List of aerospace flight test centres
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Flight test centers around the world all have similar missions: to conduct flight research and testing of new aircraft concepts and prototypes. Notable centers are listed below (by year of foundation):[1][2]
- U.K. Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment, based at Boscombe Down, England (founded 1917)
- U.S. Navy Air Warfare Test Center, based at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, United States (founded 1918, as the Navy's Flight Test Group based at Naval Air Station Anacostia)
- Swedish Armed Forces Flight Test and Evaluation Center (FMV:PROV is a part of FMV), based at Linköping, Sweden (founded 1933)[3]
- Italian Air Force Flight Test Center (Reparto Sperimentale di Volo), based at Pratica di Mare (founded 1935) [4]
- Russian State Flight Research and Test Center, based at Zhukovsky, Russia (founded 1941)
- I.N.T.A. Spanish Aerospace Research and Test Center, based at Torrejón de Ardoz, Community of Madrid, Spain (founded 1942)
- CLAEX Spanish Air Force Experimentation Center, based at Torrejón de Ardoz, Spain (founded 1992)[5]
- U.S. Air Force Test Center, based at Edwards Air Force Base, California, United States (founded 1942, as the new location of 477th Air Base Headquarters and Test Squadron)
- Flight Test Center (CEV) of the French Ministry of Armed Forces (CEV is a part of Directorate General of Armaments ), based at 217 Air Base in Brétigny-sur-Orge, France (founded 1945)
- NASA Flight Research Center, based at Edwards Air Force Base, California, United States (founded 1946, as the Muroc Flight Test Unit)
- NRC Flight Research Laboratory, based at Ottawa and Montreal, Canada[6][7] (founded 1951, as the National Aeronautical Establishment - NAE)[8]
- Brazilian Air Force Flight Testing and Research Institute (part of CTA), São José dos Campos, Brazil (founded 1953)[9]
- Japan Air Self-Defense Force Flight Test Center, based at Gifu Air Field, Japan (founded 1955)
- DLR German Aerospace Research and Test Center, based at Braunschweig, Germany (founded 1956)
- WTD 61 German Armed Forces Flight Test Center, based at Manching, Germany (founded 1957 as Testing Center for Military Aerial Equipment at Oberpfaffenhofen)[10]
- Indian Air Force Test Pilot School, Bangalore, India (founded 1957)
- U.S. Army Aviation Technical Test Center, currently based at Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville, Alabama, United States (founded 1957, as the U.S. Army Aviation Test Board based at Fort Rucker)[11][12]
- China Flight Test Establishment, based at Xi'an, China (founded 1959)[13][14]
- Swiss Air Force Flight Test Center (aviation branch of the Swiss Federal Office for Defence Procurement), based at Emmen Air Base, Emmen, Switzerland (founded 1964)
- Aerospace Engineering Test Establishment, based at Cold Lake, Alberta, and Ottawa,[15] Ontario, Canada (founded 1967, as the Royal Canadian Air Force Flight Test and Evaluation Squadron No. 448)[16]
- Israeli Air Force Flight Test Center (Manat), based at Tel Nof Airbase, Rehovot (founded 1978)[17]
- JAXA Flight Research Center, based at Chofu Aerodrome,[18] Nagoya Airfield and Taiki Aerospace Research Field[19]