Cream of the Crop Rises to the Top
For 10 1/2 months at Edwards Air Force Base, some of the U.S. Air Force’s most experienced pilots, engineers and navigators get a taste of the best of life at the top.
In exchange for a pledge of four more years of service, they learn in the prestigious $780,000-per-participant program to organize, supervise and conduct flight tests to research, develop and evaluate experimental and prototype aircraft and systems.
They fly A-37, T-38, F/RF-4, A-7, U-6, KC-135 and UV-18 aircraft, as well as planes and jets from other branches of the U.S. armed forces and those of foreign nations.
The program has produced its share of Air Force brass and heroes, including the majority of Air Force astronauts.
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