Flight test in the context of "Aerospace Research Pilot School"

The U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School (USAF TPS) is the United States Air Force's advanced flight training school that trains experimental test pilots, flight test engineers, and flight test navigators to carry out tests and evaluations of new aerospace weapon systems and also other aircraft. This school was established on 9 September 1944 as the Flight Test Training Unit at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (AFB) in Dayton, Ohio. On 4 February 1951, the school was moved to Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert of Southern California, which offered uncongested skies, usually superb flying weather, and a lower risk that a crash would threaten people or buildings.

The TPS was created to formalize and standardize test pilot training, reduce the high accident rate during the 1940s, and increase the number of productive test flights. In response to the increasing complexity of aircraft and their electronic systems, the school added training programs for flight test engineers and flight test navigators. Between 1962 and 1972, the test pilot school included astronaut training for armed forces test pilots, but these classes were dropped when the U.S. Air Force crewed spaceflight program was suspended. Class sizes have been uniformly quite small, with recent classes having about twenty students. The school is a component of the 412th Test Wing of the Air Force Materiel Command.

Flight inspection refers to the periodic evaluation of navigational aids used in aviation, such as flight procedures and electronic signals, to ensure they are safe and accurate. Unlike flight tests, which analyze the aerodynamic design and safety of the aircraft itself, flight inspection comprises reviewing flight procedures (such as routes, approaches and departures) to ensure navigational support is sufficient, there are no obstacles and the procedure is reliable.

Flight inspectors originally tested the accuracy of light beacons sighted while flying. These beacons allowed pilots to fly at night with visual guidance. Radio navigation systems followed, with inspectors testing the radio transmitters while airborne, and then GPS.