EAFB TESTS EXPEDITED CAUSE OF PROBLEMS ON C-17S REMAINS MYSTERY.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. - Edwards Air Force Base experts stepped up tests as part of an investigation into hydraulic hose failures that have caused fires on four C-17 transport jets. The Edwards work, completed during three test flights in August, was aimed at investigating whether excessive temperatures inside engine compartments In developmental biology, compartments are fields of cells of distinct cell lineage, cell affinity, and genetic identity. In a developing organ, all cells within a compartment possess similar affinities, and so intermingle with each other. were causing the hoses to fail, but concluded that was not the problem. ``We wanted to see if temperatures in certain compartments were getting hot enough to cause the hose to fail,'' said 2nd Lt. Khoi Ta, 418th Flight Test Squadron propulsion Propulsion The process of causing a body to move by exerting a force against it. Propulsion is based on the reaction principle, stated qualitatively in Newton's third law, that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. engineer. ``The test revealed temperatures in the compartment compartment a part of the body as a whole and divided from the rest by a physical partition. fluid compartment that liquid part of the body excluded by cell membranes. Includes intravascular and intercellular compartments. and on the hose were within design limits, even though the profile we flew during the test was designed to warm up the engines.'' Further testing depends on the results, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Ta. Test engineers are in the process of determining whether other factors like age, chafing chafe v. chafed, chaf·ing, chafes v.tr. 1. To wear away or irritate by rubbing. 2. To annoy; vex. 3. To warm by rubbing, as with the hands. v.intr. and high usage may have contributed to the external fires. The Edwards test flights collected data on a hose that provides pressure to move the engines' reverse thrust assembly. The hose is located in an area from which hydraulic fluid hydraulic fluid toxic because of its high content of industrial triaryl phosphate. could spill onto the jet exhaust nozzle (Steam Engine) the blast orifice or nozzle. See also: Exhaust . ``You can imagine how hot the exhaust nozzle of this aircraft is,'' said Ta. ``The hose failure caused an external fire resulting from the discharge of hydraulic fluid, not an engine fire.'' The faulty hose caused more than $4 million in damage on one C-17. A safety investigation board is recommending temperature testing for the hydraulic hose compartments in order to determine if operating temperatures were exceeding designed limits, said Capt. Mark Hadley, 418th Flight Test Squadron C-17 project manager. The flights were done under what the Air Force calls a ``test acceleration,'' which took exactly seven work days, according to Ta. ``Without labeling this as a test accel, we would not have been able to allocate the personnel or aircraft needed in a timely manner due to the large volume of other test projects the team is currently working on,'' said Hadley. Currently, Edwards' C-17 Test Team has 61 test projects in the works, and is modifying two aircraft for six test projects. The first hand-built C-17 aircraft will be joined by another C-17 next June at Edwards, expanding test assets to meet future operational needs. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: (color) A C-17 transport turns during a test at Edwards Air Force Base to determine the cause of engine compartment hydraulic hose failures. |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion