Are you qual’d for this? A guide for FTE training and qualifications learned from C-130 flight test

Julian McCafferty, Royal Netherlands Aerospace Centre, Netherlands

Abstract

Developing training standards and qualifications for Flight Test Engineers has always been a challenge due to the broad definition of the role and diversity of test programs. A set of general guidelines, best practices, and lessons learned from managing a team of test engineers executing a variety of United States Air Force C-130 developmental flight test programs are presented which are intended to help organizations engaged in flight test activities when establishing their own standards for training and qualifying their test personnel.