Aerospace firm launches world’s first digital test cell

CFS Aero’s new test cell is one of only nine such facilities in the world and the only one with advanced digital technology, allowing customers to view live test runs remotely and access real-time data and diagnostics.

The new facility, which has been developed with the help of a £1.5m loan from Frontier Development Capital, will allow the company to offer a new service repairing auxiliary power units (APUs), an auxiliary engine that starts the aircraft’s main engines and provides air and electric power to the aircraft. CFS Aero expects to double its 35-strong workforce over the next four years as a result.

CFS Aero was formed in 2012 when businessmen Jon Freedman and David Newhouse purchased the assets of an aerospace company from liquidators and took on its small team of staff. Frontier Development Capital first backed CFS in 2013 and has since provided successive funding rounds to enable it to expand its market, move from its original premises at Coventry Airport to its current site and grow the business.

CFS Aero now also has operations at Hawarden Airport, near Chester and Los Angeles and serves customers worldwide. In 2020 it purchased the rights to repair the Honeywell ALF502 and LF507 engines, which power the BAE 146 and the RJ Avro aircraft.

Both models are now commonly used for cargo and passenger flights and as a utility aircraft for firefighting in the USA and Canada including in the recent Los Angeles wildfires. The company was sub-contracted to support the late Queen’s Flight and granted the coveted Gold Standard Supplier Recognition Award by BAE Systems.

The new test cell, which is specifically designed for use with APUs, will enable the company to certify the engines it repairs. The new service is focused on the most common type of APU as used on the Airbus A220, Airbus A320 and the Boeing 737.

Gareth Sheridan, the Chief Operating Officer of CFS Aero, commented: “CFS has earned a strong reputation for quality, reliability, and rapid turn-around times. The addition of our new APU Test Cell allows us to bring those same values into a new market. We’re taking a measured approach to growth—focusing initially on a small group of key customers—so we can ensure every unit that leaves our facility meets the highest standards of performance and customer satisfaction.”

Dianne Watt of Frontier Development Capital added: “We have supported CFS Aero from the early days and it has been rewarding to watch it go from strength to strength. The launch of the test cell is another important milestone, one that will create many more skilled jobs in the business and its UK supply chain and reaffirm its position as one of the UK’s leading turbine engine specialists.”