413th Flight Test Group

rdf:langString 413th Flight Test Group

rdf:langString 413th Flight Test Group

rdf:langString Siva

rdf:langString Flight Testing

rdf:langString The 413th Flight Test Group (413 FTG) is a United States Air Force Air Force Reserve Command unit. It is stationed at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia as a tenant unit. The 413 FTG conducts flight tests on aircraft after the programmed depot maintenance is completed. Its history goes back to 1944 when the 413th Fighter Group flew very long range (VLR) escort missions of Twentieth Air Force B-29 Superfortress bombardment groups against Japan. During the Cold War, the unit was a Strategic Air Command fighter-escort wing and later Tactical Air Command tactical fighter group in the 1950s. Today, the group's units are stationed throughout the United States to help conduct functional flight tests. The group is a partnership between the Air Force Materiel Command and the Air Force Reserve Command and is the operational supervisor of all the depot flight test units. The group manages five squadrons and two flights is made up of 140 full-time Airmen, 78 traditional reservist and nine civil servants. Once PDM is completed, members of the flight crew begin a variety of ground checks to make sure the aircraft is ready for a functional test flight. Once the aircraft is deemed airworthy, then the airplane is delivered to the home station and is configured to fly whatever mission it is assigned to fly.