THE LIFE OF A TEST PILOT

MARYLAND, UNITED STATES

05.25.2022

Story by Petty Officer 2nd Class Sonja Wickard 

All Hands Magazine

THE LIFE OF A TEST PILOT
From Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Sonja Wickard/All Hands Magazine


A United States test pilot’s job is vital to the success of the Navy’s mission to maintain, train and equip combat-ready naval forces; capable of winning wars, deterring aggression and sustaining freedom of the seas.
The path a person needs to walk to become a test pilot is long and difficult. Someone who wants to be a pilot needs to be prepared to give their all regarding hard work, dedication and education.
Cpt. Elizabeth “Lizard” Somerville, current commanding officer of Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 23 Naval Air Station Patuxent River, MD and perspective commodore of Naval Test Wing Atlantic (NTWL) has had a love for flying since childhood.
“I ended up getting my pilot’s license in high school, almost before I had a driver’s license,” Somerville said. “I did get my driver’s license first, but not by much.”
Somerville said a passion for aviation seems to run in the family and that she has always been fascinated with planes since she was young.
“I had a grandfather, who was a seaplane pilot. He flew PBYs (Consolidated PBY Catalina) in WWII. My other grandfather, who was a radioman also in the WWII timeframe, owned a small airplane and growing up, I would have the opportunity to fly with him.”
Learning to fly with her grandfather and Somerville’s intense interest in aviation in general became the building blocks for a career where anything that had to do with airplanes was a source of immense enjoyment to her. It grew into a love for being around people who were as fascinated by aviation as she was.
The duties of a test pilot may seem simple at first glance. To become a pilot and fly various types of aircraft for testing. The reality is a bit more involved. Just ask Lt. Alexandra Mensing a Naval Flight Officer (NFO) at VX-23.
According to Mensing, while the test pilots at VX-23 don’t fly as often as the fleet, they do manage to keep quite busy. In short, a typical flying day for an NFO might look something like this.
The pilots start with a briefing alongside engineers and/or whoever is flying with them to figure out what it is they’re testing for that day. They also discuss whether or not they would be communicating with the engineers during the flight or bringing the data they’ve collected to them afterward. Then the flight. Lastly, flight data is passed along to the engineersso they can discuss more, or if they communicated during the flight, they go over all details.
After debriefing with the engineers, the NFOs will note what was accomplished in that particular day’s flights before planning for more testing or other flights.
“There’s always something else on the plate,” Mensing explains. “Whether it’s another test plan that you’re reading through and editing or working with your engineers to figure out what’s left with other projects.”
Mensing knew she wanted to go into naval aviation as soon as she started meeting and talking with members of the community. She said she loved the personalities and the dynamic aspect of the job; Somerville explained a reason why.
“Everybody who wants to be a test pilot initially comes from a fleet background, so they understand what their particular aircraft is, how it operates and its mission environment. That’s very important to what we do here,” Somerville said. “We develop stuff and get it back out to the fleet so that it operates in the way that the aircraft needs to operate.”
Somerville explains after attending an 11-month course at the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School and reporting to their assigned squadrons, a test pilot or Naval Flight Officer (NFO) is assigned a project(s), namely aircraft to assess. Test pilots and NFOs work a variety of projects in addition to the ones they are already assigned.
“They work on everything from the development of the
air vehicle to the subsystems that make it operate,” saidSomerville. “In the developmental test, our test pilots and NFOs have the opportunity to work on and improve all our programs to advance capability and operational readiness for naval and Marine Corps aviation.”
As much as Somerville loves aviation and aircraft, there is something she values over even the most costly and advanced aircraft the Navy possesses--people.
“I haven’t had a place that I have not truly enjoyed working. The jobs have been great. I’ve loved them,” Somerville said. “But I think first and foremost the things that have really made it that way have been the people that I’ve had the opportunity to work with, both military and civilian, who have been absolutely committed to the jobs; committed to the missions and very motivated, genuinely great people to work with day in and day out.”
“She’s (Somerville) an awesome leader. She genuinely cares about her people,” Mensing said. “I’ve learned a lot from her from the short time that I’ve been here.”
For Somerville, the support and opportunities to improve she offers people as CO is one of the most important aspects of her job. One she hopes to continue to perform and improve on in her next role as Commodore of Naval Test Wing Atlantic.
“I feel a strong level of commitment to the mission. You know, we are here flying very expensive airplanes,” said Somerville. “We are here testing extremely expensive equipment. And our ultimate end goal is to deliver the most capable equipment to the fleet.”

• Date Taken: 05.25.2022
• Date Posted: 12.28.2022 15:49
• Story ID: 435994
• Location: MARYLAND, US