Company Introduction

RP Aero Systems is an established, privately owned, UK engineering company operating internationally. It has two distinct business operations supplying:

• composite components, fabrications and assemblies
• aircraft cabin crew safety and service training systems

The company's proven experience and extensive engineering capability embodies all the necessary disciplines to undertake and manage the complete product cycle from concept through to reality, whether for a single prototype or batch production. These disciplines include:

• research and development
• concept design and development
• detail design and product engineering
• tooling, manufacturing and finishing

Delivery, site installation, commissioning and comprehensive through-life field support services are also offered.

A wide range of metal and plastic materials is both handcrafted and machine processed. It includes steel, aluminium, titanium, thermoplastics, polymer resins, glass, aramid and carbon fibre.

Our extensive customer base includes commercial airlines and major companies involved in motorsport, architectural construction and the manufacture of road vehicles, helicopters, flight simulators, military equipment and audio systems.

The company's success is underpinned by its ISO 9001 accredited quality assurance system.

Company History

Managing Director Stephen Foster has a history in motorsport going back many years, starting with the Onyx F2 programme and developing with the Onyx F3000 and F1 projects. Raceprep was established in December 1990 to offer the high standards of manufacturing workmanship required by the motor sport industry without the long time delays often associated with specialist engineering and fabrication processes.

Due to the increasing use of moulded composite components in race car engineering and the benefits of having this facility in house, 1992 saw the acquisition of Mako Fibreglass, a locally based specialist company with a history of design and product development going back some fifteen years.

These two companies combined to become Raceprep Limited and subsequently RP Technologies and then RP Aero Systems reflecting its ongoing market and product diversification. It operates from a 20,000 square foot, purpose built facility in Littlehampton, West Sussex, England.

It now has two distinct but complimentary business operations which design, develop and manufacture:

• composite components, fabrications and assemblies
• aircraft cabin crew safety and service training systems

The company's fine tolerance fabrication and moulded composite skills have been recognised with the award of significant contracts for components and assemblies to major companies involved in motorsport, architectural construction and the manufacture of road vehicles, helicopters, flight simulators, military equipment and audio systems.

One of these major contracts was for the supply of replica aircraft structures and systems to ECC Simulation Ltd for a series of cabin crew training simulators for Airtours (MyTravel). In July 1999 RP procured this business from ECC and launched into the simulation market. Since then RP has earned a reputation as a reliable Manufacturer of quality training equipment to the Aerospace industry world wide, and is a leading supplier of training equipment for Wide body, Narrow body and Regional airlines in both the domestic and international markets.

Company Services

Design

With a full understanding of prototyping and low volume manufacturing methods, RP Aero Systems offers innovative product design in plastics and metal, taking a product from a concept, through detail design and CAD drawing to tooling, prototyping and production. A large number of projects, relying heavily on our design capabilities, have been successfully completed and released for manufacture.

Pattern Shop

Our pattern shop provides the skills necessary for shaping patterns and models for both composite components and cast metal parts. Both traditional hand skills and computer generated modelling can be utilised depending upon the application. High quality patterns from a few millimetres across up to 6 metres in length can be rapidly produced.

Tooling & Prototyping

Our metal fabrication department offers expertise and many accumulated man years of experience of sheet metal and tube fabrication in Aluminium and Steel, plus TIG Welding . We have the capacity to cut, fold, roll, drill, punch, mill, turn, sandblast and finish metal parts to fine limits.

Conventional Composites

Vacuum formed un-reinforced thermoplastic mouldings can be produced up to 6mm thick. Manufacturing facilities are also available for reinforced laminated Neoprene rubber mouldings up to 3 metres in length. Our composite facility encompasses all forms of low to medium volume manufacturing systems for thermoset plastic components, from conventional wet lay up GRP through Resin Injection and Casting systems to advanced wet lay up techniques using Carbon, Aramid and Glass fibres in Epoxy and Vinyl Ester resins.

Advanced Composites

Our advanced composite facility allows manufacture of safety critical components to the very high standards required for the motorsport and aerospace industries. High temperature curing under vacuum is available for less critical components in our 1metre and 2.1metre cube ovens. High pressure/ high temperature curing is provided by our autoclave for more demanding applications (4.5 M x 1.7 M diameter, 8Bar, 250°C).

Production

Once prototyped and fully developed, our manufacturing capacity can cover long or short runs for any composite or metal parts, with a complete finishing service for all of the components we produce. We can supply fully painted and assembled units, sub assemblies or bare mouldings. Batch sizes from single units to continuous quantity manufacture can be accommodated.