An Overview of the AH-64D Apache Block III Engine Nose Gearbox Fairing Icing Wind Tunnel Test

A Boeing led team completed an icing wind tunnel test program for the US Army Apache Block III Engine Nose Gearbox fairing anti-ice qualification demonstration in the Icing Research Tunnel at NASA Glenn Research Center in August 2008. The test objectives were to qualify the AH-64D Apache Block III ENGB fairing for a defined icing and aircraft operating envelope and demonstrate that the functionality of the ENGB fairing heater blankets limited the ice accretion on the fairings to a minimum not to exceed the ice ingestion capability of the T700-GE-701D engine. The test model included full-scale aircraft hardware with simulated aircraft flow circuits. The ENGB fairing, supplied by Goodrich, provided acceptable anti-ice performance for all test conditions in the icing envelope and demonstrated satisfactory anti-ice performance. It was observed the colder test conditions were the most challenging in the icing envelope for anti-ice performance. In addition to the scheduled test conditions, several other test conditions were performed, including a long duration, simulated gunfire damage and unheated ENGB fairing, to provide validation of the improved design for the Block III ENGB fairing.