test pilot

noun

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

test pilot

noun

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of test pilot¹

First recorded in 1925–30

Example Sentences

Armstrong had served as a Naval aviator in Korea, returned to Purdue to complete his degree, and then joined NASA’s predecessor agency as a test pilot.

From Time

Back in the heyday of the Cold War and the 1960s Space Race, NASA recruited its astronauts almost exclusively from the ranks of military test pilots.

From Time

It’s true for test pilots, it’s true for tourists, it’s even true for fabulously rich men who build their own spacecraft and pay their own freight.

From Time

FAA regulators can only learn what is safe and what is not as the test pilots learn it themselves.

From The Daily Beast

This is an expansion of the company’s existing license, which had granted it permission to fly professional test pilots and astronauts to space using its spaceplane.

From TechCrunch

But she surprised the test pilots—there were three, the chief test pilot Jack Waddell, Wygle and Jess Wallick.

From The Daily Beast

Illinois is at the forefront of smart-grid test-pilot programs.

From The Daily Beast

Inside the small world of military aviation, his exploits as a test pilot are still spoken of with awe.

From The Daily Beast

His skill as a research and test pilot certainly impressed Buzz Aldrin.

From The Daily Beast

I had known Bill since before he had become their chief test pilot.

From Project Gutenberg

Last Fridays job was to have been Jimmys last as a test pilot.

From Project Gutenberg

If something goes wrong because the test pilot is disturbed or nervous, the company will be bankrupt.

From Project Gutenberg

I had heard that another free-lance test pilot like myself had recently jumped out of a ship he had been diving.

From Project Gutenberg

Our chief test pilot now, you know, has done seven of these dive demonstrations.

From Project Gutenberg