The National Test Pilot School (NTPS) is pleased to announce that Patrick D Hutcheson has been conferred a fellowship in the Royal Aeronautical Society.

A fellowship in the Royal Aeronautical Society is the highest honor achievable in the organization and is given only to those in the profession of aeronautics or aerospace who have made an outstanding contribution to the profession, attained a position of high responsibility or have had long experience of high quality in the profession.

The Society’s award was bestowed on Mr. Hutcheson for his career-long Flight Test efforts in the Royal Canadian Air Force as well as the impact he has had through academic and flight instruction at NTPS.

Patrick has dedicated the entirety of his career to Flight Test and Flight Test Education. Beginning his career in 2001 as a fresh graduate of the Royal Military College, Canada’s military academy, he was assigned to the Canadian Air Force Flight Test Center in Cold Lake, Alberta.  He worked for the test center until 2014 when he was assigned as the Chief of Staff for 4 Wing HQ, Canada’s largest Fighter Base.  Shortly after leaving the test center, he was tasked with standing up a new Fighter Squadron, 401 Tactical Fighter Squadron, which subsequently deployed to Iraq and Syria as part of Operation IMPACT.  The year following the deployment, Patrick retired from the Canadian Air Force after 22 years of service.The Society’s award was bestowed on Mr. Hutcheson for his career-long Flight Test efforts in the Royal Canadian Air Force as well as the impact he has had through academic and flight instruction at NTPS.

Hutcheson, who joined NTPS in 2017 as a Flight Test Instructor, is also an Educator member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and a member of the Society of Flight Test Engineers (SFTE). Hutch is a FTE graduate of the US Naval Test Pilot School and holds a MS from the US Naval Postgraduate School. He is currently pursuing a PhD from RMC and Test Pilot Training from NTPS to further enhance his professional development.