Hi! What do test pilots and corporate pilots do?
Test pilots fly aircraft that need to be test flown for some reason. This sounds redundant, but most airplanes are put through a test profile after something as “normal” as an engine change. These are referred to as “maintenance test flights”. New airplanes being flown for the first time require a “production test flight”. And of course, new designs being flown for the first time go through a very involved test program to ensure that the airplane has desirable flying qualities. It is during this phase that major problems can surface that require re-design to fix. This type of “engineering test pilot” is usually a well-qualified pilot and an engineer. Corporate pilots fly for a specific company and provide transportation to the upper executives of the business. This type of flying can be international (with our new global economy) or domestic depending on the business contacts of the corporation. These pilots often fly new very well-appointed jets with attendants to take care of the pas
