Originally Posted by
pimashahs
Cubdriver, I have a commercial pilots license with CFI and CFII with about a thousand hours...
Excellent pilot credentials for an entry level FTE (flight test engineer).
... I know it's nothing for a test pilot candidate...
The CFI is useless pretty much, except as a way to gain flight experience. For a test plot slot, you have only begun gathering the necessary qualifications so I would not get too worked up about that quite yet. Test pilot jobs are highly competitive, many are former Air Force and Naval aviation high achievers. If you can only see yourself as a test pilot then you had better look at a pilot slot in the armed forces as the best way to go down that road.
... Would a Electrical Engineering degree suffice? I already have a Aviation Science degree but I don't know how much it is going to help me because it hasn't helped me yet. I looked at some companies like Garmin, Cessna and Cirrus [who] state that an Electrical Engineering would suffice for a Flight Test Engineer....
Yes- EE degree is a valid way to punch the engineering ticket. You will be a bit weaker than MEs and AEs in fluid mechanics and what not, but an EE degree is actually a plus for companies that manufacture avionics (Rockwell, Garmin, etc.) and you would actually have an advantage doing that kind of testing, even if the company you end up at is Cessna, Gulfstream, or Bombardier. Garmin has a flight test department in Olathe, KS. They have a King Air and several other airplanes, and they are big on GPA. In time you'll see that companies emphasize different things, one may look at GPA, another looks at school name and prestige, a third looks at your pilot resume as a supplement to your engineering details. Others do not care about any of that specifically, purely good 'ol boy networking. They just want good team players.
Do you want to specialize in avionics flight testing? The EE degree will prepare you in that direction quite well, otherwise I would go for ME or AE especially if you plan to end up flying in some capacity within flight test.
A great way to open doors in FT is to get a masters in that field of study. Embry-Riddle has an advanced degree I think, I know Tennessee Space Institute has one, if you want to work for Cessna then get an AE degree and/or a masters at Wichita State and I guarantee they will hire you into flight test in a year or two afterwards. A masters is generally worth the time and money spent in this field. It greatly increases your chances of getting hired, and when you get hired, it increases your ability to specialize and make yourself useful.