TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- Members of a group in the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Tinker Air Force Base assisted an ally July 27-Aug. 11 by working with the Brazilian Air Force — or the Forca Aerea Brasileira — on creating a “Gold Plated Engine” and reactivating and correlating engine test cells.
The Gold Plated Engine is a standardized engine used to test other engines against after maintenance to assess their readiness to be returned to the aircraft, a process called a test cell correlation.
The standardized engine is also used to determine the accuracy of test cells — the room that simulates conditions the engine will be exposed to in the aircraft.
Oklahoma City Air Logistics Complex Propulsion Sustainment Division International Engine Management Program team members Luis Camacho, J85 engine program manager, Will Garza, J85 Engine technical manager and Ricky Wooden, lead test cell correlation expert, made the summer trip.
The BAF has two test cells, each simulating different environmental conditions to test engines against. Both are needed to ensure the same engine performance under various circumstances.
The IEMP team spent five days reactivating the test cell at Canoas Air Base, Canoas, Brazil, which had been unused for 10 years. In preparation for reactivation, the BAF upgraded the cell to an all-digital platform.
After reactivation, the IEMP team standardized the Gold Plated Engine and traveled to the test cell at Parque de Material Aeronautico de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil, to correlate it.
During correlation of the São Paulo test cell, the team identified an airflow deficiency causing the engine to work harder to meet the same thrust performance it displayed at the Canoas test cell.
Wooden said that correction of the deficiency ensured the performance parameters for the test cells are identical, allowing the BAF to have consistent engine performance results.
Camacho said the BAF having their own Gold Plated Engine will reduce the time it takes to troubleshoot engines, extend the time the engine spends in the aircraft and improve the F-5 aircraft fleet operational capability.
“The key fact here is now the country is always able to do their own test to their engines and correlations on (the Gold Plated Engine) that it costs a lot of money to get access to and also costs a lot of money to (standardize),” Camacho said.
Without the use of the Gold Plated Engine and working test cells, engines are placed in the aircraft to be tested, then removed to be recalibrated as needed, until the engine is ready for flight — a process that takes more time and man-hours.
“If you don’t have a certified test cell facility, you can’t troubleshoot your engines properly. If you can’t do that, then your fleet suffers, because you don’t have engines to put in your (aircraft) to fly … Brazil is at the tip of the spear right now,” Camacho said.
This project follows one in 2015 in which the IEMP team took the U.S. Air Force’s own Gold Plated Engine to Brazil for use in correlation. The 2018 effort saved the BAF an estimated $350,000 by eliminating a future need to pay for use of a foreign Gold Plated Engine.
The IEMP provides engine logistical support to Foreign Military Sales partners, 44 countries in total, by linking them with the U.S. Air Force and Department of Defense civilians.
The team maintains year-round contact with the BAF, traveling to Brazil annually for an in-country review to provide program, engineering and technical guidance and support.
The BAF is the first foreign nation to have two test cells correlated and the first in the J85 community to have a Gold Plated Engine. The efforts made during the 2018 trip are available to all the IEMP’s partner countries.
Garza said the BAF had everything prepared when the IEMP team arrived, making the process smooth and efficient.
“It was really based on all the work Brazil had done. They set up everything. They knew what we were looking for,” Garza said. “The team was on the spot, very engaged, asking lots of questions. They were proactive to get this task completed for themselves.”
BAF Test Cell Technician Sgt. David Rodrigo Ribeiro said the technology upgrades to and reactivation of the Canoas test cell was a challenge that tested the BAF’s capacity, “but we are better for it.”
“With the acquired experience and the success of the J85 engine correlation, we’re confident in doing, ourselves, the next correlations and (acquiring) a strategic independence that few Air Forces around the world have,” Ribeiro said.
Garza said the IEMP helps allies keep their aircraft fleets operation.
“If they don’t have the proper aircraft and the proper engines and the proper maintenance, it degrades their ability to defend themselves, therefore it poses more on our side to help them more,” Comacho said. “They do more, we do less. It’s better for them, it’s better for us.”
BAF Powerplant Engineer Capt. Leonardo Spínola said the Gold Plated Engine provides the BAF independence and cost-savings, and that working with the IEMP team was “an honor,” with all the work being completed in “an atmosphere of friendship.”
“For me, the experience of being part of this mission was very rewarding. It was one of the most important missions in the history of the Brazilian Air Force, regarding the J85 Engine Maintenance Program,” Spínola said.