Tyndall operates newest engine test controller

  • Published
  • By Senior Master Sgt. Rob Fuller
  • 325th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (AFPN) --  Revving an engine and tweaking a motor until it purrs is an art the “hush-house” team here has perfected and taken to the next level with the arrival of the F/A-22 Raptor.

A process once involving intense troubleshooting can now be accomplished more efficiently thanks to a new engine-test controller for the Raptor engine.

The Pratt and Whitney F119 engine is the next generation of jet engine, and the power behind the Raptor’s ability to travel at Mach speeds with lower fuel consumption. Best of all for the maintainer, it adjusts itself.

“The biggest difference in this (and the F-100 engine) is that there are no trimming procedures for the maintainer, it’s self-trimming,” said Staff Sgt. Chris Davis, an engine test facility craftsman with the 325th Maintenance Squadron’s propulsion flight. “The computers in this engine are much more advanced and maintainer friendly. The engine electronics (do) everything (automatically) to include checking (their) own parameters.”

All of this is made possible by the latest technology in the engine-test controller and Airmen here. Previous engine testers included analog switches and archaic displays which required more time to test a jet engine, officials said.

The new engine-test controller is software driven, touch-screen capable and can run an entire host of self-diagnostics on the engine by touching a menu on the screen. The system completed test qualifications at the hush house here, making Tyndall’s controller the first operational one in the Air Force.

“What we’ve done during this effort, along with the system program office and contractors, is an engine-test qualification,” said Master Sgt. Bill Canfield, 325th MXS propulsion flight chief. “This test qualified the (controller) and (ensured) it meets the needs of units Air Force-wide.”

The test also qualified propulsion experts like Sergeant Davis.

A new engine system has limited tech data, Sergeant Canfield said, and therefore the team relies on experts such as Sergeant Davis. He, along with Tech. Sgt. Tim Walker and Staff Sgt. Scott Carstens, received “run” certifications during the process. The hush-house team consists of 17 people who will all eventually be certified to run the F119 engine.

Although the Raptor is relatively new here, Sergeant Davis is no novice. As a seasoned propulsion craftsman, he has been working with the F119 and Raptor program for almost six years, both here and in testing at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.

“Working at Edwards was a great learning experience,” Sergeant Davis said. “I guess the benefit from working there is that I’ve … done everything from tearing the engine down, to building back up and testing it.”

Previously, after engine maintenance in the jet-engine shop or on the flightline, an engine had to be shipped to Marrietta, Ga., for testing before returning to service. The new system typically requires only three hours to prepare an engine and four hours to run the required tests.

“Our (goals were) to qualify the system for the Air Force and get our guys run-certified so Tyndall will be self-sustaining,” Sergeant Canfield said. “We’ll increase our capability with a quicker turn on engine maintenance.”

The certification process is the culmination of 17 months of intense work, including upgrades to the facility that increased the strength of the test equipment to accommodate the 35,000-pound thrust-class engine, Sergeant Canfield said. (Courtesy of Air Education and Training Command News Service)