News

New test set to bring ease, efficiency to locating mechanical woes in F-15s

  • Published
  • By Amanda Creel
  • 78th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
Robins Air Force Base, Ga. --  For many F-15 maintainers, a troublesome jet can mean numerous test flights and replacing several parts before locating the mechanical problem that causes a jet to fail.

The conundrum has stumped maintainers for years as they dreamed of a time when a test set could actually give maintainers an answer to what causes an aircraft to fail.

Recently, F-15 maintainers from bases around the world are focusing their eyes on Robins Air Force Base, the 566th Combat Sustainment Squadron's test equipment office and a new test set it developed as a solution to the maintenance dilemma.

Mark Kitchens, a Robins equipment specialist, who as a part of the WR-ALC Integrated Product Team assisted in design of the New Automated Flight Control System Test Set, said the test set has already proven itself both at Robins and at other bases around the U.S.

"I know that it is highly sought after by the user community and will provide an answer to a lot of flight control problems," said Alex Lunceford, chief of tactical combat flight in the 566th CBSS.

The test set arrived at Robins July 9 and it didn't take long before the test set made its way to the flightline and helped some Team Robins maintainers solve a mechanical mystery surrounding an F-15 which had flown four flight tests and was still failing.

"Within thirty minutes we found the problem and had we had this tester upfront we would have saved $222,800," Mr. Kitchens said.

The tester, which is intended to replace the existing test equipment, was designed to meet all the needs of F-15 maintainers in the field.

"The old one was a go no go that means when you ran the test, you got a green or a red light, which told you the plane was failing. You kind of had to figure out what part to change through trial and error. You didn't have a clue which part of the aircraft was faulty," said Virginia Slay, system engineer for the test set.

The older Flightline Test Set could put you in the general area where the malfunction was occurring on the aircraft, but the AFCSTS can identify the problem and give you step-by-step instructions to remedy it through the display screen, Mr. Kitchens said.

The new test set has already achieved great success during testing such as helping the Oregon Air National Guard at Kingsley Field find the mechanical malfunction of what maintainers refer to as a "six-week hangar queen," which means maintainers at the base had spent six weeks or more trying to isolate a mechanical problem within the aircraft.

"Within four hours the test set isolated the problem down to a broken wire on the tail bone," Mr. Kitchens said.

Senior Master Sgt Alan Holmes, the avionics flightline section supervisor for the 173rd Fighter Wing at Kingsley Field said the new test set is an answer to many maintainers' prayers and he hopes it will be available in the field soon.

Sergeant Holmes said the test set helped the unit return an aircraft to its mission.

"We were able to test and determine in a matter of hours the cause of the problem and it has flown good ever since," Sergeant Holmes said.

He said the old tester, in comparison to the new tester, "is nothing more than a boat anchor."

The cost savings from misdiagnosis of malfunctions alone will make it invaluable to the Air Force, Sergeant Holmes said.

"Not only will the new test set save time by allowing problems to be isolated quicker, it will allow the Air Force to avoid expenditure of millions of dollars over several years on parts misidentified through trial and error location of mechanical malfunctions," said Helen Thompson, interim program manager of the F-15 flight control test sets.

Being able to fix an aircraft right the first time will allow the Air Force to return aircraft to the fight sooner, Sergeant Holmes said.

"At the present only one test set has been produced and the Program Management IPT is developing the overall acquisition strategy to satisfy mission needs," Ms. Thompson said.

In the interim the existing tester housed here with the 566th CBSS test equipment office, will be on the road helping bases around the world isolate problems on troublesome jets.

"Now when they have a real problem jet, we are going to bring it (the test set) to them," Mr. Kitchens said. "That's what makes this one so important because it's actually going to do a lot of traveling."

John Hysell, a Robins F-15 aircraft mechanic, said he was impressed with the new test set because of its capabilities and the ease of use such as the remote module, which allows the tester to walk around the plane while testing and provides on-screen menu and technical data.

One of Mr. Hysell's other favorite features on the test set was the easy setup such as having separate fittings to hookup to the aircraft before connecting the cables.

"We won't have to worry about the weight of the cable now. The old one was just one continuous piece without the elbow," Mr. Hysell said.

The portability is also an asset, Mr. Kitchens said.

The test set is stored in two cases or crates that hold everything you need to test the aircraft. Along with being easy to transport, the crates and equipment are also designed to deal with varying weather conditions such as being able to survive temperatures ranging from 150 degrees to 40 below zero.

"It's a design that could sit in the back of a truck in Alaska and survive it," Mr. Kitchens said.