Facilities

Aerospace Workshop – helping projects take-off

 
There aren’t many places you can fly your own Harrier to test how good a pilot you are but it’s just one of an array of wonderful opportunities at Coventry University’s Faculty of Engineering and Computing. Its Aerospace workshop houses a Harrier fitted with a simulation integration unit in the cockpit, enabling you to take to the skies and the fun doesn’t stop there.

Leading the field

 
The Aerospace Workshop also boasts three other simulators which can be flown in the same air space – the only university in the UK with multi-simulator integration. It creates an exciting way to learn, as you can use your own design before being given a flight profile to take off, climb to a certain height and carry out a manoeuvre. The 61 channels of flight data, such as flight speed, can be analysed to assess how good a pilot you are or how responsive “your” aircraft is. And of course the simulators also allow you to walk away from a crash! Recently the flight simulators have been incorporated into an air traffic control environment this enables us to see the complex management involved to handle several aircraft at once.

Components of the Harrier aircraft can also be removed to help you find out how they integrate with the system.  The workshop also houses an Agusta Westland Scout helicopter which you can also carry out work on. Combined with the free flying lessons available, it is a unique offering.

What are the benefits?

• The chance to use the only multi-simulator in a UK University
• The chance to get hands-on experience of working on a real Harrier and Scout helicopter
• Providing experience critical to gaining aerospace degrees
• Students can build and test fly their own designs

The entire experience offered by the Aerospace Workshop is aimed at complementing the faculty’s Activity Led Learning approach. Its hands-on approach provides you with a broad base of knowledge, delivered in a fun and exciting environment.