Air Force Test Center

The Air Force Test Center (AFTC) conducts developmental and follow-on testing and evaluation of manned and unmanned aircraft and related avionics, flight-control, and weapon systems. AFTC also operates the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School, which trains test pilots, flight-test engineers, and flight-test navigators. The center has tested all the aircraft types in the Air Force inventory, and the center's workforce—civilian, military and contractor—work together to flight test and evaluate new aircraft and upgrades to aircraft already in inventory for Air Force units, the Department of Defense, NASA and other government agencies. Upgrades to be tested here include improvements to radar, weapons-delivery and navigation systems, and a system to give tactical pilots the ability to strike ground targets from low altitudes at night and in adverse weather. The Air Force Test Center develops, operates and maintains the Edwards Flight Test Range and Utah Test and Training Range. It also operates the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School. The center provides test infrastructure, overhead support for development, and operational test and evaluation support for aerospace research vehicles. AFFTC resources include the test and evaluation mission simulator, the Benefield Anechoic Chamber, Ridley Mission Control, and the Integration Facility for Avionics Systems Testing. Ongoing research projects include the Lockheed Martin X-56 (UAV). Air Force Flight Test Museum The Air Force Flight Test Museum is open to military personnel with credentials to enter the base as well as general public tours offered periodically. The museum also features 40 aircraft on display at the museum or the nearby Blackbird Airpark in Palmdale, California. The museum also features aircraft engines, missiles, hardware, life support equipment, technical drawings, test reports memorabilia, and models. ==History==

World War II Flight testing began at Muroc Army Air Base (later renamed Edwards Air Force Base) during World War II. It dates to 17 February 1942 when the 477th Base Headquarters and Air Base Squadron (Reduced) was moved from Wright Field, Ohio to the Muroc Bombing and Gunnery Range. Its mission was to test the secret Bell Aircraft XP-59A jet fighter. Muroc was chosen as it was a secluded site in the Mojave Desert out of the public eye. The first XP-59A aircraft arrived on 21 September 1942 for ground tests and it was fitted with a dummy propeller attached to its nose, just in case the curious might see it and start asking why this aircraft didn't have a propeller. On 30 September, Bell's test pilot Robert Stanley was undergoing some high-speed taxiing trials with the XP-59A when the aircraft "inadvertently" became airborne for a short time, reaching an altitude of ten feet for one-half-mile during high speed taxi tests. However, the first official flight was on 1 October with NACA, Navy Bureau of Aeronautics, Royal Air Force, Army, Bell and General Electric personnel on hand. The first Northrop XB-35 Flying Wing (serial number 42-13603) took off on its maiden flight on 25 June 1946, with Max Stanley as pilot and Dale Schroeder as flight engineer. On this first flight, the aircraft was flown from Hawthorne to Muroc, a flight lasting 45 minutes. The propeller-driven XB-35 however, was considered outdated and it was replaced by the jet-powered YB-49 on 21 October 1947 from the Northrop Field at Hawthorne, California, piloted by Northrop's chief test pilot, Max Stanley. At the end of the flight, it landed at Muroc Air Force Base where it was to carry out its test program. On the morning of 5 June 1948, XB-49 42-102368 crashed just north of Muroc Dry Lake. The pilot, Air Force Capt. Glenn Edwards, and all four other members of the crew were killed. In 1951 Muroc AFB was re-designated Edwards Air Force Base in his honor. The 1960s ushered in the Space Age. The Test Pilot School was re-designated as the Aerospace Research Pilot School as it began to train future astronauts. The North American X-15 arrived and began to explore hypersonic and exoatmospheric flight. Major Robert "Bob" White became the first person to fly an aircraft into space on 17 July 1962 when he flew his X-15 to an altitude of 314,750 feet. Flying the same airframe a year later Joe Walker reached an altitude of 354,200 feet (67 miles). On 3 October 1967 William "Pete" Knight set the standing aircraft speed record of Mach 6.72 (4,520 mph), again flying an X-15. When the space program began a number of astronauts were selected from the Air Force's test pilot cadre. Additionally, the AFTC assisted with the testing of rocket engines and re-entry vehicles. The MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper attack UAVs, tested at Edwards, saw extensive service during the War in Afghanistan (2001-2021) and the Iraq War (U.S. phase, 2003-2010) as well as in drone strikes in the Pakistani borderlands and U.S. operations in and around Somalia. More recently the AFTC was part of ASM-135 ASAT anti-satellite missile and Joint Direct Attack Munition development. The center played a key role in the development of the Air Force's X-35A and X-32A prototypes for the Joint Strike Fighter program, both making their first flights in late 2000. The resulting F-35 Lightning II is being built in three versions for the Air Force, the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps, as well as multiple allied military partners. NASA maintains its Armstrong Flight Research Center on Edwards and partners with the AFFTC on aircraft development. Effective 6 July 2012, the Air Force Flight Test Center was redesignated the Air Force Test Center, part of a new five-center AFMC construct. The new name reflects AFTC's expanded mission which includes Eglin AFB and Arnold AFB as well as flight test activities at Edwards. ==Units in 2012==

