707 Aircraft Working Group Conference will enable knowledge sharing Published April 14, 2010 By Patty Welsh 66th Air Base Wing Public Affairs HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. -- The 751st Electronic Systems Group is set to host the 18th 707 Aircraft Working Group Conference April 27-30 at the Doubletree Resort in Orlando, Fla. "The concept is to gather all services that fly the 707 airframe and discuss openly the issues they have regarding aircraft structures and primary flight avionics," said Chris J. McWilliams, chief of Logistics for the 551st Electronic Systems Wing. "We want to explore problem commonality and share solution strategies." By sharing information, the group hopes to meet four goals: improve safety, reduce total ownership costs, increase airframe availability and strengthen interoperability among allies. The Air Force platforms using 707 airframes are the E-3 AWACS and E-8 Joint STARS; the Navy's E-6 TACAMO also uses a 707. Allies from France, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom and Israel, as well as NATO, also employ the 707. In addition to the military and international allies that attend, aerospace industry vendors also participate as critical partners. "We are very careful about ethics and use the partner briefings as a way to bring technologies they are working to our attention," said Mr. McWilliams. "We want them to show and explain new capabilities so we can discover if there are opportunities to enhance safety or reduce costs." The 707 Aircraft Working Group originated in 1996, because as the airlines got out of the 707 business, organizations began competing for scarce resources and the AWG was a way for personnel to work together. This year, as many as 275 attendees are expected. "Every effort is made to ensure maximum attendance while minimizing cost," Mr. McWilliams said. Each year has a specific theme the briefings are geared toward. For 2010, the theme is aging aircraft and structural integrity. "The theme of aging aircraft is a huge topic," said Mr. McWilliams. "We need to address how we are going to take care of these aircraft and what we have to do to maintain them as reliable, safe weapon systems into the future." Some of the briefings scheduled include top system degraders and maintenance drivers. Within the AWG, there are focus groups concentrated on specific issues and problems in areas such as logistics, engineering and program management. The focus groups report back findings and fixes every year. "We have found the 707 Aircraft Working Group Conference to be a really useful and worthwhile effort," said Mr. McWilliams. "Together with the 551st Wing Logistics, the 633 team has put a lot of effort into organizing this event and is looking forward to the conference," said Maj. Kevin Massie, commander of the 633rd Electronic Systems Squadron. "Because of lessons learned and relationships forged through the 707 working group, throughout the past year we have saved millions of taxpayer dollars by more smartly procuring replacement parts and developing repair solutions." The conference also allows for joint collaborations in an effort to pinpoints problems from the past and correct them for the future. "The 707th Aircraft Working Group provides a unique opportunity for contractors and maintainers and engineers from the U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force and allies to share information and build the relationships needed to tackle the problems that our venerable but aging 707 fleets face now and in the future," said Patrick Dagle, director of the 751st Electronic Systems Group. Further information about the conference can be found at: http://www.regonline.com/Checkin.asp?EventId=819562.