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Fluid Power Equipment and Servicing for Aerospace and Defence
Aerospace hydraulics, compressed air and assembly tooling sit behind work that has to be right first time and provable afterwards. Whether you run an MRO hangar, a component machine shop or a defence maintenance facility, an auditor can ask for the record behind any joint, test rig or pressure vessel on site.
Control Gear Group, specialists in compressed air and industrial equipment, was founded in 1973 and works from Treforest near Pontypridd. Our engineers carry out on-site service across South Wales and the South West, and we supply equipment UK-wide.
What Does an Aerospace or Defence Site Need From a Fluid Power Supplier?
Equipment that holds tolerance every shift, records that stand up in a quality audit, and a supplier who understands how the systems connect.
The connections matter more here than in most industries. Rivet guns, spray booths and the air-fed masks in a paint hangar can all run from one compressed air system, and a hydraulic test rig depends on accumulators that fall under pressure systems law. When one team looks after the whole chain, a fault in one place is far less likely to surprise you in another.
Control Gear supplies and services aerospace hydraulics, compressed air, nitrogen, assembly tools, finishing equipment, pneumatics, extraction, filtration and hose under one team.
50+
years of industrial equipment experience
Aerospace Hydraulics: Skydrol Test Rigs, Power Units and Accumulators
Hydraulics is where our aerospace work is most specific. Our division designs, builds, upgrades and maintains hydraulic systems, from simple hand-operated power units through to Skydrol test rigs for the aerospace sector. We install on site, repair hydraulic pumps, valves and cylinders from makers including Bosch Rexroth, Parker Hannifin and Moog, and take oil samples for condition monitoring.
Building and Servicing Skydrol Test Rigs
Skydrol is the phosphate-ester fluid used in airliner hydraulic systems, and it behaves differently from the mineral oils in factory hydraulics. It attacks the nitrile seals that suit mineral oil, so a rig needs seals, hose and filter media chosen for the fluid. That normally means EPDM or PTFE seals, checked against the fluid maker’s compatibility guidance.
Contamination is the other risk. Particles wear pumps and servo valves, so we fit filtration sized for the rig and monitor fluid cleanliness against ISO 4406, the code that counts particles in hydraulic oil.
The rigs, power units and hose we build are ground equipment for test and maintenance work. Parts fitted to the aircraft itself still come through your approved aviation supply chain.
Accumulator Supply and PSSR Recertification
Accumulators on test rigs, ground support equipment and production presses are pressure vessels. Under the Pressure Systems Safety Regulations 2000, they need a written scheme of examination drawn up or certified by a competent person before the system is operated.
Our PSSR workshop supplies, examines and recertifies hydraulic accumulators, with a same-day removal, recertification and refit service. Breaches of the regulations can bring an unlimited fine. The real reason for the scheme is simpler: a failed accumulator releases stored energy at full pressure.
HYDAC Filtration and Fluid Care
As an official partner of HYDAC, the German hydraulics and filtration manufacturer, we supply Betamicron filter elements, accumulators, fluid care units that remove water from the oil, and condition-monitoring sensors for rigs and power units. A rising particle count then shows up before it reaches a servo valve.
Compressed Air, Oil-Free Air and Nitrogen for Hangars and Production
Every hangar and production floor runs on compressed air, for rivet guns, drills, paint finishing and material handling. We are a Premier Distributor for Atlas Copco, one of the world’s largest compressor manufacturers, and compressed air has been our core business for over 50 years. Where air touches the product, in painting, bonding, composite layup or cleaning, oil or water in the line causes delamination and paint defects. Atlas Copco’s Z-series oil-free compressors are TÜV-certified to ISO 8573-1 Class 0, the standard’s strictest oil class, and our page on compressed air for the aerospace industry covers the compressor and dryer options.
Class 0 at the compressor is only half the specification, though:
- set the particle, water and oil classes at the point of use
- then size the dryers and filters to hold them along the whole pipe run
Nitrogen is the other gas aviation sites rely on, for tyre inflation and fuel system purging. Atlas Copco PSA and membrane generators produce it on site at purities up to 99.999%, which removes cylinder deliveries and the handling of high-pressure bottles around aircraft. We supply, install and service the nitrogen generators in our industrial gases range.
Long hangar ring mains bring their own faults: pressure loss at the far drops and wet air where pipes run cold. Our engineers design and install pipework, carry out leak detection and energy audits, and keep the air in specification with planned servicing.
Spray Finishing, Paint Hangars and Blasting
Aircraft and defence equipment need coatings applied to a specification and stripped back cleanly at overhaul. Our Powergear Spray & Air division, in partnership with ITW, supplies spray guns, electrostatic applicators, two-component mixing machines, spray booths and booth filtration. For paint stripping, our spray and product finishing team sells, hires and services Hodge Clemco blast cabinets and blast rooms.
