Maisie Dobbs’ routine as a flight test engineer at Boeing Test & Evaluation UK regularly takes her to the jump seat of a modified CH-47 Chinook helicopter. Sitting between the pilot and the co-pilot during test flights, she observes how the aircraft reacts in flight after parts have been modified to improve performance.
Her current focus is on the Chinook’s infrared suppression system, a self-defense modification that protects the aircraft from heat-seeking missiles by cooling engine exhaust and masking hot components.
“I get to be right in the action of the flying and make sure that the helicopter is performing the way we want it to,” says Maisie.
Maisie joined Boeing after graduating as an aerospace engineer from the University of Sheffield. With her engineering background and skills in math and analysis, her first attention during and after flights is on the data produced by the aircraft.
But she also knows data is not everything. “There is also the feeling, the expertise of people I work with. The pilots, who have a lot of experience on these aircraft, know what feels and what sounds right to them,” she says.
Becoming an aerospace engineer has been a dream for Maisie since she was in school. “When I was younger I really enjoyed math and science and also product design,” she says.
