Encounter - The Audi Technology Magazine 2/2016

PASSION - FLIGHT CLUB
Geri Krähenbühl, Chief test pilot
Born August 15 1963, Geri began his flight training and career in 1984 with the Swiss Air Force in a Hawker Hunter. On completing his engineering studies at ETH Zurich, he joined the Swiss Public Procurement Agency (emergency services group) as a test pilot, flying planes such as the Hawker Hunter, Northrop F-5E and various Pilatus types.
He went to the United States Naval Test Pilot School in Maryland, USA as a test pilot in 1993. Two years later, he learnt to fly the F/A-18 Hornet fighter aircraft in Cecil Field Florida and went on to lead the F/A-18 guided weapons and software integration campaign in China Lake, USA. Following further posts in the Swiss Air Force, Krähenbühl joined Airbus Defence & Space in Manching, Germany as a test pilot in 2005. As Chief Test Pilot, he is currently flying military jets like the Eurofighter and Tornado as well as the A400M transport plane. He is also one of the few pilots permitted to fly a replica of the Messerschmitt 262 – the world’s first production fighter jet – at air shows.