Two-pack isocyanate paints bring a specific breathing risk. HSE guidance on respiratory protection for spraying says sprayers need air-fed breathing apparatus and that the air supply should be tested at least every three months. We test breathing air to BS EN 12021, the standard for compressed air used for breathing, and service the compressors and filters that feed the masks.
Assembly Tools, Festo Pneumatics and Automation for Test and Assembly Cells
Aerospace assembly is fastening at volume, and every joint is a quality record. As an authorised distributor for Atlas Copco Industrial Tools, we supply transducerised assembly tools whose controllers record each tightening, along with pneumatic and cordless tools, riveting systems and bolt tensioning equipment. UK Part 145 requires a maintenance organisation to control and calibrate its tools against an officially recognised standard and keep the records. Our workshop repairs, services and calibrates industrial tools and returns them with records you can file in your own tool-control system.
Riveting, grinding and sanding are also the jobs that push operators over vibration limits. Our IOSH-certified engineers survey tools on site, measure vibration and set up a traffic-light system showing each tool’s exposure against the two daily values in the Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005:
- an exposure action value of 2.5 m/s² A(8)
- a limit value of 5 m/s² A(8)
Precision cells need actuators that repeat, stroke after stroke. As an official Festo partner, we supply and support Festo valves, cylinders and electric automation, including valve terminals and air preparation units, with same-day access to Festo parts.
Our automation team designs and builds pneumatic control panels, test rigs and automated assembly. We are also an authorised IMI Norgren distributor, so the valve on your drawing is chosen for the duty, whichever brand that turns out to be.
Extraction, Filtration and Hose
Trimming and drilling composites creates fine dust, and paint stripping adds more. As an authorised Nederman distributor and Gold Channel Partner, we supply dust and fume extraction, from on-tool and at-source arms to collectors for combustible dust, fume and oil mist.
Our certified engineers also carry out LEV testing. Regulation 9 of the COSHH Regulations 2002 requires local exhaust ventilation to be thoroughly examined and tested at least every 14 months, with records kept for at least five years. The test measures performance against the system’s design, which is more than checking the fan runs.
Filtration and hose complete the picture. We have been an authorised Pall Industrial Filtration distributor for well over 20 years and offer industrial and process filtration with condition monitoring, sampling and purifier hire. Our BFPA-certified hose team makes up hydraulic, industrial and metallic hose assemblies with pressure test certification.
Records That Support Your AS9100 or Part 145 System
AS9100 is the quality management standard for aviation, space and defence organisations, and Part 145 is the approval for aircraft maintenance organisations. Both certify your organisation, not the compressor or the torque tool. What they need from suppliers is controlled, calibrated equipment and maintenance that leaves a record.
Service Records and Certificates
Service Records and Certificates
That’s what we provide: a service report after every visit, written schemes of examination for compressors, receivers and accumulators, breathing air test certificates, LEV test records, hose pressure test certificates and tool service records.
Our ISO Certification
Our ISO Certification
Control Gear holds ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 certification.
Defence Sites
Defence Sites
Defence manufacturing and maintenance sites use the same air, hydraulics, tools and extraction, usually with their own access and security rules. Tell us those rules when you enquire and we’ll plan the work around them. Our page on compressed air for the defence industry covers the compressor side.
Talk to Control Gear About Your Aerospace or Defence Site
Where each division fits on an aerospace or defence site:
- Hydraulic test and maintenance: Skydrol test rigs, power units, pump and cylinder repairs, oil sampling
- Pressure vessels: accumulator supply, PSSR examination and recertification
- Hangar and shop air: Atlas Copco compressors, dryers, filters, pipework, Class 0 oil-free air
- Tyres and fuel systems: on-site PSA and membrane nitrogen generation
- Assembly: Atlas Copco transducerised tools, riveting, calibration, HAV surveys
- Paint and overhaul: spray and blast equipment, booth filtration, breathing air testing
- Composite machining: Nederman extraction and LEV testing
If you’re commissioning a test rig, recertifying accumulators or upgrading hangar air, send us the rig drawing, accumulator list or compressed air layout, with the fluid, air purity class and records your quality system needs. Our Treforest team will come back with matched options across hydraulics, air, tools and extraction, specified together rather than bought piece by piece. Call 01443 843126 or use the contact form to arrange a site visit.
Get in touch
Contact Control Gear today
Tell us about your site and we’ll come back with the right service, audit or system recommendation.
- Visit us Heol Groeswen, Treforest Industrial Estate, Pontypridd, Rhondda Cynon Taff, CF37 5YF
- Call us 01443 843126
- Email us enquiries@control-gear.com
Mon–Fri · 09:00–17:00
24/7 emergency call-out available