News

Robins teams with Navy to deliver automatic wire test set

  • Published
  • By Wayne Crenshaw
  • 78th ABW/PA
A joint effort between a Robins acquisitions team and the Navy culminated last week in the delivery of an automatic wire test set aimed at simplifying and standardizing aircraft wire testing across a range of platforms.

Program manager Thomas Reynolds presented Jan Ewing, a C-5 engineer at Robins, and Scott Barker, C-5 production supervisor here, the first unit during a Joint Services Wiring Action Group conference in Byron. The conference was for maintenance personnel with an interest in aircraft wiring.

The Air Force is buying 160 units and the Navy will purchase 54. Based on quantity discounts resulting from the joint acquisition, the government should realize a savings of approximately $7 million over the period of this contract, Reynolds said. The Eclypse International Corp. in Corona, Calif., is the contractor.

"I think the joint acquisition process was a real success," Reynolds said. "I can't say enough about all the core team members who dedicated themselves to making this a success. Navy logistics and Air Force logistics just do not always marry up but this group of people has kept this so focused."

The project dates back to 2005 when the Air Force started to standardize aircraft wire testing so a common tester could be used across platforms. After learning the Navy was pursing the same thing, Reynolds said the team here started working with the Navy to pursue a joint contract.

The unit is capable of simultaneously testing up to 15,000 points. It can detect faults and the distance to those faults. It will also save money by significantly reducing the time it takes to perform wire tests, Reynolds said.

The sets will be delivered at a rate of 15 per month and will be shipped to units around the world, including those on remote assignment.

The Robins team members work in the Automatic Test Systems Division. The Navy team members are from the Aircraft Wiring Support Equipment Team, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst. N.J.