From Left to Right: Rob Millinship (Aerobatic Pilot), Adrian Judd (Red Bull Air Race Technical Director), Nicolas Ivanoff (Red Bull Air Race Pilot), Martin Mayer (Test Pilot)
Year 12 pupils from around the country attended a five-day residential course hosted by the School of Engineering.
The HEADSTART Aerospace Focus programme aims to provide an insight into studying Aerospace Engineering at the University prior to students making their UCAS applications.
The challenge the 40 pupils faced this year was to redesign a basic training aircraft to allow it to compete in a virtual Red Bull Air Race around Liverpool. Working in teams of five, the pupils assumed different engineering roles in order to complete hands-on laboratory and flight simulator exercises.
An initial evaluation of the aircraft on the full motion flight simulator was undertaken by a former test pilot to highlight to the pupils the design challenges that needed resolving. In order to give the work a real world element, the pupils’ final designs were evaluated by a team consisting of a test pilot, an aerobatic aircraft builder, the Red Bull Air Race Technical Director and a Red Bull Air Race pilot.