SquirrelFlight Posted June 19, 2008 Report Share Posted June 19, 2008 Greetings all, With my private and required commercial solo hours, and starting instrument training, my thoughts are turning again to what I'll be doing when I'm all done with training (I know, I know, instructing, but after *that*). One nice thought would be to find a way to work my prior background (BS in physics, grad coursework in computer science, fluid mechanics and meteorology). Is there anyone who flies for scientific/engineering research? This could be test flying or instrument platform flying, plus there are probably things I haven't even thought/dreamed of... is there anything like that out there that I could shoot for? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wally Posted June 19, 2008 Report Share Posted June 19, 2008 Greetings all, With my private and required commercial solo hours, and starting instrument training, my thoughts are turning again to what I'll be doing when I'm all done with training (I know, I know, instructing, but after *that*). One nice thought would be to find a way to work my prior background (BS in physics, grad coursework in computer science, fluid mechanics and meteorology). Is there anyone who flies for scientific/engineering research? This could be test flying or instrument platform flying, plus there are probably things I haven't even thought/dreamed of... is there anything like that out there that I could shoot for? You might try the question here: http://www.pprune.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=23 a fair few 'boffins' post there, heavy on Brits, but some Yanks and other nationalities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SquirrelFlight Posted June 19, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2008 Thanks! I just posted... we'll see if anything comes from it :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slick1537 Posted June 20, 2008 Report Share Posted June 20, 2008 (edited) I saw where the military flies a big fixed wing a/c into thunderstorms to gather research data. Although they probably don't do anything similar with helicopters. Man can you imagine flying a robbie into a thunderstorm. Edited June 20, 2008 by slick1537 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SquirrelFlight Posted June 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 20, 2008 I saw where the military flies a big fixed wing a/c into thunderstorms to gather research data. Although they probably don't do anything similar with helicopters. Man can you imagine flying a robbie into a thunderstorm. I think that just might fall into the category of moderate to severe turbulence... I got a response from PPrune forum that said PHI flies scientists and equipment to Antarctica... which is close to, if not exactly what I'm looking for... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngelFire_91 Posted June 21, 2008 Report Share Posted June 21, 2008 I currently am flying fixed wing weather research. We have a Citation, King air, and Baron that we use, and we have done everything from flying through clear air to take measurements, to the roughest 2 weeks of my life flying through the anvil of thunderstorms to research Mammatus clouds. Something that might interest you however, is we were working with Sikorsky to develop a better de/anti-icing system for their helicopters. We would fly into an area, pick up ice, measure it's density, and rate of accumulation, then tell the sikorsky guys to come on in. They would then fly through the same area and of course see how well the system worked on all the different conditions. These guys were Sikorsky test pilots, so it's not exactly a full time job doing stuff like that, but it's an idea for you to think about. Generally these guys have enormous amounts of hours, but the SIC was not previous military, and I don't know how many hours exactly he had, but it couldn't have been too much just based on the way he talked. My brother workes at NASA AMES flight research, and they have a couple projects going on right now with helicopters and fly-by-wire systems, and my brother in working on a helicopter noise project. The jobs are out there, it's just a matter of finding them. I wish I could tell you I knew someone you could talk to, but I don't. All these people I know have just been in passing. I'll talk to my brother (non-pilot) and see if he knows any of the pilots they work with, and see if they'd be willing to get you information. Kevin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SquirrelFlight Posted June 21, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 21, 2008 Thanks for the reply. Don't worry about rushing to get me a contact: I'm still in IFR and Comm training and have a little over 100 hours helicopter (about 350TT), so it will be a while before I'll be able to seriously look at one of these jobs. That is the sort of thing I had in mind, by the way, so thanks again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.