MANASSAS, VIRGINIA – December 9th, 2020 – Piston2Jet, a veteran-owned flight school based in Manassas, Virginia, recently released a truly one-of-a-kind flight training program. The new General Aviation Test Pilot Course is a Federal Aviation Administration Part 141 approved flight training program designed to teach pilots the basics of test pilot academics and how to design and conduct flight tests. The course is perfect for any pilot seeking knowledge of aircraft test techniques, pursuing additional qualifications, or interested in flight test or aerospace research sectors of the aviation industry.
Piston2Jet’s Test Pilot Course instructs pilots in a variety of new aviation skills and subjects including:
- quantitative and qualitative techniques for performance evaluation as well as longitudinal and lateral directional stability
- test pilot responsibilities, the test planning process and its associated risk assessment checklist, and the importance of test team interaction
- greater in-depth knowledge of performance calculations of light general aviation aircraft per the aircraft Pilot Operating Handbook (POH)
Piston2Jet’s Safety Director, retired USMC Colonel Doug “Smash” Yurovich, PhD, is the man behind the development of the course and is also its Chief Instructor. “Smash” is an accomplished test pilot and combat aviator with a diverse background in the military and general aviation industries. A graduate of the United States Naval Test Pilot School at NAS Patuxent River, he is also a TOPGUN graduate, Weapons and Tactics Instructor (WTI), a Marine Corps F/A-18 Hornet Squadron Commander, and the first-ever Marine Carrier Air Wing Commander. He has logged over 5,000 hours of flight time in 60+ aircraft types and has 500+ aircraft carrier landings. Smash is also the inaugural winner of the Captain Steven A. Hazelrigg Memorial Award at the Strike Aircraft Test Directorate. This award is given to those whose qualities of professionalism, leadership and team spirit best commemorate the levels of positive leadership, professional achievement, and selfless devotion to duty, which Captain Hazelrigg possessed.
For more information on this course and all other flight training opportunities offered by Piston2Jet, visit them at www.piston2jet.com, call them at 703-361-8300, or follow them on Facebook and Instagram (@piston2jet).
Piston2Jet is a veteran-owned flight school and aviation solutions company based at the Manassas Regional Airport in Manassas, Virginia, that provides aviation training to private individuals as well as commercial and government customers. Their leadership and instruction staff has amassed over 75,000 flight hours and 120 years of both civil and military experience making them one of the premiere aviation training small businesses in the Washington DC metropolitan area.
I wish them well, of course, but … a safety director named “Smash”?