Rolls-Royce required a specialist road trailer to transport fully rigged Trent engine and pylon assemblies between sites without disturbing instrumentation or adding unnecessary handling into the test programme.
The trailer needed to support multiple Trent engine types, including the Trent 700, Trent 800, Trent 900, Trent 1000 and Trent XWB. It also had to carry a test vehicle up to 25,000kg while meeting demanding road-height constraints, including a maximum loaded running height of 4.4m, with suspension drop-down capability to 4.3m where required.
King designed and manufactured a specialist low-load engine and pylon transportation trailer for Rolls-Royce, developed around the handling, protection and transport requirements of high-value aerospace test assets.
The trailer incorporated a hydraulically operated engine and pylon manipulation system, allowing the assembly to be positioned for transport while maintaining the required road-going height envelope. An interlocked hydraulic clamping system with mechanical locking was developed to secure the pylon without requiring manual intervention at height, improving operator safety and reducing handling risk.
The design was delivered through Rolls-Royce aerospace GSE requirements, with consideration given to component risk, safe operation, human factors, road transport constraints and protection of the engine and associated instrumentation during movement.
The completed trailer provided Rolls-Royce with a specialist road-transport solution for moving fully rigged Trent engine test vehicles while protecting instrumentation, reducing handling and supporting inter-site test operations.
