These units were assembled on cut-down, surplus military busses and were equipped with quickchange fittings and the latest instruments for checking engine performance. They carried their own fuel load and could be driven on the highway for work at any point accessible by ordinary vehicles. A complete engine change could be made in just forty-five minutes using these customized units, and their mobility made it possible for the engines to face into the wind at all times, an advantage for accurate testing.

Possibly the most novel of OAES's moneymaking projects was "Operation Used Wind," brainchild, of Bill Rivers. An engineer from the Dinwiddie Construction Company called on Rivers to request help in testing the side panels and windows that were being designed and manufactured for the new Equitable Building in San Francisco. The construction company needed data on how the windows could withstand severe wind and rain storms. The engineer explained that he had stood behind one of the small private aircraft as it taxied away from him at the airport and found that the it had generated enough wind pressure to enable him to determine the degree of water and wind-proofing needed. Now he wanted Rivers to assist him in obtaining one of the small planes and tow it to Emeryville (near Oakland to participate in the test.

Rivers had a better idea. He drove the engineer to a spot near the OAES testing area where Fred Quinn was installing onto the test stand an R-2800-B series engine from a Flying Tigers transport. They stopped about forty yards behind the testcell. From there they could feel the force of the wind, yet were far enough away to not be struck by the blowing oil. When Quinn wound up the engine, the blast of wind battered the engineer and sent his hat flying. This only caused him to become more and more enthusiastic. So when Rivers suggested that OAES could request a highway patrol escort and drive the testing truck directly to the test site, the engineer quickly agreed.

Later, with the windows and the aircraft engine in place on the mobile unit, the test windows were blasted with 100 mile an hour winds. Water was injected into the wind stream to simulate rain. Operation Used Wind netted a sizeable fee for OAES.

In 1958, OAES provided direct support to America's efforts to put manned vehicles into outer space. This support took the form of experimental plating with gold, silver, rhodium, and other metals to learn their relative ability to resist heat.

In addition to its large engine overhaul and research activities, OAES also manufactured and distributed General Electric reciprocating engine aircraft ignition systems and parts under a ten-year exclusive contract with G.E.