Manufacturing flight combines old, new technology for mission success Published March 11, 2011 By Gary Lister 569th EMXS ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. -- Employees around Robins are continuously searching for new and better ways of doing things, including acquiring the latest equipment and tools, but sometimes the old way still works best. The Braiding Team in the 402nd Electronics Maintenance Group's Manufacturing Flight is using one machine which has been in service for 50 years and is still going strong. The machine, along with three others just like it plus a new one, braid a fireproof covering over wiring harnesses used in aircraft. The shop's braiding team of Dorothy Ross, Willie Shennett, Andrew Bembry, Jeremy Mobley, and Harold Ingram collectively has nearly a century of experience performing the rare but important task. Ross first saw the oldest machine in 1966 when she went to work for what was then called the armament shop. She said it has needed repair only one time, when workers were moving it and dropped it. "It's still going real well," she said of the device, as she and co-workers prepared to braid a harness. "It's one of the best ones we have." Braiding machines were invented in the late 1700s and, other than power and automation advances of the 1800s, remain largely unchanged. But the equipment is crucial to keeping modern aircraft flying. Braided outer coverings provide additional protection to aircraft wires and cables in harsh environments. In addition to shielding wires and cables, the 569th Manufacturing Flight also performs a number of other important functions. The flight produces circuit boards, a precursor to the much smaller circuit cards used in today's modern electronics, for weapons systems such as F-16s, HH-60 helicopters, MC-130H Combat Talon II aircraft, and UH-60J Search and Rescue helicopters used by Japan. It also makes semi-rigid radio frequency cables for various weapons systems, troubleshoots failed parts and systems, and reverse engineers and builds prototypes of other parts and systems. Clearly, it's doing its part to make the Warner Robins Air Logistics Center a "World Class" Center of Acquisition and Sustainment Excellence.