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AEDC’s APTU supports first direct-connect hypersonic engine test program

Test hardware for APTU’s venturi-tube in place calibrations included multiple critical flow venturis, flow straightening screens and thermocouple rake. The ducting shown in this photo was obtained at the research tunnel at Arnold Engineering Development Complex (AEDC) and also installed in the APTU test cell.
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AEDC’s APTU supports first direct-connect hypersonic engine test program

Coils, such as this, are an integral part of the new Heated Fuel System (HFS) in the Aerodynamic and Propulsion Test Unit (APTU). The new HFS has been designed and built at Arnold Engineering Development Complex (AEDC) in support of the AFRL’s Medium Scale Critical Components (MSCC) program.
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AEDC’s APTU supports first direct-connect hypersonic engine test program

Test articles such as the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) Falcon Combined Cycle Engine Test (FaCET) have been successfully ground tested in the Aerodynamic and Propulsion Test Unit (APTU). However, modifications are now taking place at APTU in preparation for the first direct-connect tests of larger scale scramjet engines. (Photo by Rick Goodfriend)
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A-10 "Warthog" testing in 16-T

A model of an A-10 Thunderbolt II, more commonly known as “The Warthog” due to its unique shape, recently underwent a pressure-sensitive paint (PSP) test in Arnold Engineering Development Complex’s (AEDC) 16-foot transonic wind tunnel. PSP was used to obtain surface pressure data on the model. The photo above shows a rear view of the A-10 model during testing in 16T. The A-10 is the only U.S. Air Force aircraft designed to be specifically used for close air support. The aircraft is notorious for its maneuverability at low speeds and low altitudes and its accurate weapons delivery.
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B61 undergoes testing in AEDC wind tunnel

Arnold Engineering Development Complex (AEDC) engineers recently joined researchers with Sandia National Laboratories to perform a wind tunnel test on a full-scale mock-up B61. Pictured with the model is Gary Cunningham, an outside machinist for ATA. (Photo by Rick Goodfriend)
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VKF Modernization Program Team celebrates Zero Accident Award

Earlier this month, Aerospace Testing Alliance (ATA) team members of the AEDC von Kármán Gas Dynamics Facility (VKF) Modernization Program celebrated with barbecue and all the trimmings. Team members were honored with a series of luncheons at the Carroll Engineering Analysis Facility, Model Shop and VKF in recognition of their receipt of the “Jacobs Zero Accident Award.” The award is presented annually by Jacobs, ATA’s managing partner, to projects whose teams have worked 250,000 consecutive hours without an injury of motor vehicle incident. Catherine Plunkett, Director, ATA Safety, Health and Environmental congratulated these winners for demonstrating real leadership towards world-class safety and validating the level of safety excellence that all of us can strive to achieve. Projects included in this achievement were the VKF Modernization Test Investment Planning and Programming (TIPP), Upgrade V-Plant Controls, Tunnels A,B and C (ABC) Modernization TIPP, ABC Data Acquisition System, ABC Operations Center, ABC Shadowgraph/Schlieren, and Tunnel A Nozzle and Diffuser Actuators and Controls. (Photo By Jacqueline Cowan)
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Employees get a closer look at unique AEDC tunnels

Arnold Engineering Development Complex (AEDC) test engineer, Shannon Tibbals (right) and AEDC outside machinist, Greg Crabtree, get an up-close look at a nozzle in the von Karman’ Gas Dynamics Facility (VKF). VKF includes Tunnels A, B and C and are unique assets in the United States because they are continuous flow with the ability to sustain maximum speed for several days. Improved performance, productivity and reduced energy consumption are expected as part of a recent upgrade.
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Employees get a closer look at unique AEDC tunnels

Arnold Engineering Development Complex (AEDC) test engineer, Shannon Tibbals (right) and AEDC outside machinist, Greg Crabtree, get an up-close look at a nozzle in the von Karman’ Gas Dynamics Facility (VKF). VKF includes Tunnels A, B and C and are unique assets in the United States because they are continuous flow with the ability to sustain maximum speed for several days. Improved performance, productivity and reduced energy consumption are expected as part of a recent upgrade.
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B-52 weapon-bay modifications implemented due to separation tests at AEDC

AEDC set a record with the largest aircraft model (10 percent scale model) by conducting B-52 Stratofortress store separation tests. The testing was requested from the B-52 Program Office to look at the scope of the internal weapons bay upgrade to include additional multitude of weapons that previously had not been released from the B-52 weapons bay. Due to results and data generated from tests, modifications are currently underway to increase the B-52’s guided-weapon capacity. The increased capacity will enable the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM), Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM), Miniature Air Launched Decoy (MALD) and the MALD Jammer to be carried internally. From left, J.T. Thompson, Aerospace Testing Alliance (ATA) captive trajectory system project engineer, discusses the B-52H model with Gary Cunningham, ATA lead outside machinist, in the AEDC Propulsion Wind Tunnel 16-foot wind tunnel between store separation test runs. (Photo by Rick Goodfriend)
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Wind tunnel spacers ‘under pressure’

