Powerstax plc, the Farnborough based power solutions specialists, has supplied an AC power source to the famous Brooklands museum as part of an ongoing project to restore the original flight simulator used to train pilots for Concorde.
Brooklands was the world’s first purpose-built motor racing circuit, constructed at Weybridge, Surrey in 1907. More than a great sporting arena, Brooklands was the birthplace of British motorsport and aviation, home of Concorde and the site of many engineering and technological achievements throughout eight decades of the 20th century.
The Concorde simulator has been donated to the museum and is gradually being restored to the point where all of its major flight-deck instrumentation, including the legendry MACH meter will function. Aircraft control systems require 26VAC @ 400Hz and initially a number of small, second hand power supplies had been bought at auction to get the project off the ground. As more of the flight deck has been brought to life a single, more reliable power solution which could provide enough power for the current level of activity and planned future needs was required.
Gordon Roxburgh, the volunteer in charge of this project, comments;”We needed a more powerful AC power supply that could meet the aircraft power specifications and provide enough output for our existing and future needs. As a charity the cost was also an important factor and the Behlman AC power source and special price offered by Powerstax met all of our needs”.
The Concorde flight simulator now at Brooklands was decommissioned in 2004 and the volunteers are being assisted by the University of Surrey to replace the original control systems. Visitors to the museum can “take a flight” in the simulator and eventually be able to experience a functioning Concorde flight-deck.
The Behlman range of AC Power Sources available from Powerstax are ideal for cost-effective conversion from and to any single-phase shipboard, avionics or world-wide power requirement. Behlman products provide a comprehensive AC-AC product range from 1350VA up to 120kVA. These offer variable AC voltage and frequency (45-10kHz) plus optional features such as Three-phase input, IEEE-488, RS232, Extended Frequency, extra output voltages and are CE marked.
Powerstax designs and manufactures high power density, high efficiency AC-DC and DC-DC power supplies and DC-DC Converters. Served markets include Defense, Avionics, Industrial, Medical, Telecoms, Datacoms, IT, Test & Control & Transportation.