test pilot

American  

noun

1. a pilot employed to test-fly newly-built aircraft.

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test pilot British  

noun

1. a pilot who flies aircraft of new design to test their performance in the air

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Etymology

Origin of test pilot

First recorded in 1925–30

Example Sentences

Reid Wiseman is a US Navy test pilot turned astronaut, who spent six months on the International Space Station in 2014 as a flight engineer on Expedition 40.

From BBC • Mar. 30, 2026

Reid Wiseman, a 50-year-old former naval aviator and test pilot who also formerly served as a deputy chief of NASA's astronaut office, will be in command.

From Barron's • Mar. 25, 2026

Crew-12 marks the first spaceflight for mission specialist Sophie Adenot and pilot Jack Hathaway, both of whom have test pilot backgrounds.

From Science Daily • Feb. 2, 2026

In another project, Strachan honored America’s first Black astronaut, Robert Henry Lawrence Jr. He died in a plane crash while training a test pilot in 1968 before he could take part in any space mission.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 16, 2025

So I went back to school, something I had never expected to do again, to learn how to be a test pilot, at the Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, California.

From "Flying to the Moon: An Astronaut's Story" by Michael Collins