Revved up, ready to go

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Christopher Gross
  • 3rd Wing Public Affairs
ELMENDORF AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska --   Imagine having the opportunity everyday to go work on a $10.8 million piece of equipment.

That's how much one of Elmendorf's F-22 Raptor F-119-PW-100 engines is worth and the Airmen and contractors at the 3rd Component Maintenance Squadron's Propulsion Flight work diligently throughout the year to ensure these multi-million-dollar engines stay in tip-top shape.

Airmen typically spend seven to nine days tearing down an engine, replacing time change parts, worn parts, and troubleshooting any problems it may be having. They disassemble every part on the engine to guarantee a safe and functional engine.

There are a combined 71 Airmen and contractors that are responsible for the work that gets done in the Propulsion Flight. Last year they serviced a total of 48 engines that rolled through the shop; those included the F-100-PW-220s that are installed in Elmendorf's F-15 Eagles and the Raptor's F-119s.

Master Sgt. William Marshall, Propulsion Flight superintendent, said that he finds his job very satisfying.

"We produce reliable engines for the aircraft so they can perform their mission (effectively)," he said.

In order to do their mission effectively, Marshall said that the shop has approximately 4,000 tools in stock at an estimated worth of $8.7 million. The shop also has the largest overhead hoist system in Alaska, which is used to remove and install the large components of the engines on and off the maintenance rails.

After the maintenance has been completed in the shop, the engines are then transported to one of two test cells, which are capable of testing both aircraft and engines.

In these test cells the engine is securely strapped down in a hush house that minimizes the sound of the loud blast. Within the hush house there are two rooms. One room is used for viewing and ensuring the pressure within the cell stays at a safe level. The other room is more of a stationary box, where a control person sits and regulates the throttle while monitoring nearly every function of the engine.

The engines can produce 35,000 pounds of thrust at their maximum performance in these test cells.

After going through multiple checks to assure the engine is safe and mission ready it can then be transported to one of the jets or kept in storage as a spare.

The Propulsion Flight is responsible for 156 fighter engines. Sixty-two of those are F-100s 56 are used on the jets and six are kept as spares. There are 94 F-119s of which 80 are used on the Raptors and 14 are kept as spares.

These Airmen work hard at ensuring that no detail is missed, and ensure pilots of these fighter jets can press on with their missions successfully.