Also called: Flight Test Data Engineer
Turns thousands of sensor readings from each test flight into clear results for engineers.
During a flight you watch live data in the telemetry room; afterward you clean the data and make plots showing how the airplane performed. Engineers rely on your plots to decide what to test next.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 3 years after high school. Bachelor's in engineering or associate in aerospace technology.
Ways in: 4-year college, 2-year college. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Aerospace Engineering, Aerospace Technology.
Growing much faster than average (about 8% over 10 years). Aerospace engineering technicians overall.
Medium risk in 5 years, high in 10. AI tools process and chart flight data automatically, so fewer analysts; spotting odd results stays human.
Classes: AP Statistics, AP Computer Science, Physics, Algebra II.
Official data: O*NET occupation 17-3021.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.