greg “Gunny” Griffitt, and Jeff “Woody” Danielson. Also, thanks to Leslie Taylor, who trusted us to help train and equip the flight test professionals under her command.
Order Now! Click here for AuthorHouse, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon. Available in softcover and ebook.
Testimonials
Flight Test is indeed a scientific discipline, perform by extremely dedicated professionals. It has been my pleasure to work with so many of them.
