Qualifications and training

Abstract

As you can imagine, training for a flight by the Piccards or the Russian aeronauts in the 1930s was quite limited in comparison to today’s qualifications and training for a U-2 pilot or for the pilot and sensor operator of a WB-57F. Likewise, training to be a fighter pilot during World War II, the Korean War, or even the Vietnam War, was limited in comparison to that of the X pilots of the 1950s and 1960s. Then there was the training for the rocket planes and the Blackbirds. It was even different for the pilots of the first secret aircraft like the original U-2 and the A-12 which required much more in the way of security clearances and personal interviews regarding not only the pilot, but their wife and family. It is also different for a military person than a civilian. Today, many pilots are graduates of the USAF or USN Test Pilot Schools, but that is not necessarily a requirement for a high altitude crewmen. This chapter examines the training program and the qualifications of different types of pilots and sensor operators, and what it takes to fly high performance high altitude aircraft.