A test pilot is a pilot who is trusted to sit at the helm of the latest aircraft. This work is honorable and dangerous. You need to know and be able to operate a wide variety of flying equipment in order to quickly navigate, sitting in the cockpit of a completely new aircraft.
Pilot educational institutions
You can become a test pilot only after being educated in one of the aviation institutes and schools. They are civilian and military. The most famous aviation institute for civilians is MAI. To enter there, you must provide the following set of documents:
- a certificate of completion of eleven classes of secondary school or a diploma of graduation from flying school;
- certificate of passing the Unified State Exam;
- medical certificate (form N 086 / y);
- a certificate of a citizen subject to conscription (certificate of registration) or a military ID (only for men 18-27 years old);
- civil passport (copy and original);
- photographs - 3x4 or 4x6, black and white, 6 pcs.
It is also necessary to have good knowledge in the field of physics and mathematics, since additional exams in these subjects are held upon admission.
Pilots are also trained by military institutes and schools. They are located in Irkutsk, Ulyanovsk, Yeisk, Krasnodar and other cities of Russia. For admission to each of these educational institutions, you need your own set of documents, the list of which can be clarified by phone. Phones of universities and colleges can be found on reference sites.
After graduating from the desired university or aviation school, you need to become an active pilot and fly a certain number of hours in order to be able to get a second education in the specialty "test pilot".
Test pilots - where they are trained
Test pilots are required in both military and civil aviation. They are trained in test pilot schools. There are only two of them in Russia - in Zhukovsky near Moscow and in the city of Akhtubinsk. To enter there, you must have an education in the specialty of a pilot-engineer, and preference is given to candidates who graduated from an educational institution with honors. Also, only pilots who have flown a certain number of hours are allowed to take the exams. In this case, the age of the applicant must be no older than thirty-one years. Each of the applicants to the school is interviewed. In addition, future test pilots undergo special psychological tests, the purpose of which is to determine their readiness for this difficult and dangerous job.
Test pilot training at the school lasts one and a half years. During this time, future specialists fly on twelve types of aircraft equipment, and also study various simulators. By the end of the training, students are able to determine the flight performance of aviation equipment, and can also perform flights of any kind.
