EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif -- The Experimental Flight Test Pilot School, newly transferred from Wright-Patterson AFB and renamed, opened its first classes at Edwards. The TPS shared its facility with the Base Transient Maintenance Hangar, Bldg T-1011.
The National Test Pilot School (NTPS) is a nonprofit civilian institution of higher education located and incorporated in the State of California. The School was established in 1981 to meet the flight test training needs of both the US and international aerospace communities. NTPS students and customers come from a variety of backgrounds including military organizations, aerospace industry, governments, certification agencies, and even private citizens. NTPS is the first and only accredited test pilot in the world and the first to be certified as an Approved Training Organization by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).
The mission of the National Test Pilot School is to educate and train military and civilian aviation personnel so that each graduate increases flight test competency, improves flight test and aviation safety, and enhances the aerospace profession world-wide. Our mission is primarily accomplished through our professional courses and masters programs that provide graduate level flight test education and training to test pilots and flight test engineers who learn to safely and effectively plan, execute, and report on flight test programs for their military or civilian organizations. Our mission is further accomplished through NTPS' continuing education programs, flight test-related research programs, and flight test support activities that increase competency, safety, and the breadth of knowledge in the aviation and flight test professions.