Test Pilot

Test pilots work on developing, evaluating and proving experimental aircraft.

Notable Test Pilots

Some notable test pilots include:

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• Brigadier General Charles E. "Chuck" Yeager, who is most thought of when people think of a "test pilot"
• Scott Crossfield, Yeager's direct rival
• George Welch, a test pilot for North American Aviation, who some contest broke the sound barrier before Yeager.
• Gerry Sayer Flt Lt PEG 'Gerry' Sayer test-piloted Britain's first jet aircraft for in 1941 Sir Frank Whittle.
• Neil Armstrong, X-15 pilot and first man on the moon
• "Tex" Johnston, who piloted the Boeing 707 prototype
• André Edouard Turcat, who piloted the Concorde prototype
• Mike Melvill, first privately-funded pilot in space
• Eric "Winkle" Brown
• Hanna Reitsch
• Joe Walker, X-15 pilot, first to reach the internationally-recognized boundary to space in a spaceplane