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Team members at the Arnold Engineering
Development Complex recently completed a successful test of a Pratt &
Whitney F135 conventional takeoff and landing/carrier variant (CTOL/CV) engine
at Arnold AFB, Tenn. “One reason this test was significant is that it was the
first 2,600 [Total Accumulated Cycle count] Accelerated Mission Test on the
F135 engine at AEDC,” said John Kelly, AEDC F135 test manager, in a release.
“Previously these AMTs have been done at the Pratt & Whitney facility in
West Palm Beach, Fla.” The test, which achieved a record test time efficiency
of 98 percent, “provided integrated aircraft thermal load simulation, as well
as led to the re-activation of special test equipment for the F135 that hasn’t
been used in several years,” according to an AEDC release. Crews worked 24-hour
operations over five days a week, with some six-day weeks as well, states the
release. Concurrent operations on an F119 engine were still being conducted for
16- to 18-hours per day while the F101 engine was also being tested around-the-clock.