• 412th Test Wing (Tail Code: ED) : The 412th Test Wing plans, conducts, analyzes, and reports on all flight and ground testing of aircraft, weapons systems, software and components as well as modeling and simulation for the U.S. Air Force. The Wing also oversees the base's day-to-day operations and provides support for military, federal civilian, and contract personnel assigned to Edwards AFB. : 412th Operations Group. : There are eight flight test squadrons under the 412th Operations Group with as many as 20 aircraft assigned to each. The 412 OG flies an average of 90 aircraft with upwards of 30 different aircraft designs. It also performs more than 7,400 missions (including more than 1,900 test missions) on an annual basis. The aircraft are grouped by mission :: Global Power (fighters and bombers) ::: 411th Flight Test Squadron: (F-22) ::: 416th Flight Test Squadron: (F-16) ::: 419th Flight Test Squadron: (B-52H, B-1, B-2) ::: 445th Flight Test Squadron: (Initial Flight Test Operations, T-38) ::: 461st Flight Test Squadron: (F-35 Joint Strike Fighter) :: Global Reach (transport and air refueling) ::: 412th Flight Test Squadron: (C-135C Speckled Trout) ::: 418th Flight Test Squadron: (C-130 and special operations and special mission variants; CV-22; KC-135 and special variants; C-17A) :: Global Vigilance (unmanned) ::: 452d Flight Test Squadron: (RQ-4) : 412th Test Management Division : 412th Test Management Group : 412th Electronic Warfare Group : 412th Engineering Division :: The Engineering Division and the Electronic Warfare Group provide the central components in conducting the Test and Evaluation mission of the 412 TW. They provide the tools, talent and equipment for the core disciplines of aircraft structures, propulsion, avionics and electronic warfare evaluation of the latest weapon system technologies. They also host the core facilities that enable flight test and ground test—the Range Division, Benefield Anechoic Facility, Integrated Flight Avionics Systems Test Facility and the Air Force Electronic Warfare Evaluation Simulator. The Project and Resource Management Divisions provide the foundation for the successful program management of test missions. : 412th Civil Engineer Division : 412th Maintenance Group : 412th Medical Group : 412th Mission Support Group • U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School (USAFTPS) :: The USAF Test Pilot School, also part of the 412th Test Wing, is where select Air Force pilots, navigators/combat systems officers, and engineers learn how to conduct flight tests and generate the data needed to carry out test missions. A small number of Army Aviators and USN and USMC Naval Aviators and Naval Flight Officers also attend USAFTPS. Human lives and millions of dollars depend upon how carefully a test mission is planned and flown. The comprehensive curriculum of Test Pilot School is fundamental to the success of flight test and evaluation. • Detachment 1, Air Force Test Center, United States Air Force Plant 42, Palmdale, California. Aircraft manufacturing facility.*** Lineage • Established as 477th Base Headquarters and Air Base Squadron (Reduced), 17 February 1942 : Disbanded on 11 March 1944 • Established as 730th Army Air Forces Base Unit (Flight Test), 11 March 1944 : Re-designated: 4144th Army Air Forces Base Unit, 1 October 1946 : Re-designated: 2759th Air Force Base Unit, 29 August 1948 : Re-designated: 2759th Experimental Wing, 20 May 1949 : Inactivated on 25 June 1951 • Established as Air Force Flight Test Center and organized on 25 June 1951. : Re-designated: Air Force Test Center on 6 July 2012 Assignments • Army Air Forces Materiel Command, 17 February 1942 • Air Technical Service Command. 31 August 1944 • Air Materiel Command, 9 March 1946 • Research and Development Command on 23 January 1950 • Air Research and Development (later Air Force Systems) Command, 25 June 1951 • Air Force Materiel Command, 1 Jul 1992–Present Major components • 96th Test Wing • 3077th Experimental Group, 20 May 1949 – 25 June 1951 • 6510th Air Base Wing, 25 June 1951 – 4 October 1954 • 6510th Air Base Group, 4 October 1954 – 1 March 1978 • 6512th Test Pilot Training Squadron, 1 September 1952 – 1 March 1961 • USAF Test Pilot School, 1 January 1953 – Present • 6510th Test Group, 1 July 1959 – 25 October 1963 • 6512th Test Group, 1 July 1959 : Re-Designated: 6512th Test Wing, 1 October 1969 – 1 January 1973 • Air Force Rocket Propulsion Laboratory, 25 October 1963 – Present • 4200th Test and Evaluation Squadron, 1 January 1965 – 2 October 1992 • 18th Survival Squadron, 1 January 1967 – 30 June 1975 • 6510th Test Wing, 1 March 1978 : Re-designated 412th Test Wing, 2 October 1992–Present == List of commanders since 2012 ==