Last month we found ourselves at the largest industry event on the aerospace calendar: Farnborough Airshow.

Wizzing past spectators (albeit from a good distance vertically) were the famous red white and blue smoke trails of the Red Arrows. Other highlights included displays from an F16 fighter jet, the AeroSuperbatics wingwalking biplanes, an Airbus 350-1000, a Lancaster bomber, Spitfires and the Red Bull Edge 540s.

However according to Project Manager Richard Sinclair, the most impressive display came from the Gyrocopter which “did things a helicopter should never be doing! Such as a loop the loop!”.

While all of this was going on outside, inside the focus was on Boeing.

Richard headed our operations over at the show, where we had been asked to provide audio for the interior of Boeing’s temporary structure where guests and customers were invited to come and view their products.

The brief required the audio to be discreetly installed in five separate areas.

Richard explained “There were four “Totem” areas with models and independent LED screens, and a circular ‘Theatre’ created with four curved LED screens with enough space between them to allow people to walk through.

“The challenge was to ensure that the audio relating to each of these areas did not encroach on the other, which was overcome by using some PHA-25 speakers for the outer screens from a company called Brown Innovations.

“Two of these speakers were positioned as a sound bar, horizontally above each LED screen and these kept a very uniform sound field immediately in front of the screens. Yet the sound dropped off quickly when one moved a few feet away, which was exactly what the client was after.”

The theatre area was much larger, yet still with a similar brief.

On this occasion 8 x SB-47 Sonic Beam loudspeakers were requested by the client, together with a Brown Innovations subwoofer mounted centrally overhead. This method proved very effective and the level inside this area was high enough to dramatically enhance the videos being shown, without encroaching on the areas outside.

There was also an ambient system with six d&b audiotechnik Ci80s flown on a central truss which ran the length of the structure to cover announcements, press meetings and sound FX, which were being played along with the videos that were shown. Richard and his team spent a day installing the speakers on the truss, along with the cabling to them.

“We had to put all cabling for the screen speakers on the sub-floor which would have a new floor built on-top, so layouts had to be precise, as we did not stay onsite whilst this happened.” When they returned, the screens were installed along with the speakers from Brown Innovations which were installed with help from our crew. “I was also able to set up the control area with not a lot of room available.”

Overall the whole system was quite discrete and the client was very pleased with the results achieved.

The airshow opened on 16th July and ran until 22nd 2018

Red Arrows Photography by Alex Boardman • @boardmanphoto