Roger Johnson, an instrument technician in the Technology & Analysis Branch, installs strain gauge instrumentation and wireless telemetry transmitters in new carbon composite rotor blade spacers, produced by Matrix Composites, Inc., for a spin test at Wright Patterson Air Force base. The blade spacers provide equal spacing and stabilization for the nearly 6-foot blades in the Propulsion Wind Tunnel 16-foot Transonic test facility C-1 compressor. The spin test will analyze what type of stresses and loads the spacers can withstand. The spacers will be installed in the C-1 compressor for further loads and temperature data acquisition and analysis. (Photo by Rick Goodfriend)
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C-5M wings help AEDC team soar to win AIAA Special Award

Pictured here is AEDC Commander Col. Raymond Toth (far left) and Dr. Bill Baker (2nd from left) presenting the AIAA Special Award to the C-5M AEDC test team who include: (l-r) Calin Schuman, Marvin Sellers, Dr. Don Malloy, John Hopf, 1st Lt. Joshua Coughenour and Lt. Col Leland Davis. Test team members not present at the time of the photo are Capt. John Labouliere, David Yoder, Rolland Heim, Melissa Minter, Darhl Frazier, Sherry Simons, Scott Wieland, Brent Rodgers and Paul Jalbert. (Photo by Rick Goodfriend)
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C-5M wings help AEDC team soar to win AIAA Special Award

Pictured here is the C-5M Super Galaxy model in Arnold Engineering Development Complex’s (AEDC) 16-foot Transonic Wind Tunnel. The model is a pink color as a result of AEDC’s application of Pressure Sensitive Paint (PSP) before the test was conducted. (Photo by Rick Goodfriend)
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AEDC Wind Tunnel upgrade improves flexible nozzle accuracy and reliability

ATA Mission Support Department construction manager Dusty Kirkham conducts calibration tests on the new roll mechanism that will be used at AEDC in the Propulsion Wind Tunnel’s four foot transonic wind tunnel, 4T. The roll mechanism which supports the sting, or test support arm, and the test article provides the ability to roll the test item during a test and handle higher loads of a test requirement. (Photo by Rick Goodfriend)
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AEDC Wind Tunnel upgrade improves flexible nozzle accuracy and reliability

Keith Gipson (right) and Dennis O’Dear (behind the actuators), both ATA outside machinists, install newly designed and fabricated nozzle actuators in the Propulsion Wind Tunnel’s four foot transonic wind tunnel, 4T at AEDC. The actuators are electromechanically driven ball-screw jacks which move the flexible top and bottom plates in the 4T tunnel closer together providing variable Mach numbers or wind speeds. (Photo by Rick Goodfriend)
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AERODYNAMIC AND PROPULSION TEST UNIT FACTSHEET

The Aerodynamic and Propulsion Test Unit combustion air heater. (Photo by Rick Goodfriend)
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AERODYNAMIC AND PROPULSION TEST UNIT FACTSHEET

An Aerospace Testing Alliance outside machinist inspects the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Falcon Combined-cycle Engine Technology (FaCET) scramjet test article in the center’s Aerodynamic and Propulsion Test Unit test cell prior to a test. (Photo by Rick Goodfriend)
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AEDC researches possible modifications to C-5M Super Galaxy wings

Jim Crawford, an outside machinist with the Aerospace Testing Alliance (ATA) Flight Systems Operation and Maintenance branch, inspects a winglet on the wingtip of the C-5M Super Galaxy model during a break in testing in Arnold Engineering Development Complex’s (AEDC) 16-foot Transonic Wind Tunnel (16T). The model is a pink color as a result of AEDC’s application of Pressure Sensitive Paint (PSP) to it before the test was conducted. (Photo by Rick Goodfriend)
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AEDC researches possible modifications to C-5M Super Galaxy wings

Pictured here is the C-5M Super Galaxy model during a break in testing in Arnold Engineering Development Complex’s (AEDC) 16-foot Transonic Wind Tunnel (16T). The model’s coloring is a result of the purple LEDs used to illuminate the Pressure Sensitive Paint (PSP). (Photo by Rick Goodfriend)
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AEDC researches possible modifications to C-5M Super Galaxy wings

Marvin Sellers, a senior engineer with ATA’s Flight Systems Testing group, applies the base layer of Pressure Sensitive Paint (PSP) on a scale model of the Air Force’s C-5M Galaxy in AEDC’s 16-foot transonic wind tunnel prior to aerodynamic testing to validate two winglets with the goal of reducing drag, improving fuel efficiency and lowering operating costs. (Photo by Rick Goodfriend)
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Major upgrade project in AEDC’s propulsion wind tunnel complex reaches a milestone

David Anderson, ATA test project engineer, inspects the 1/20-scale models of an F-15E Strike Eagle aircraft and a sting-mounted Small Diameter Bomb (SDB II), during a break in the ongoing store separation test for the new weapon’s development phase trials in the aerodynamic wind tunnel 4T of the Propulsion Wind Tunnel (PWT) facility. The test marks the second time the SDB II has been tested at Arnold. (Photo by Rick Goodfriend)
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