Boeing’s Test and Evaluation (T&E) division is spread out over 78 locations, but testing is done at many more locations, including at suppliers and other areas when necessary. The OEM doesn’t own all 78 locations. One, for example, is at the U.S. Navy’s Patuxent River air station in Maryland. “We take our airplanes where they need to be tested in terms of some of the environmental conditions,” said Barbara Cosgrove, vice president of Flight Test Operations. T&E is responsible for testing all Boeing products, including airplanes, fighters, helicopters, UAVs and missiles.
T&E is not just for flight testing but also includes lab testing such as wind tunnel tests and other non-airborne functions throughout the product’s lifecycle. “[Boeing’s] business units are responsible for defining the product, designing it and building it,” Cosgrove explained. “We’re woven into that as they go through the process. It could be as simple as a component in a lab, a coupon–a piece of material that we’re testing–for our next-generation airplane or fighter. Or it could be as complex as a buildup of systems [in the lab] to see if, say, moving the flap system on the airplane is going to work.”
