Issue 358: Taking Delivery

How Cathay Pacific test flies its new aircraft

Captain David Lohse knows what it is like to take an aircraft to the edge of its operating limits.

That’s because as head of flight technical services for Cathay Pacific, it is his and his team of test pilots and flight test engineers’ job to ensure all of the Hong Kong-based airline’s aircraft – from the A350-900 that rolls off the Airbus final assembly line in Toulouse to the Boeing 777-300ER workhorse already in the fleet – meet and continue to meet specified performance guidelines.