Colin Bennett

Colin Bennett Email and Phone Number

Director, Astronaut Training at Virgin Galactic @ Virgin Galactic
mojave, california, united states
Colin Bennett's Location
Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States, United States
About Colin Bennett

Colin Bennett is a Director, Astronaut Training at Virgin Galactic at Virgin Galactic.

Colin Bennett's Current Company Details
Virgin Galactic

Virgin Galactic

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Director, Astronaut Training at Virgin Galactic
mojave, california, united states
Employees:
318
Colin Bennett Work Experience Details
  • Virgin Galactic
    Director, Astronaut Training
    Virgin Galactic Nov 2024 - Present
  • Virgin Galactic
    Astronaut Instructor
    Virgin Galactic Mar 2023 - Nov 2024
    Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States
    Lead instructor for the ‘Galactic 01’ and ‘Galactic 05’ commercial spaceflight missions. Carried out all customer training and preparation and flew with the crew in the cabin on both occasions. Secondary instructor for five other spaceflight missions carrying out tasks such as cabin readiness walkthroughs, boarding/disembarkation activities and real-time flight monitoring in mission control.Development and continual refinement of the customer training program and associated procedures and documentation in partnership with the customer experience team and various operational departments. Pre-flight preparation activities including customer training schedule integration, mission rehearsals, cabin configuration control and providing status updates at mission readiness reviews and flight briefs.Post-flight analysis of cabin operations and presentation at debriefs and mission reviews. Coordination of proposed changes to vehicle hardware, training content and operational procedures for future flights.Participated in Virgin Galactic astronaut community events and future sales initiatives.
  • Virgin Galactic
    Lead Flight Director
    Virgin Galactic Mar 2022 - Mar 2023
    Gained Flight Director qualification, led the Mission Control team during flights and simulated training sessions and trained a core team of additional Flight Director console operators.Coordinated Mission Control team training activities, developed mission rules and emergency response procedures, tracked console qualification status and oversaw control room upgrades.
  • Virgin Galactic
    Lead Operations Engineer (Ops Engineer Until June 2017)
    Virgin Galactic Aug 2015 - Mar 2022
    Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States
    Flew as a Mission Specialist on the ‘Unity 22’ spaceflight in 2021 and co-authored the cabin test report. Participated in press interviews, in-house media production, customer events and outreach initiatives.Supported Spaceship Unity’s flight test program from start to finish. Wrote test plans, analysed flight data using MATLAB, built IADS displays in Mission Control and operated the Aero and Flight Controls consoles.Logged 45 flying hours in Mothership Eve as the onboard Flight Test Engineer. Trained flight crew on ingress/egress procedures, emergency equipment and operation of comm systems and data displays.Led the payload integration team for several years with duties including customer liaison, process document development, flight timeline planning, hardware integration and cabin manifest coordination.Managed the Ops Engineering team with the primary objective of preparing for commercial operations. Managerial tasks included recruitment, budgeting, performance reviews and career path planning.
  • Virgin Atlantic Airways
    Flight Operations Engineer
    Virgin Atlantic Airways Jul 2012 - Jun 2015
    Crawley, Uk
    Onboard Flight Test Engineer for multiple A330 and B787 customer acceptance flights. Developed lease return flight profiles for A330/A340 and B747 aircraft and undertook recurrent flight simulator training. Participated in the test program of a new Airbus A330/340 flight simulator, involving comprehensive assessment of pre-programmed malfunctions, aural warnings, handling qualities and visual cues. Managed the configuration of the B787 onboard performance tool and take-off software for legacy fleets. Developed aircraft performance company policy documents and conducted routine flight crew training.
  • Virgin Atlantic Airways
    Project Engineer (Contractor Until August 2011)
    Virgin Atlantic Airways Jan 2011 - Jul 2012
    Managed a substantial B747 cabin retrofit project. Tracked supplier progress against key milestones and coordinated entry into service requirements with stakeholders to mitigate post-modification issues.Supported a B787 cabin customisation project by managing schedules, budgets, risk registers and status reports to ensure that project teams and senior management were informed of developments.
  • Qinetiq
    Flight Physics Engineer
    Qinetiq Aug 2009 - Jan 2011
    Participated in an overseas Apache Mk1 flight test detachment, authored the handling qualities report and conducted data analysis to substantiate a clearance for asymmetric stores at high density altitude. Performance analysis of a Chinook Mk3 Operating Data Manual update to support the ‘Release to Service’.Technical manager for an Apache Mk1 increased load factors assessment.
  • Qinetiq
    'Systems Evaluation Services' Graduate Placement Scheme
    Qinetiq Nov 2007 - Aug 2009
    Rotary Wing Evaluation Services - Aircraft Dynamics & Performance / Air Launched MunitionsSupported a Chinook Mk3 handling qualities flight test program by preparing test briefs, flight cards and load sheets. Logged ~20 flying hours as a Flight Test Engineer and conducted post-flight data analysis.Business Development/Operations (QinetiQ Inc – Arlington, VA)Developed an understanding of the processes involved in US defence contracting by producing capability analysis documents, supporting contract proposals and representing the company at trade shows. Project Management (Fast Jet Evaluation Services)Managed a key £1.2M aircraft evaluation project for an overseas military customer from inception to delivery. Tasks included forecasting costs, holding project reviews and completing risk assessments.

Colin Bennett Education Details

Frequently Asked Questions about Colin Bennett

What company does Colin Bennett work for?

Colin Bennett works for Virgin Galactic

What is Colin Bennett's role at the current company?

Colin Bennett's current role is Director, Astronaut Training at Virgin Galactic.

What schools did Colin Bennett attend?

Colin Bennett attended University Of Liverpool, University Of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Who are Colin Bennett's colleagues?

Colin Bennett's colleagues are Andrew Smith, Cameron S. Klesel, Eric Aragon, Joong Hwan Bahng, Orble Barak, Mba, Michael Voldman, Basanta Rijal.

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