Test Pilot, Chris Taylor
Test Pilot, Chris Taylor
List: $19.95 | Sale: $13.97
Club: $9.97

Test Pilot
An Extraordinary Career Testing Civil Aircraft

Author: Chris Taylor

Narrator: Chris Taylor

Unabridged: 9 hr 27 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Pen and Sword

Published: 08/02/2023


Synopsis

Having flown an astonishing 400 different aircraft, as a licensed Category 1 test pilot and flight test instructor for both airplanes and helicopters, Chris Taylor is arguably one of the best qualified and widely experienced test pilots working today anywhere in the world.
After obtaining his private pilot’s license at the age of 17, Chris began his service flying career with the Royal Navy. He flew Wasp and Lynx helicopters from warships around the world under all kinds of circumstances.
After five years instructing, he then became a test pilot flying numerous types of experimental aircraft for research and development purposes, before returning to the Empire Test Pilot’s School as a tutor. Having served at Boscombe Down for 10 years, he joined the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority as an airplane and rotorcraft test pilot. With the closure of the CAA’s Flight Test Department, he went on to form his own company and has continued to test fly a wide variety of aircraft ever since.
Rather than the usual cutting-edge fast jets one associates with test pilots, Chris Taylor’s book covers general aviation aircraft, including testing homebuilt airplanes, helicopters and autogyros. It also features the testing of ex-military jets and warbirds such as the Fieseler Storch, Sea Fury, Spitfire and the Mustang.
As the author is someone who teaches test pilots how to become flight test instructors, the reader is privileged to be able to share in the ups and downs of aviation testing with one of the foremost test pilots of his era. Somehow, he still manages to find time to be a helicopter examiner and instructor for helicopters, airplanes and autogyros.
While Test Pilot will appeal to pilots of every era, it is aimed at the general reader who will be taken on a journey across the skies in almost every conceivable type of civil aircraft involving almost every imaginable flying incident.

About Chris Taylor

Chris Taylor is the deputy editor of Mashable, one of the world’s largest independent news websites. He has covered the intersection of business and culture for two decades as a writer and editor for Time, Business 2.0, Fortune Small Business, and Fast Company. A graduate of Merton College, Oxford and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, he lives in Berkeley, California.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Mike on May 28, 2022

A fantastic book on the work of a General Aviation test pilot. Written in an entertaining, informative and humorous manner, I felt that I was in the cockpit alongside Chris. I have read hundreds of books on aviation and most of them end up going to charity shops once read, but Test Pilot will be sta......more

Goodreads review by Sam on March 23, 2022

Wonderful insight into the world of civil aviation flight testing. Funny, poignant and gripping throughout.......more

Goodreads review by Paul on August 28, 2022

Easily one of the most engaging and entertaining books about aviation that I have read in a long time. I couldn't put the book down, and read it in one sitting (admittedly I was on an 8-hour long-haul flight at the time). Chris does a splendid job of balancing the technical and the theoretical aspec......more

Goodreads review by Andrew on April 18, 2022

I found the book extremely interesting , well written, humorous and does a great job of placing you in the cockpit of a huge number of aircraft that Chris has flown. This book is perfect for aviation enthusiasts, pilots and engineers ! I look forward to reading the follow up story when it is publish......more

Goodreads review by Chris on March 05, 2022

A collection of quotes and reviews: Wing Commander Mike Brooke AFC RAF (Retd). Fellow of SETP. Author of “Trials and Errors” Chris writes like he’s telling you a tale after a couple of beers. His stories are hilarious and scary in equal measure! Francis Donaldson BTech, CEng, FRAeS, Chief Engineer Ligh......more