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Lola has reported excellent leads from the air shows including “some seriously big companies that had not been aware of just what we could provide.” Although most of the interest has been in Lola's composite expertise, there have been some, including representatives of the military, who have taken on board that Lola's wind tunnel is commercially available. Company spokesman Sam Smith has been pleased to report that many in the aerospace sector already recognised the Lola name.
Retrac Composites received over 100 enquiries at Farnborough for aerospace sector work. Managing director John Greaves reported that much of this concerned tooling, as the aviation world seems to have problems getting reasonable tooling made, particularly in North America. Enquires came from a wide spread of companies including, reported Greaves, “some heavy hitters” such as the aerospace arm of Mitsubishi.
As mentioned earlier, B3 Technologies is involved in composite parts for satellites, its customer being Surrey Satellite Technology, part owned by the University of Surrey and a world leader in small satellite applications.
Earth observation satellites use two star tracker cameras that look at star patterns. These decide the position and attitude of the satellite. An important aspect is that they should add little to the payload and yet be able to withstand launch conditions. In order to stop any extraneous light from getting in, these cameras feature light cones that technical manager Andy Smith describes as looking “like an upside down lamp shade.” They also protrude from the camera with minimal support.
Previously these had been manufactured from brass and aluminium. However, for SSTL, B3 designed and manufactured the first carbon titanium light cones to have been employed on a satellite. It also manufactured the aluminium skinned composite flight panels, the main structure of the satellite onto which everything else is mounted. Continuing work for SSTL has meant that B3 Technologies has since been working on satellites for both China and Turkey. B3 has also been a supplier of composite structures for a UAV from Qinetiq (sponsor of the Team Jota Zytek 04S that both demonstrated at Farnborough and then went on to perform valiantly at Le Mans a year later). In addition, work was carried out on the ill-fated Beagle II explorer, although, as the company says, “we'll never know how that turned out!”
More recently Prodrive has also become involved with Surrey Satellite and has supplied its first panels to the company. Perhaps significantly, this contract came as a direct result of contact made at last year's Farnborough.
Those motorsport companies looking to the skies to increase their business do not though have to confine their plans to future high-tech developments. Perhaps there was a clue in the proximity of the Sopwith F1 Camel replica to the MIA pavilion at Farnborough. Many Camels were powered by the 150hp B.R.1 rotary engine designed by one Lieutenant W O Bentley. There is nothing new in racing people working on aerospace projects and vice versa. There are also opportunities for modern motorsport technology to enhance existing aircraft, not just the designs of the future.
Pi Research, which was present at both Farnborough and Paris, has supplied a compact flight data recorder system developed from Formula One technology for a Spitfire Mk.XIV operated by Historic Flying of Duxford for Belgian industrialist Karel Bos. This provides in-flight monitoring, aircraft health monitoring, trend monitoring and post-flight performance data. Importantly for pilot safety, it is the first system developed for the “warbird” industry that has a carbon dioxide (CO2) sensor fitted to monitor cabin air quality. Spinning off from this, Pi Research is pursuing a number of business leads in supplying such systems for flight test groups round the world. It's clear that Motorsport Valley has much to offer and much to gain from developing business links with industry sectors outside motorsport.
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