This article first appeared in the April 1970 Flight Test News.
With Seattle temperatures lower than required and hot weather lacking at any closer points, a Boeing 747 test airplane flew 3,800 miles to San Juan, Puerto Rico, last week to complete takeoff tests requiring temperatures over 80 degrees and wind speed less than 10 knots.
The airplane, the No. 2 test 747, is equipped with engine water injection to sustain maximum power during takeoff in high temperatures. The tests were part of Federal Aviation Administration certification trials of the Block 2 engine water injection system.
The airplane made two test takeoffs at San Juan International Airport, with the temperature at 85 degrees and wind speed at 8 miles an hour.
Results of the tests were recorded by on-board instrumentation. Two portable wind stations were set up by the test crew adjacent to the runway to record wind velocity and direction, and calibrated thermometers measured the precise temperature at takeoff.
Following the tests, the airplane returned to Seattle.
The crew was made up of Lew Wallick, experimental test pilot; Earl Chester, FAA, co-pilot; John Britt, flight engineer, and Warren Wilson, flight test group engineer assigned to the airplane. About 50 additional personnel – engineers and maintenance specialists – accompanied the airplane.
The certification test program on the water injection system was completed Friday.
This article first appeared in the April 1970 Flight Test News.