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

Wandt, a former Swedish Air Force fighter pilot who was Saab’s chief test pilot, currently serves as the company’s chief innovation officer.

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And the only way to achieve this was to join the military and become a test pilot.

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He added that the questions sought to assist in establishing why "25 passengers and four crew were placed in an unairworthy aircraft that the MoD's most experienced test pilots were forbidden to fly."

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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.

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“It’s going to support the crews, not replace them,” says Airbus chief commercial test pilot Malcolm Ridley.

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