Astronauts, Airbus Test Pilot Give Advice On How To Test Fly Your Airplane
One of the great things about Airventure is the camaraderie and the sharing of information and advice on aviation. We are fortunate to have some of the highest trained and most experience aviators, mechanics and engineers in the world who happily share their knowledge for the benefit of all.
On Tuesday three of the most experienced aviators in the world shared their knowledge and experience to a large audience at Airventure. Astronauts Charlie Precourt and Hoot Gibson and Airbus test pilot Terry Lutz shared information on how they test flew their own aircraft they built or made major (design of new wing and installation) modifications to. We should all listen. In addition to having the enviable experiences of flying in space or helping design and build the world’s largest aircraft, they all attended military test pilot school. When they talk, we should listen.
Knowledge is power but when test flying your experimental-home built airplane it is literally vital. A just released NTSB safety study found that “Experimental amateur-built (E-AB) aircraft represent nearly 10 percent of the U.S. general aviation fleet, but these aircraft accounted for approximately 15 percent of the total—and 21 percent of the fatal—U.S. general aviation (GA) accidents in 2011….
