BEEMERS UP CARS GET HISTORIC TESTING AT EDWARDS ANECHOIC FACILITY.Byline: Daily News EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE Edwards Air Force Base, U.S. military installation, 301,000 acres (121,805 hectares), S Calif., NE of Lancaster; est. 1933. It is one of the largest air force bases in the United States and has the world's longest runway. - Three BMW BMW in full Bayerische Motoren Werke AG German automaker. Founded as an aircraft engine manufacturer in 1916, the company assumed the name Bayerische Motoren Werke and became known for its high-speed motorcycles in the 1920s. sedans became the first automobiles tested in Edwards Air Force Base's Benefield Anechoic Facility Benefield Anechoic Facility (BAF) supports installed systems testing for avionics test programs requiring a large, shielded chamber with radio frequency (RF) absorption capability that simulates free space. , which is normally used for testing military aircraft electronic systems. The 2004 530i, 545i and 645i were tested for levels of electromagnetic interference. ``European standards require vehicles to be certified to meet stringent radio frequency emissions limits, and we have to test our cars under a variety of conditions,'' Volker Bochen, BMW senior test engineer, said in an Edwards statement. Radio frequency emissions were assessed through what is called electromagnetic interference/electromagnetic compatibility, or EMI/EMC EMI/EMC Electromagnetic Interference/Electromagnetic Compatibility , testing, according to Colin Young, 412th Test Wing Electronics Warfare site chief. Edwards was paid by BMW for the use of its facility, but officials refused to disclose the fee. The radio frequency emissions surrounding the cars' antennas was tested while each car was parked with the ignition switch in three positions: on, start and engine running. All three cars were tested in one day. The facility, named for a test pilot killed in a crash of a B-1A bomber, is the world's largest anechoic chamber for testing airborne electronic warfare systems, according to Dr. James Brownlow, 412th TW EW engineering manager. ``Normally, BMW performs anechoic anechoic /an·echo·ic/ (an-e-ko´ik) 1. without echoes; said of a chamber for measuring the effects of sound. 2. sonolucent. anechoic in ultrasonography, an absence of internal echoes. testing in Munich, Germany,'' Brownlow said, ``but BMW read about the BAF BAF British Athletics Federation , and we were able to accommodate the testing right here at Edwards.'' BMW of North America has several offices in California - the Technology Office in Palo Alto, Designworks in Newbury Park and the Engineering and Emission Test Center in Oxnard. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Three BMWs were the first cars ever tested in Edwards Air Force Base's Benefield Anechoic Chamber. Air Force |
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