Member Article

Mast company wins airport contracts

A firm which produces lighting and weather masts for the aviation industry has won a raft contracts across the world.

Darlington-based Pollite has won six major airfield contracts and has seen its frangible masts installed at commercial, civil and military airfields in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Australia.

Recent UK contracts include supplying hundreds of lighting masts to Liverpool John Lennon Airport; Glasgow’s Prestwick Airport and Glasgow International Airport as part of its multi-million pound redevelopment.

The company has also provided approach masts for Can-Tho Airport in Vietnam and Launceston Airport in Tasmania as well as securing a new contract in Brazil last week.

Adrian Harrison, managing director of Pollite, said: “When we launched it was clear we had something new and exciting in the market and the feedback was fantastic,”

“The unique element of the mast is the simplicity of its design, the durability of the construction, how easy it is to install and the low shipping costs.”

The masts were the brainchild of Mr Harrison who has spent 12 years developing the product, ensuring that they would break on impact and meet strict frangibility requirements outlined by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

The testing process involved independent verification by a US testing house to prove its frangibility requirements and entailed high speed demonstrations at a former World War Two airstrip at York.

He added: “It involved us attaching a section of airplane wing to a steel frame attached to a car and then hurtling down a runway at speeds of 87mph to test if the mast would break on impact,”

“The masts had to break but in the right way at the right time, without blocking the path of the aircraft.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .