Former Army helicopter mechanic finds his niche at world's largest wind tunnels

  • Published
  • By Philip Lorenz III
  • AEDC/PA
Arnold Air Force Base, Tenn. --  Jose Rosario-Ferrer, the U.S. Army and helicopters have long-standing and binding ties that began with his father, who, like his son, served in the Army as a helicopter crew chief. 

Rosario-Ferrer, who has worked at the Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC)-managed National Full-Scale Aerodynamics Complex (NFAC) at Moffett Field, Calif., since 2006, said his late father was his mentor and inspiration. 

"My dad would take me to the hangar when we were stationed in Hawaii and put me inside his helicopters that he worked on and so it's always been me and him," Rosario-Ferrer recalled, explaining that his father spent 22 years in the Army. "I'd always wanted to be in the Army." 

Although he was born in Colorado Springs, Colo., Rosario-Ferrer spent his formative years in Puerto Rico, the birthplace of his parents. 

He attended Junior Reserve Officer Training in high school and wasted no time in joining the Army's enlisted ranks upon graduation. 

Eight years later, with deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq under his belt, he decided to re-enter the civilian world. 

He had considered staying in the Army longer but was concerned the effect it might have on his young family. 

Rosario-Ferrer had decided to move to northern California because his wife's family lived in San Francisco. 

Before leaving Fort Campbell, Ky., and the Army, Rosario-Ferrer said he did his Airframes and Powerplants refresher course so he could get certified to work on civilian aircraft. 

While he was transitioning out of the Army, he took advantage of a program to help veterans find jobs in the civilian world. 

The recruiting company the Army contracts secured a position for him with a company in the San Francisco Bay area. 

"It's a great tool for soldiers getting out of the armed forces and finding jobs similar or close to what they did in their career," he said. "But geographical location can be the determining factor as well on what types of jobs are available." 

Rosario-Ferrer did a lot of heavy industrial hydraulics and machinery work there. 

"It was the closest thing at the time I could get to do what I did in the Army," he said. "You just had to know about fluids, hydraulics and operating industrial equipment. At that time it was very hard for me to find something else since timing was on the short side. I had to find something quickly and start earning money. And then while you stabilize with your new job, you'd just sit there and think where you want to take your career to. You may like it there or not, depending what goals you set in your life." 

After a year had passed, Rosario-Ferrer was starting to get restless. 

"In the back of my mind, I am thinking 'I need to stick to what I had learned in the Army because that's what I worked hard for and I'm just not going to let eight years of this experience kind of just fly away,'" he said. "[I was thinking to myself] 'I've got to work on helicopters and also apply it [the experience] to college.'" 

A chance encounter on a job he was working at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) in Menlo Park, Calif., changed the course of his life. 

"I was working on the customers' equipment and spoke with one of the mechanics that work there," he recalled. "He noticed me wearing an Army PT (physical training) shirt underneath my coveralls. We started talking and I told him I worked on helicopters and served in Afghanistan and Iraq." 

The mechanic told Rosario-Ferrer about a place called the National Full-Scale Aerodynamics Complex and mentioned that there was a job opening for an aircraft mechanic at the facility. 

"I knew there was a NASA facility here, but didn't know what type of research the facility conducts," he said. "You pass by it every day on the highway and notice some very large buildings which were the NFAC facility and Hangar One, but never thought anything of it." 

Less than a week after submitting his resume and having a background check done, he joined the work force at the NFAC. However, it would be awhile before Rosario-Ferrer began working as an aircraft mechanic for flight simulation testing of rotorcraft and supporting systems. 

Despite working outside his specialty, the second generation helicopter mechanic said he had landed a dream job and everyone in the family was excited for him. 

He was immediately immersed in helping to bring the huge facility back into service after it had been effectively mothballed years earlier. 

"If it wasn't for the nice mechanic who passed the information to me, I wouldn't be here working in this great, one-of-a-kind facility," he said. "We were still in the reactivation process, so there was a lot of maintenance to be done and a lot of inspections [to prepare for]. I had no clue what was going to happen. I noticed that this place had been shut down for three years and now it was being activated again." 

Rosario-Ferrer said even walking through the facility was a unique experience for him. 

"This place is fascinating, especially when you walk into the test sections on both sides," he said. "You can't grasp how enormous and how big this place is, 11 acres of facility and it's just amazing to see a wind tunnel. I'd never been inside one." 

He enjoyed the challenge of getting the two largest wind tunnels in the world back into operation. 

Six months later, he finally got the opportunity to return to his chosen field of work. 

Much of what Rosario-Ferrer does at the unique ground testing facility centers around the Large Rotor Test Apparatus (LRTA) and two similar rigs that are used to operate helicopter rotors under simulated flight conditions in the two large wind tunnels. 

"An aircraft mechanics responsibility [at the NFAC] consists of maintaining, inspecting and servicing the test rigs' power train subsystems, rotor heads and hydraulic systems and also 'pilot' the test rig in the control room," he explained. "The maintenance may also include the customer's rotor system or blades which will be adapted to our test rig. We have three test rigs for wind tunnel operation, the LRTA, RTA (for medium rotor systems) and the smaller 'Egg' test rig." 

Rosario-Ferrer said 'flying' a rotor system and operating the rig they are mounted on for a test never becomes routine. 

"Working on the LRTA has proven to be a challenge," he acknowledged. "First is flying the rig from the control room. I have never flown anything bigger than a 400 size RC (radio controlled) helicopter. That was the greatest challenge I have ever had." 

I had flown in helicopters all the time, but to 'virtually pilot' the model is something I did not expect," he continued. "There's no seat of your pants feel, no feedback, just instruments and displays you read. It's very exciting for me because what I am doing is something unique in our work environment." 

He said the test rig's controls layout is very similar to a conventional helicopter. 

"You have your controller box with two joysticks, one is the cyclic and the other is the collective," he said. 

"There's no rudder or anti torque control because the test bed is fixed on struts. The inputs are based on the test requirements. The test engineer may call for a certain load, blade position, or condition to be set and you basically fly it there and wait." 

He said safety is always a top concern. 

"The most important aspect of the piloting job is being prepared for emergency scenarios," he said. "We have to react swiftly and carefully choose the best option in controlling different emergency scenarios. 

"One example is controlling rotor speed and loads when the tunnel drops off and the wind speed decays, or when the model drops off and maybe the wind tunnel stays on for some apparent reason," he explained. "It's scenarios that we train for before any test to prevent any catastrophic damage to the equipment and the wind tunnel." 

Rosario-Ferrer's love of helicopters has also included a desire to get a pilot's license. 

"My wife basically shot me down and said no," he said. "She had a lot of scares, especially with us and our [Army] unit. It's a risk you take every day when you're driving to work, but it's hard for you to explain to your wife and you just basically go with the flow." 

Rosario-Ferrer, who met his wife in 2001, said they were drawn together by their common passion for cars. 

"We met online on the computer through a car forum Web site," he recalled. "She [and I] had the same hobby, we have a passion for cars and we just started talking." 

The birth of their son, Jayden, is what finally brought Rosario-Ferrer back into civilian life. 

Rosario-Ferrer said he enjoys the challenge of making the most of his free time. 

"I've always been one of those who try to absorb as many hobbies as I can," he said. "I make room for all of them. I've always grown up with cars, with aircraft and taking pictures when I was a kid. So, I managed to just multi-task. I'm glad I do have that interest in all three because I stay busy - it keeps me out of trouble."