New Engine Testing Key to F-35 Flight Testing
The GE Rolls-Royce Fighter Engine Team will
begin testing its fifth development engine in 2010 with a test
schedule that positions the F136 program for flight testing next
year in the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter.
The new test engine (Engine 008) is installed at GE’s test
facility in Evendale, Ohio, working final checkout before
initiating tests later in the month. The engine will undergo
Conventional Take Off and Landing (CTOL) flight clearance endurance
testing and advance the F136 program toward Initial Flight Release
next year.
Another new test engine (Engine 007) began testing at GE’s
test facility in July, and is undergoing performance operability
qualification tests, including additional controls, augmentor and
fan testing.
The Fighter Engine Team plans to reach
1,000 hours of testing in 2010, and says the engine has
demonstrated consistent success and performance, including a number
of important achievements:
- Cleared fan aeromechanics through a wide operating range, in
support of current testing at both Evendale and the USAF Arnold
Engineering Development Center (AEDC) in Tennessee.
- Reaching maximum augmented thrust and demonstrating consistent,
successful light-offs and operability of the augmentor.
- Accelerated Mission Testing initiated with efforts on Engine
006, with more set to begin in upcoming weeks.
- Altitude testing progresses throughout the operating
envelope.
- Successful completion of CTOL Common Exhaust System clearance
testing, allowing the afterburner to be tested around the full
operating envelope, to full maximum A/B conditions.
- Demonstrated significant thrust margins at sea-level test
conditions.
“The F136 engine has reached many major milestones
already, proving the capability not only of the design but the
entire GE Rolls-Royce Fighter Engine Team. We are all energized and
eager to compete in the Joint Strike Fighter program,” said
Al DiLibero, President of the GE Rolls-Royce Fighter Engine Team in
a press release issed on Monday.
GE F136 Engine Test/FILE PHOTO
“We are checking off a new test point or milestone
virtually every day, as we move toward flight test. This is an
exciting time for the F136 team and these major successes motivate
the team to keep reaching for the next accomplishment,” said
Mark Rhodes, Senior Vice President of the GE Rolls-Royce Fighter
Engine Team.
In addition to Engines 007 and 008, Engine 004 recently
concluded testing at GE, while Engine 005 tests are under way at
AEDC. Engine 005 is the first development F136 engine to test at
AEDC. Engine 006 also tested earlier this year and will resume
testing in a few months, in Short Take Off/Vertical Landing (STOVL)
configuration.
Engine 009 is in assembly and will begin testing within a few
months. That will make a total of six F136 engines in test in
2010.
Production has already begun on Flight Test Engine 041, the
first F136 to fly in the F-35 Lightning II aircraft. Final assembly
will take place in early 2011, followed by the beginning of
acceptance testing by mid-year. Flight Test Engine 041 is scheduled
to take to the skies in the AF-1 test aircraft.