Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan -- Today's sports cars are pulled around by more than 300 horses - a considerable amount of power for a car. However, Marines at the test cells have 76,000 horsepower at their fingertips daily, the equivalent of about 250 sports cars.
Before engines are installed in an aircraft, they must be tested, according to Gunnery Sgt. Craig Elliott, test cell noncommissioned officer-in-charge. The jet engine test cell operators here do just that.
"After the engines have been rebuilt by Power Plants, we verify that they're safe and ready for installation and use in the aircraft," Elliott said. "We simulate everything the engines will do in the aircraft in the test cell."
The Marines test engines for three aircraft - the F/A-18 Hornet, E/A-6B Prowler and A/V-8B Harrier. Engine diagnoses generally last two hours and simulate varying air pressure and climate conditions.
"We make sure that when the pilot needs the engine to operate, they won't
fail," Elliott said. "If we find a problem, the repairs can be taken care of right here in the cell. Power Plant Marines come out, and it's a pretty quick evolution. Very seldom do we have to send an engine back to Power Plants."
Located near Gate 4A, the two test cells average 5 engines each week. Though running at maximum power and roaring on the inside, all that can be heard outside of the cell is a "whooshing" of air.
"The augment tube sits behind the engine, and there are acoustic panels with insulation behind them," Miller explained. "Basically, the noise gets sucked into the insulation rather then going outside the cell."
Inside the cell, however, two forms of hearing protection are required - foam ear plugs and either cranials or ear muffs.
"Without hearing protection, you'd go irrefutably deaf in 30 seconds," Elliott said.
The every day pilots who use the tested rarely meet the test cell Marines, but the significance of their job is not overlooked, according to Capt. Jeff "Kiwi" Staman, VMFA-212 pilot.
"The work they do over there, be it repair or preventive maintenance is critical. They provide us with good engines," he said. "I expect my engines to work when I'm flying, not to break or catch on fire."
During the tests, the engines can burn up to 12,000 pounds or more than 2,000 gallons of JP5 jet fuel each hour, which may be better than burning unleaded gasoline in today's top sports cars.
"There's no other feeling in the world like having all that power at my fingertips," Miller said.