National Test Pilot School expanding
'University' in Mojave
Mojave Desert News - 08/07/2008
By Bill Deaver
MOJAVE — As East Kern community leaders work to bring a state university to the High Desert, students at the National Test Pilot School at Mojave Airport/Spaceport can earn Masters degrees right here.
The only civilian school of the seven largest test pilot schools in the world, the NTPS is expanding its quarters. Nadia Roberts, a Flight Test Engineer Instructor and wife of Sean Roberts, who founded the school in the 1970s, said the new building will include 25,000 sq. ft. for maintenance, and another 18,000 sq. ft for offices and classrooms. It is under construction just west of the school’s main buildling and on the site of one of the airport’s original hangars, which was recently demolished.
Roberts said that students in the school’s 11-month professional course for test pilots and flight test engineers may earn a Master’s degree if they already have a baccalaureate degree.
The Masters program is administered through the National Flight Test Institute (NFTI), which was formed in 1994 as the degree-granting and research division of the NTPS. The Masters of Science in Flight Test Engineering program is accredited by ABET, the recognized accreditor for college and university programs in applied science, computing, engineering, and technology.
Most NTPS students also earn Continuing Education Units, Roberts said.
Thirty-two courses are currently offered at the school, covering a wide range of subjects for fixed-wing and helicopters, light aircraft, and unmanned aerial vehicles. Students from around the world attend the school and live in the local area while they are here.
Roberts said the number attending fluctuates, with 34 students currently enrolled in the professional course.
Aircraft
NTPS hangars a wide range of aircraft with 37 currently on the roster.
They range from a veteran DeHaviland Chipmunk to a C-47 and helicopters to
several types of jet fighters, including Saab Drakens and Aeromacchi
Impalas. Other aircraft are leased for specific curriculum requirements.
Students fly in the morning, filling local skies and supporting the East Kern Airport District as the airport’s largest fuel customer.
“The NTPS is our largest fuel and general aviation tenant,” said EKAD General Manager Stu Witt. “They bring to the airport international recognition — it doesn’t matter where you go anywhere in the world, people in aviation know Sean and Nadia”
Roberts said construction could be completed by years’s end.