Gripen expands links with ETPS
Trainee test pilots at
Trainee test pilots at ETPS (Empire Test Pilots’ School), Britain’s world-class test pilot training school, will gain greater access to flying the world’s first operational fourth-generation fighter under a new agreement with Saab, brokered by Gripen International. The deal agreed this month, sees an extension of flying hours for ETPS students, as well as greater flying autonomy.
Since 1999 Saab has been co-operating with ETPS, to include Gripen in the School’s test pilot training courses. Select groups of trainees and their instructor pilots (IPs) have come to
This year will see a significant step forward in Gripen’s relationship with the ETPS as the aircraft is fully integrated into the School’s training syllabus. For the first time, Gripen will be flown exclusively by ETPS personnel – with two-seat aircraft occupied by an ETPS IP and student on every flight. Up to now a Saab test pilot has always been on board, but for 2005 Gripen will be released entirely to the ETPS.
Two training courses will be undertaken, each involving five students and two IPs. The instructors will undergo a three-week conversion exercise to qualify them on Gripen. The test pilot trainees will be drawn from
Saab Aerosystems’ Director, After Sales Torsten Öhman, said “Saab is delighted that the world’s foremost test pilot’s school has chosen to train its students on the Gripen.
Saab is a company with a high degree of interest in the art of flight test, so we are very happy to co-operate with such a prestigious flight test school and expose our aircraft to such high-level personnel. We are fully committed to supporting whatever future aspirations the ETPS may have for Gripen.”
The expanded ETPS project is being carried out in close co-operation with Saab Aerosystems and the Swedish Air Force, and will further strengthen the excellent relations that already exist between these highly skilled operators.
Saab is one of the world’s leading high-technology companies, with its main operations focusing on defense, aviation and space. The group covers a broad spectrum of competence and capabilities in systems integration.
For further information please contact:
Heidi Wendt, Communications Director, Saab Aerosystems
Tel: +46 (0)13-18 00 17. Cell: +46 (0)734-18 00 17
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