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Our first letter is from a young man
named Scott. Here it is, along with my reply.
Hello Major Volstad:
I am in fifth grade at West Elementary School in Napoleon, Ohio. We are
having a career fair in May. I am researching experimental test pilots as
a career choice. Could you please answer some questions for me?
Dear Scott,
Thank-you for your letter and your interest in test piloting. You
express yourself very clearly in writing, young man! My dad always told me
that being able to communicate clearly is an important skill to learn.
I've certainly found this to be true for test piloting--we're only as good
as the reports we deliver. So keep it up!
I'll try to answer your questions below.
1. What is the average salary for test pilots.
Military test pilots typically get the same salary and allowances as
any other military pilot having the same rank and experience. I'm not sure
how much this would be in the US (I'm Canadian), but you can call your
local recruiting centre and find out. For civilian test pilots, the income
varies enormously, just like it does in some other professions (like
sports and acting). Some probably struggle to get by, while some make well
over $100,000 a year. But I don't know anybody who got into test piloting
to get rich--it's the interesting flying that draws us into this line of
work.
2. What is the chance of getting a job as a test pilot?
That's a tough question, Scott. First of all, you have to be blessed
with reasonably good health--at least, good enough to pass the military or
civil aviation exams, like any pilot. Beyond that, I guess it depends,
more than anything else, on how motivated you are. If you like the idea of
being a test pilot because you think it would be glamorous or something,
forget it. But if you love airplanes, and think you'd like to work with
other people who do too, then go for it. And don't listen to people who
tell you you're going against the odds!
3. Why did you decide to be a test pilot?
Ever since I was a kid, I've been crazy about airplanes and excited
about the freedom of flying. On my 16th birthday, my big brother bought me
an introductory flight in a small plane at the local flying club, and I
was completely hooked. I just knew I had to fly! I guess I also have a
knack for tinkering with things and solving problems, and really enjoyed
studying engineering in university. This love of flying, and interest in
engineering, are common to all test pilots. Anyway, a couple of friends
got into test piloting, and told me all about the work they did, and it
sounded really exciting. They got to fly lots of different planes, and use
their brains a lot, and do stuff that nobody had ever done before.
Somehow, I knew this was right up my alley. But, like most people, I
wasn't sure if I was "good enough" to be a test pilot. So I kept
putting off applying for test pilot training. Finally, after years of
studying and flying, and lots of encouragement from my friends, I worked
up the courage to give it a try. And here I am!
4. What is it like being a test pilot? What is your favourite thing
about being a test pilot?
From what I've seen so far, test pilots are very busy people. There are
always projects to plan, meetings to attend, and reports to write. We
don't spend as many hours in the cockpit as, say, an airline pilot
does--we're lucky if we fly an hour a day, on average. But the time we do
spend in the cockpit is always very interesting and rewarding.
My favourite thing about being a test pilot? That's a real toss-up,
Scott. It's such a thrill to fly different airplanes. But it's also
wonderful to work with great people who share a common interest in flying
and engineering.
5. Where do you work, did you have to move to work where you do?
I live with my wife and children at a big Canadian air force base in
Cold Lake, Alberta. I had to move there last fall, when I finished my test
pilot training in England. My office is in Cold Lake, at the Aerospace
Engineering Test Establishment, and a lot of flight testing is done in
that part of the country because there's lots of open space there. But I
also have to spend a lot of time away from home, for lots of different
reasons. Right now I'm on a three-month course in Ontario, learning all
about an airplane I'll be working on quite a bit over the next few years.
The time away from my family isn't so much fun, as you can imagine.
6. Do test pilots work for a manufacturer or do you freelance as a test
pilot?
Many civilian test pilots work for aircraft manufacturers, testing new
designs as well as production aircraft coming off the assembly lines.
Other test pilots do "freelance" work. Some work for the
government. (NASA test pilots get to do really neat research work, flying
some very unusual airplanes.) Others, like me, work for the military
testing airplanes and modifications before they enter general service.
7. As a test pilot, do you consider it an active job or a sitting down
job?
A bit of both. There's plenty of "running around", but a
certain amount of desk work too. The cockpit itself can be kind of a
stressful place at times, particularly if you're pulling lots of
"G" in a military jet, so test pilots often like to
exercise or play sports to stay physically fit for flying.
I enjoyed your website. Thank you for your help,
Sincerely, Scott
Thanks again for your enthusiasm, Scott. I hope I've answered your
questions for you. Stay on top of your schoolwork, and you'll find that
your career options will be just about unlimited, when the time comes to
make that choice. But in the meantime, don't forget to be a kid and have
so me fun, okay?
Sincerely,
Major Eric Volstad, Canadian Air Force
Our next
letter is from Canada's capital city.
----- Original Message -----
From: Glenn Weir
To: Eric Volstad
Subject: Hello Major Volstad .....
Eric,
I am writing you from Ottawa, Canada and am writing a short career
awareness profile on test piloting for junior high-school aged
students. I was wondering if you could answer a question for me:
Exactly what role would *MATH* and *COMMUNICATION SKILLS* play in test
piloting? Simply put, do numbers and conversation figure into the life
of a test pilot? Anything you could say in response to my question
would be gratefully received, Major. Thank you very much for your
time.
Be well, be best,
G. Kenneth Weir
Hello Mr. Weir,
Thanks for your interest in test piloting. To answer your
questions:
Mathematics can be very important to test pilots, because they
help us understand why airplanes behave the way they do. For
example: Have you ever been up in an airliner that's only
half full of passengers? If so, you may have noticed that the
passengers aren't all seated together at the front or the back of the
airplane. They're kind of spread out all over. That's not
just because they don't like the smell of each other! It's
because the airline people have to spread the weight of the passengers
out so the plane is balanced, kind of like a teeter-totter. If
too much weight is at the front or the back of the plane, the plane
becomes a lot harder for the pilots to fly. Test pilots do
carefully-planned experiments in a new airplane to figure
out what range of weights and balance will allow the airplane to be
safely flown, so that the airlines will know the best way to load the
plane. To understand these experiments--we call them
tests--we need to understand the science of flight really well, and
like a lot of sciences, this one involves lots of mathematical
equations which describe how things relate to each other. We
learn some of this stuff in high school, and more of it in university,
and even more of it during our special training as test pilots.
But it's all based on the mathematics that we all had to learn in
elementary and junior high school. It's not hard, really.
In fact, it's kind of neat when we use math to predict how a plane
will fly under certain conditions, and then go out and test it and
find out we were right.
As important as mathematics are to a test pilot, I would argue that
communication skills are even more so. That's because the most
important part of our job, next to safely piloting an airplane, is
telling people how the airplane behaves. If I discover a problem
with the handing qualities of an airplane, I have to be able to
explain it in precise technical terms to the airplane designers so
that they'll know how to fix it. I also have to be able to
explain the problem in very simple terms to the business people who
control the money, so that they'll be willing to pay for fixing the
problem. And, if we all decide we can live with the problem, I
have to be able to explain it in even simpler terms for other pilots,
who will want to read about it in the airplane's flight manual.
Some of this communication involves talking, and some requires
writing. When we present a report, whether oral or written, it
has to be clear, interesting, and easy to understand, or nobody pay
any attention to it! Some of us find communication skills a lot
harder to master than, say, flying a Russian MiG-29. No kidding!
I hope I've been of some help to you and the students, Mr. Weir.
Most of all, I hope I haven't turned any of them off flying!
It's what makes the job so much fun.
Yours truly,
Eric Volstad
(c) 1998 Eric Volstad |
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