Derek Donewar

Mr. Derek Donewar serves as the Chief Test Engineer for the 413th Flight Test Squadron, 96th Test Wing, Eglin Air Force Base, FL. The 413 FLTS is the U.S. Air Force's vertical lift and sUAS developmental test squadron. Mr. Donewar also serves as the sUAS Flight Chief and the MH-139 Grey Wolf Flight Chief for the 413 FLTS. He has 14 years of flight test experience, 10 of those as a civil servant.

Mr. Donewar previously served as the MH-139 Grey Wolf developmental test Flight Sciences lead. He oversaw testing of the UH-1N Huey Replacement Program's flight performance, handling qualities, defensive aircraft systems, and aircraft weapon systems.

Prior to serving the Department of the Air Force, Mr. Donewar was a civilian flight test engineer for the U.S. Army's Aviation Flight Test Directorate (AFTD), Redstone Test Center (RTC), Huntsville, AL. He performed testing for the 160th Special Aviation Operations Regiment (SOAR) MH-47 Chinook and MH-60 Blackhawk helicopters. He also executed test programs for various systems across CH-47, UH-60, HH-60, and UH-72 aircraft. Mr. Donewar was a member of the U.S. Army Aircraft Icing Team, utilizing the CH-47 Helicopter Icing Spray System (HISS) to provide artificial icing capability to domestic and international partners.

Mr. Donewar holds a Master of Science in Systems Engineering from The University of Alabama in Huntsville and a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering from The University of Alabama. He was a founding member and previous President of the Society of Flight Test Engineers (SFTE) Rocket City Chapter, and is the current President of the SFTE Emerald Coast Chapter.