US Air Force test pilot school adds water landings to curriculum
Trainees are flying both the Icon A5 and Lake Aircraft LA-4 Buccaneer amphibians.
US Air Force officers training to become test pilots are now practicing water landings as part of their qualification.
The service’s 412th Test Wing, which operates the Test Pilot School (TPS), said on 18 October that water landings have returned to the academic curriculum, using two types of amphibian aircraft.
Students flew the Icon A5 and the Lake Aircraft LA-4 Buccaneer. Both aircraft feature a top-mounted piston engine and pusher propeller — the Lycoming IO-360 in the case of the Buccaneer and the Rotax 912 iS for the A5.
The privately owned sport aircraft are both registered to the same owner in Bakersfield, California, not far from Edwards AFB, where the Test Pilot School is housed.
“Becoming a USAF test leader means being comfortable with the uncomfortable, regardless of setting or aircraft class,” the 412th Test Wing says.
“A standard year within TPS will see students fly 20-plus unique aircraft types. These new additions… further aid airmanship and critical thinking.”
The Icon A5 is a two-seat light-sport amphibian. Source: US Air Force
The amphibian flights were incorporated into a section of the test pilot training syllabus known as the Qualitative Evaluation Program (QEP). An older version of that curriculum lists a Single-Look QEP as the final instructional block of the course.
An August contract from the Air Force Test Center for private flight services in support of the QEP described the programme as “intended to broaden the experience of students and staff with a variety of aircraft that exhibit unique flying characteristics or mission systems.”
That deal covered flights in a number of aircraft not operated by the USAF, including the North American T-2 Buckeye, Douglas A-4 Skyhawk, Daher Kodiak 100, Cirrus Vision Jet, Noorduyn Norseman, unspecified lighter-than-air vehicles and jet gliders.
In 2022, USAF test pilot students travelled to South Korea as part of their QEP block, where they flew a number of Republic of Korea Air Force aircraft, including the KAI KT-1 turboprop trainer and KAI FA-50 light fighter. Students also observed test flights of South Korea’s indigenously developed KAI KF-21 fighter.
The Czech-made Aero L-39 Albatros has also been featured in past QEPs.
Notably, the recent amphibian flights mark the return of water landings to the TPS curriculum, according to the 412th Test Wing. The unit does not say when that practice lapsed. Footage from 2020 shows trainees operating a Grumman HU-16 Albatross flying boat.
Canada’s privately operated International Test Pilots School also secured a contract with the TPS earlier this year to provide HU-16 flight-test training for a different instructional programme.
Japan is one of the few countries to still operate military amphibian aircraft, with a small fleet of ShinMaywa US-2s. Source: Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force
The Pentagon has shown renewed interest in amphibian aircraft in recent years, although several projects have failed to gain traction.
US Special Operations Command partnered with Sierra Nevada Corporation to conduct a feasibility study around developing a seaplane conversion kit for the Lockheed Martin MC-130J tactical transport, an effort called the MC-130J Amphibious Capability. The idea was ultimately shelved in 2024.
A separate programme known as Liberty Lifter was funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to explore the possibility of developing a heavy-lift flying boat for transporting large amounts of cargo. That project was concluded in 2025 without a flying demonstrator being built, although two concept designs had been developed by Aurora Flight Sciences and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems.
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