Originally Posted by UAL T38 Phlyer

I've held off saying this out of respect for the deceased, but no one has really said what kind of experience Michael Alsbury had.

According to published data, he was hired at Scaled Composites in 2001, had 1800 hours, of which 1600 were with Scaled Composites.

This means he was 26 years old and had 200 hours when hired as an engineer.

It means he gained 1600 hours over 13 years, or about 110 hours a year, on average.

If hired at that age, he did not go to a military Test Pilot School.

The national Test Pilot school is at Mojave; Scaled's home base, so it is feasible he went there. But did Scaled pay $300,000 to send him there? Further, I believe the most sophisticated aircraft in their curriculum is the T-33, the L-39, and possible a Drakken.

A friend of mine worked at Orbital Sciences on the Antares and had some contacts in the industry. He said he knew at least one of the five pilots at Scaled was a military test pilot with a high-performance background. (David MacKay).

But so far, that is the only one I can verify.

My point: Michael's death is a tragedy, but right now there is a lot we don't know about he and Peter Siebold's backgrounds and training.