North Devon helicopter firm wins national innovation award

A North Devon helicopter maintenance company has been celebrated for its global innovation in rotor blade technology.

Torrington-based Helitune, in partnership with the University of Bristol, was named joint second runner-up at the national Golden Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) Awards. The awards mark 50 years of outstanding projects and individuals driving innovation across the UK.

Peter Morrish, Technology and Customer Support Manager at Helitune, said: “The KTP collaboration proved transformational for our company. As a small/medium enterprise based in rural northern Devon we were fortunate to recruit exceptional associates whose expertise brought new knowledge and technologies into our business.

“The breakthrough technology developed by Helitune, using Bristol’s expertise, halved the flight hours required by helicopters to test rotor blade vibration, thus reducing operating costs for test flight.”

The partnership led to a system that reduced flight hours required to test rotor blade vibration, helping Helitune become a market leader.

The company now offers civil and military operators a more accurate and cost-effective method to minimise damaging helicopter vibration.

Helitune has since secured major contracts worldwide and expanded its workforce from North Devon to France, Germany and the USA. 

It has also increased investment in research and development, reflecting a shift towards innovation-led growth.

Professor Michele Barbour, Associate Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Enterprise & Innovation at the University of Bristol, said: “This Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) has been a fantastic example of how collaboration between academics and industry can deliver real benefits to both parties.

“Helitune approached the University with an industry problem and the solution that we devised, MFR, ultimately became a world-leading technology in helicopter rotor track and balance testing which has the remarkable capacity to register optical and vibration data from aircraft and calculate the adjustments needed in real time to help make helicopters fly more smoothly.”

For the University, the partnership led to eight further research projects, £2.1m in funding, two international paper prizes, a Royal Society publication, and the Best KTP Award in 2012.

Helitune, which was founded in 1977 and now forms part of the Condition Monitoring Technology Group (CMTG) Ltd, has more than 40 years of experience in vibration health monitoring and rotor track and balance systems.