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F-22 takes on elements at climatic lab

by Leigh Anne Bierstine
Air Force Flight Test Center Public Affairs

06/14/02 - EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AFPN) -- The F-22 Raptor is taking on a new enemy at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., this summer -- Mother Nature. Raptor 4004 is making its home inside the McKinley Climatic Laboratory at Eglin for a series of weather tests designed to forecast how the F-22 will stand up to the elements.

The Raptor will be tested at extreme temperatures and in different kinds of precipitation while inside the climatic hangar, said Brent Poulson, the F-22 Combined Test Force climatic test lead engineer. Poulson said the test temperatures will range between minus 65 degrees and plus 120 degrees Fahrenheit, and include rain and snowstorms.

While Poulson is assigned to the CTF at Edwards, he and a team of nearly 50 people including engineers, maintainers and instrumentation experts from the CTF are working at Eglin during the climatic testing. More than 80 Air Force and contractor personnel from lead government contractor Lockheed Martin are supporting the unique testing.

Having a major program like the F-22 in the facility is "a big event" for his team, said Kirk Velasco, chief of the McKinley laboratory. The lab sees a customer like the Raptor only about once every two or three years, Velasco said.

In preparation for the F-22 testing, Velasco said his team built an additional room to give support personnel adequate office space. In addition, an engine exhaust duct system was built specifically for the F-22 to rid the laboratory of engine exhaust generated during testing. Because of the Raptor's unique security requirements, Velasco said the laboratory also received an extensive number of security upgrades before the start of testing.

For Velasco and his team, the "special treatment" the Raptor is receiving is worth the effort.

"There is nothing more exciting than testing the Air Force's latest and greatest aircraft," Velasco said. "Being one of the first teams to be involved in the testing of the F-22 is a welcome experience for us."

The jet, valued at $85 million and sporting the most highly advanced avionics technology, will reside in the climatic hangar through mid-August, said Poulson. (Second Lt. James Madeiros from the Air Armament Center Public Affairs Office also contributed to this article)