What’s even better than getting paid to fly? Having a truly fantastic flying career. Here are six pilots with great jobs. First up, ever thought about becoming a test pilot? Here’s how to get there – and make a living from the air…
Yayeri van Baarsen
29 October 2022
Who?
Experimental test pilot Elliot Seguin has flown more than 3,000 hours (of which 700 hours testing) in 100 types of aircraft. He started Wasabi Air Racing, designed and built his own Reno Racer, has worked on anything from WWII trainers to spaceships, and holds six world records.
What’s the job like?
Surrounded by continuous innovation, as a test pilot you’ve got a front row seat to the next big thing in aviation. Most test pilots get to fly a wide variety of aircraft and test various modifications. Data gathering requires flying at a precise speed and height, often in extreme conditions.
However, usually you’re not flying a lot, the test flights themselves are literally the tip of the iceberg. What lies beneath is a mountain of work – reviewing data and preparing for that single flight.
Who fits the role?
Pilots who want to know every single thing about the aircraft they’re flying. Being a test pilot is not for ‘Nervous Nigels and Nellies’, for example, stall testing can get pretty hairy. And what about simulated engine failures on pitch black airfields? Or flying a twin at MTOW with extreme CoG and one engine out? Essential qualities for a test pilot include attention to detail and discipline.
Each flight needs to be carefully planned beforehand, looking closely at the risks involved, and if something unexpected happens, you need to have the self-restraint to terminate the flight.
How to get there?
The conventional path to become a test pilot is by going to the military and becoming a fighter pilot. In the UK, joining the RAF could lead to attending the Empire Test Pilots’ School and in the USA there’s the US Air Force Test Pilot School.
However, going through the military isn’t the only way. Elliot Seguin said: “I went to engineering school in New York. This engineering background gave me a stronger technical and fundamental knowledge, but I had the large disadvantage of not having flown a lot. To get this hands-on experience, I designed and built my own aeroplane. Racing that aeroplane at Reno is my resume’s equivalent to air combat.”
Why?
Variety, demanding flying and helping to improve aviation safety are great reasons to get into test flying. Plus, of course, an interest in R&D.
Elliot Seguin: “As a test pilot, I have an incredible opportunity to see how the pieces fit together. It’s the freaking coolest job in the world!”
Any tips?
Elliot Seguin: “The only way to make it from engineering into flight testing is to fly as much as you can, and as many weird aeroplanes as possible. Engineers don’t get offered test pilot jobs from their desktop computers.”
