Brookhouse Composites, of Darwen, has recently carried out an on-site repair of damage to an Agusta Helicopter using a portable Heatcon composites repair system.

Brookhouse Composites, of Darwen, has recently carried out anon-site repair of damage to an Agusta Helicopter using a portableHeatcon composites repair system. The repair was carried out atBlackpool Airport at the request of Brian Seedle Helicopters(BSH). As well as operating a flying school out of BlackpoolAirport, Brian Seedle Helicopters provides service andmaintenance to helicopter owners and is a Robinson HelicopterCompany Approved Service Centre with a full 2200 hour overhaulcapability.

It also carries CAA approval as a JAR-145 maintenanceorganisation, qualified to carry out maintenance and repair ofaircraft components manufactured from composite materials.However, when an Agusta 109E helicopter required repair of damageto the exterior skin adjacent to the nose wheel, it was decidedto bring in the specialist skills and expertise of BrookhouseComposites and allow BSH to concentrate on carrying out astandard modification to the helicopter by reinforcing thealuminium structure around the nose wheel.

Bearing in mind thatBSH has an excellent reputation for the quality and finish ofhelicopter rebuilds and repairs, it was important that theAugusta repair should be not only functionally effective but alsoaesthetically pleasing.

Consequently, Brookhouse decided to usetheir Heatcon portable hot bonding equipment to ensure thecorrect curing of the wet lay-up glass fibre repair, in line withthe specification set down in the Agusta manuals.

This required acure at ambient temperature under pressure, which was supplied bymeans of a vacuum bag.

This was laid over the complete repairarea and the degree of vacuum was monitored by vacuumtransducers.

The measurements were transmitted to thesystem's central processing unit, so that precise controlwas maintained over the complete curing operation.

(The Heatconsystem also features a thermal blanket so that, if necessary,curing can be carried out under controlled conditions of bothpressure and temperature.) The Heatcon repair system, which hasbeen approved by major aircraft manufacturers such as Boeing andAirbus, complements the company's five existing, in-houseautoclaves and four curing ovens, which cater for the majority ofcomposites repair work.

It is used primarily for small repairjobs, which can be carried out on the shop floor, or for on-sitework.

Brookhouse Composites specialises in the manufacture andrepair of composite components and has particular expertise inthe aerospace industry, in both the military and the civilsectors.

It holds JAR-145 approval to carry out maintenance andrepair of composite aircraft components and was the firstcomposite manufacturing company to gain approval for themanufacture of components for use in the aircraft of all 30countries, which belong to the Joint Aviation Authority.

Itrecently became one of the first companies in the UK to gainapproval under the new European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA)qualification.