NAVAL AIR SYSTEMS COMMAND, PATUXENT RIVER, Md. -- Naval Acquisition Development Program (NADP) participants from Naval Air System Command’s (NAVAIR) Logistics and Industrial Operations (AIR 6.0) and Contracts (AIR 2.0) continued their pursuit to learn more about how their work supports the fleet and paid a visit to the United States Navy Test Pilot School (USNTPS) here in February.

NADP participants were treated to an up close view of the wide variety of aircraft that are part of test pilot training -- from ones in use since the 1950s to today’s technologically sophisticated aircraft. Participants were also briefed on the rigor of the courses for the USNTPS students, which are continuously revised to accommodate new technologies and include three different criteria:  fixed-wing, rotary-wing and airborne systems.

The USNTPS dates back to 1943 and each class includes pilots, flight officers and engineers from across the Navy, Marine Corps, Army and Air Force as well as international aviators and engineers and civil service engineers. USNTPS is the only test pilot school in the U.S. military that offers academic courses on helicopters, and the only one in the world for airborne systems. Graduates of the school include many of the early astronauts who helped launch the U.S. space program.

To date, NADP participants have toured the Manned Flight Simulator at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, the Pentagon, Fleet Readiness Center Mid-Atlantic in Oceana, Virginia, and a variety of project management activities and several laboratories around Patuxent River.