Engineer Test

Curriculum Vitae – Adrian Manson

Personal Profile:

Aeronautical Engineer with experience in aerodynamics, stability and control, simulation, mechanical systems, flight test, project engineering/management, Independent Technical Evaluation, hazard identification and risk assessments. Have gained experience in both the Design Organisation and Independent Technical Evaluator environments. Planned and executed design, commissioning, test and evaluation activities in support of aircraft certification utilising flight simulators, integration test rigs, flight test aircraft and OEM test data. Managed small engineering groups comprising various disciplines. Chartered Engineer.

Key Skills:

TEAM WORKING, ORGANISATION and LEADERSHIP

Led small multi-discipline groups of engineers and technicians in design, construction and commissioning activities to support aircraft modification programmes.

Capable of representing flying qualities and stability and control within a multi-national combined test teams for heavy aircraft.

Experienced working in combined test teams with military, contractor and government representatives.

Organised groups of engineers in the analysis and reporting of flight test data to support flight trials.

Mentored junior engineers and students in use of flight simulation models and also career development.

COMMUNICATION

Confident working across multiple disciplines including engineering, commercial, manufacturing, production and operations departments.

Capable of converting complex problems into manageable work packages and communicating the solution to the team to achieve project objectives.

TIME MANAGEMENT

Can produce complex analysis and reports to agreed timescales.

Managed small engineering groups in the design, manufacture and commissioning of test rigs and simulators to agreed timescales.

AIRCRAFT FLIGHT DYNAMICS and FLIGHT TEST

Production of flight test documentation encompassing test plans, risk assessments, sortie planning, crew briefings/de-briefings, test director and flight test observer, post flight reporting.

Experienced in the application of certification basis and flight test requirements for large/heavy aircraft flying qualities, stability and control.

Experienced in the construction and use of flight simulation models in Matlab-Simulink for stability and control assessments.

Capable of producing aerodynamic predictions of external aircraft modifications using empirical and computational analysis tools.

Successfully integrated flight simulation models with hardware- and pilot-in-the-loop test rigs.

Key Achievements:

Led test planning for aerodynamic data gathering flight test programme including flight profile generation (converted 2000 test points into 60 flight/300 hour test programme) and test point tracking.

Converted a disparate collection of flight test data into a coherent assessment of flying qualities, stability and control to provide a risk assessment of the flight envelope of a large transport category aircraft against military and civil airworthiness requirements to support entry into service.

Led a small multi-discipline group in the design, construction and commissioning of a fixed-base pilot-in-the-loop heavy aircraft flight simulator for a powerplant flying test bed which was successfully achieved against tight deadlines in time to complete the work-up to first flight.

Led a small multi-discipline group in the design, construction and commissioning of avionics integration test rigs on time and to budget.

Identified multi-departmental contributions to the inspection and maintenance aspects of a Wing Fatigue Test to facilitate improvements in project co-ordination which increased test efficiency and regained customer confidence.

Lead engineer for the aerodynamic, stability and control modelling of an engine flying test bed.

Key Flight Test Experience:

July 2016 to Present, Principal Flight Dynamics Engineer, Marshall Aerospace and Defence Group

SPECIAL MISSIONS CONVERSION

Responsible for delivering flight dynamics and flight test activities on a project to convert a civil jet for the reconnaissance and surveillance role. Define the certification strategy for the stability, control and handling of the modified aircraft to achieve compliance with EASA CS-25. Review original certification evidence and analysis predictions to determine scope of flight test campaign for modified aircraft to achieve a supplementary type certificate. Preparation of analysis tools for flight test.

Jul 2014 to Jul 2016, Senior Engineer, Flight Physics, QinetiQ

RC-135W AERO MODELLING, 645th AERONAUTICAL SYSTEMS SQUADRON, USAF

Reviewed USAF test plan and negotiated test points to achieve Customer requirements for expansion of flight envelope limits. Generated flight test safety documentation to enable participation in a USAF flight test programme. Deployed to Texas for 10 months where testing included air-to-air refuelling, stability and control, stalling, minimum control speeds, minimum unstick, take-off and landing tests. Provided ground support to USAF flight test engineers and test pilots by leading test planning, flight profile generation (converted 2000 test points into 60 flight/300 hour test programme) and test point tracking. Supported USAF technical and safety reviews. Led data analysis and reporting against Customer requirements. Received an accolade from the Customer for work done building relations with the USAF.

Jul 2012 to July 2014, Senior Engineer, Flight Physics, QinetiQ, United Kingdom

HEAVY AIRCRAFT FLIGHT TEST EVIDENCE EVALUATION and RISK ASSESSMENT

Provide independent technical evaluations of flight test evidence for flying qualities, stability and control for large/heavy military/civil aircraft. Review contractor test procedures and test results. Evaluate test data and report achieved results to determine compliance with military (Defence Standard 00-970) and civil requirements (CS-25). Conduct hazard identification and produce risk assessments in support of aircraft safety documentation. Report and presentation delivered to the Customer against accelerated timescales. Engaged with OEM to resolve discrepancies in historical data.

Oct 2009 and Jun to Sept 2011, Senior Flight Dynamics Engineer, Marshall Aerospace

C-130 OPERATIONAL LOADS MEASUREMENT FLIGHT TESTING

Planned and conducted flight tests based on requirement to calibrate the instrumentation for Operational Loads Measurement programmes on C-130K and J aircraft. Produced flight test documentation, organised flight test readiness reviews, briefs/de-briefs and post flight reports.

Feb 2008 to Oct 2009, Senior Flight Dynamics Engineer, Marshall Aerospace

AIRBUS A400M POWERPLANT FLYING TEST BED – GROUND and FLIGHT TESTING

Organised engineers for analysis and reporting of test data, instrumentation fault rectification and briefings for Duty Holders. Flight test crew member for operation of the test engine electrical, hydraulic and pneumatic load simulator, including translation of customer requirements into the flight test plan, system design review and safety assessments, definition of commissioning and operating procedures, pre-commissioning of system components and operational use of system in flight. Deputised for the lead Flight Test Engineer during final engine ground testing. Produced ground test cards, ran crew briefings/de-briefings, acted as test director during high power/high crosswind ground testing and produced post-test reports.

Jan 2007 to Oct 2009, Senior Flight Dynamics Engineer, Marshall Aerospace

AIRBUS A400M POWERPLANT FLYING TEST BED – FLIGHT SIMULATOR

Led a team to design, construct and commission a pilot-in-the-loop flight simulator based on Matlab/ Simulink models. Configured simulation models to interface with hardware, visuals and instruments. Designed test programme to commission simulator and co-ordinated activities to support aircraft testing, including preparation, organisation, execution and analysis of simulator test programmes with full test aircrew. Provided support to the lead Flight Test Engineer in the development of flight test techniques and the production of flight test cards based on simulator testing which improved flight test efficiency.

Other General Experience:

Avionics rig design, commissioning and testing (displays, autopilot, flight management systems).

Project management experience on wing fatigue test and avionics test rig construction.

Desktop flight simulation in support of aircraft modifications using Matlab and Simulink.

Private Pilot with 230 hours.

Education:

University of Glasgow, Master of Engineering with First Class Honours in Aeronautical Engineering.

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