QinetiQ welcomes top Green Tech company to test pilot school
29/05/2025
BETA Technologies, recognised by TIME magazine as the world’s top greentech company in 2025, have recently brought their all-electric fixed wing aircraft, ALIA CTOL, to the Empire Test Pilot School (ETPS) – one of the world’s top four test pilot schools – delivered by QinetiQ and the UK Ministry of Defence.
This is the first test pilot school that BETA have visited in Europe, and ETPS instructors and students alike were keen to take a closer look at this cutting-edge technology.
Gareth Bottomley, ETPS Senior Project Manager: "We at ETPS are always looking for new and novel aircraft for our students to fly and implement the test techniques they have learned.
The CX300 has recently completed a cross-country journey in the US, from upstate New York to Santa Monica Municipal Airport in California. The 8,000+ nm trip west and back involved flights in VFR and IFR day and night conditions conducted under special airworthiness certification issued by the FAA."
Nate Moyer, BETA’s Chief Test Pilot, said:
“Working with ETPS has been a valuable exchange of expertise. Our visits to the UK and Vermont have strengthened best practices and improved pilot safety on both sides.”
Chris Caputo, Director at Flight Operations at BETA, said:
“A critical piece of bringing Advanced Air Mobility to market is training the next generation of pilots to ensure they’re ready for the real-world challenges of modern aviation.”
“We’re honoured to be collaborating with one of Europe’s most historic test pilot schools to do this, combining their proven experience with our next-generation technologies.”
Aimed at small cargo, passenger and medical logistics, BETA aims to significantly reduce the emissions and overall costs of aviation, making flight more sustainable and accessible to all.
Cdr Ian J E Houlston RN, Commanding Officer, ETPS, said:
“ETPS remains committed to training test professionals for the future challenges of rapid development and efficient but effective capability procurement. BETA Technologies is a unique aerospace leader representing a bold and entrepreneurial ethos for driving innovation quickly whilst proactively controlling programme and flight risks. There is much that ETPS and BETA can learn from each other, for the betterment of global aviation progress and tomorrow’s Defence capabilities.”
Find out more at: https://www.qinetiq.com/en/capabilities/ai-analytics-and-advanced-computing/etps
