News

Both former graduates of ETPS, Isabelle de Montet-Guerin and Cyril Dodin have been flight instructors at the school since 2018 and 2017 respectively, and their new roles have been approved by the Civil Aviation Authority.

De Montet-Guerin has over 20 years and more than 7,000 hours of operational and instructional flying experience, initially as a First Officer for British Airways, with 2,000 hours as a Boeing 757 and 767 Type Rated Examiner (TRE) and Type Rated Instructor (TRI). Prior to joining Airbus in Toulouse she spent two years at Cobham Aviation Services in the UK where she gained experience in flying electronic warfare support missions. Over 6 years at Airbus she amassed over 2,000 hours of production and experimental test flying and was Type rated on the A320, A330/350 and A380 aircraft.

Before joining ETPS, Dodin was a Rotary Wing Test Pilot and Instructor at the French Army Test Centre in Valence, France, following many years as an operational pilot and Commanding Officer and several years as a Support Helicopter Tactical Chief Instructor at the Army Air Corps School in Le Luc. He has amassed over 4,000 hours of flying experience on Gazelle, Puma, Cougar, NH90, Caracal and Fennec helicopters and is a qualified deck landing and Night Vision Goggle (NVG) Instructor. Earlier in his career, he obtained an MSc in Flight Dynamics from Cranfield University and is Type rated on Bell 412, AW109 and H125 helicopters. 

According to ETPS Head of Training, Col Rae, the two new appointments come at an exciting time for the test pilot school and its students. “Our substantial investment in new systems-rich aircraft and a highly flexible and world-leading Learning Management System provides our students with the very best equipment and learning resources. But, it is the skill of our instructors and tutors that provides real added value to the ETPS learning experience. Both Isabelle and Cyril have a wealth of knowledge and insight from their outstanding careers in civilian and military aviation to inspire the next generation of test pilots and flight test engineers and ensure they are equipped with the skills and expertise to rise to future career challenges with confidence and assurance.”

As the world’s first test pilot school, ETPS has trained over 1500 students from no less than 32 different countries over the past 75 years. Building on its heritage as the premier school for military flight test professionals, it is now also providing dedicated and fully compliant courses for civilian customers. QinetiQ is a world leader in the field of testing and evaluation and works with the Air and Space Warfare Centre (ASWC) under the Long Term Partnering Agreement with the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) to deliver ETPS. All courses at ETPS comply with EASA regulations and it one of only three schools in the world – and the first in the UK – to be recognised as an EASA Approved Flight Test Training Organisation.