From: CMSgt Mike Bergman <bergman@afnews.pa.af.mil>
Subject: McKinley Climatic Laboratory
Organization: Hq Air Force News Agency/SCC
Date: Fri, 28 Aug 1992 16:30:46 GMT


From CMSgt Mike Bergman <bergman@afnews.pa.af.mil>

Can Equipment Stand The Heat, the Cold And Swirling Sand?

By Evelyn D. Harris
American Forces Information Service

     Outside, the Florida sun beats down, and the 85-degree
temperature feels much hotter.  But Kirk Velasco works inside,
wearing an Arctic parka to protect himself from minus 65 degree
temperatures and biting winds to test an F-117A stealth fighter.
     Nearby, other personnel have just subjected the Army's Air
Defense Anti-Tank System to swirling sandstorms.
     Velasco, a mechanical engineer, directs the McKinley Climatic
Laboratory at Eglin Air Force Base.  Completed in May 1947, the
laboratory was renamed in 1971 to honor Air Force Col. Ashley
McKinley, one of its pioneers.  Before McKinley and others created
the lab, tests were conducted outdoors.  Researchers were at the
mercy of Mother Nature.  More important, they could not duplicate
test conditions time after time.  The indoor facility at Eglin gave
them that flexibility.
     The first tests in 1947 included the B-29 bomber, the P-51
fighter, the Sikorsky R-5D helicopter, trucks, tanks and clothing.
Since then, the staff has tested more than 350 aircraft and 2,000
pieces of equipment.  These include the Apollo capsule and
insulating materials for the NASA space shuttle, bomb shelters for
the Defense Nuclear Agency and even commercial tires the Army
considered buying.
     Foreign governments can use the facility for a fee only if
American forces will use the foreign equipment as well, said
Velasco.  For example, a Canadian company is building the Air
Defense Anti-Tank System for use by Canadian and U.S. forces.
Mounted on an M-113 armored personnel carrier, the system includes
infrared sensors, a laser target designator and laser-guided
missiles.
     Velasco said McKinley still has the largest test chamber in
the world and can simulate the broadest range of climatic
conditions.
     "We can bring our facility down to minus 105 degrees
Fahrenheit and up to plus 170 degrees Fahrenheit," he said.  "It is
usually easier for us to simulate heat.  It normally takes 24 hours
to get to minus 65 degrees and 12 hours to get to plus 140.
     "We can simulate fog, rainstorms, snowstorms and sandstorms.
We have several kinds of sand and dust, so we can simulate
appropriate conditions for beach landings or another Desert Storm,"
said Velasco.
      The lab has six test chambers.  The large main chamber can
hold the C-5A Galaxy, the Air Force's largest transport plane.  The
main chamber is 252 feet wide, 201 feet long and 70 feet high in
the center, and has 55,000 square feet of usable floor space.
     Researchers use McKinley's smaller chambers for altitude
testing and testing tanks, trucks and other vehicles.  In earlier
days, humans sat in McKinley's altitude chamber, but now, it is
used only for equipment.  The chamber can duplicate altitudes up to
75,000 feet, with temperatures down to minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit.
It can also simulate rapid decompression, going from 8,000 feet to
40,000 feet in 3.5 seconds.
     Recently, the lab tested plastic bags used to carry equipment
at high altitudes.  The bags popped like balloons.  The designers
then gave the bags air-vent holes, which relieved the
excess-pressure problem.
     Velasco said the refrigeration units for the large test
chamber could cool 3,000 ordinary homes.  The three main
refrigerator units are each about 35 feet tall and 20 feet wide.
They are backed by a 25,000-ton cooling system that provides
conditioned air needed for jet engine operation.  Large, steel
ducts remove exhaust fumes from the chamber.  Heaters can deliver
32,000 pounds of steam per hour for heat tests.
     The lab has a staff of six engineers, one technician and a
secretary.  Five employees operate the computer system, which can
monitor 400 channels of data every three seconds.
     Velasco said his staff builds some of its own test support
equipment, such as rain frames, icing frames and solar frames.
Wind machines are the same kind used in Hollywood.  The snow
machines are the same kind used at ski resorts.  They are mounted
on large, motorized tricycles so the snowfall can be directed
exactly where needed.  The lab staff uses the aircraft's own jacks
to support aircraft above the floor.  They tie the craft down so
engines, rotor blades or propellers can operate while the craft
remains stationary.
     Because the laboratory's services are in great demand, tests
are often scheduled a year or more in advance.  Velasco said the
staff is working hard to complete tests by December 1993, when the
lab will be closed for two years for major repairs and upgrading.
     "We've been making fixes all along," he said.      "We
replaced a third of the main floor where it was sinking two years
ago, but the rest of the floor still needs repair.  The roof is
corroded, and the insulation is no longer as effective as it should
be.  After 45 years of constant use, it needs a major overhaul.
We're going to close down and fix it right.  We hope to keep using
this place well into the next century."

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    |               bergman@afpan.pa.af.mil                            |  
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