Moving Parts - Senior Hydraulics Technician, Andre Bird

For Queen and Country. No one embodies that ideal at INEOS TEAM UK more than Senior Hydraulics Technician Andre Bird.

Andre has had a varied and unique career. In 1974 he joined the Royal Air Force as an Aircraft Engineer working on the Canberra and Vulcan Aircraft. Upon retiring from the RAF in 1997 he went on to spend 17 years in motor racing, first as a Hydraulics Technician for Williams F1 for 13 years and the remainder with Marussia F1 Team as the Factory Assembly Manager.

In between his time as an Aircraft Engineer and joining the world of motorsport, however, Andre was selected, in 1979, to join The Queen's Flight based at RAF Benson, Oxfordshire. In 1986 he then became a Wessex Helicopter Crew Chief, responsible for flying Her Majesty The Queen, Members of the Royal Family, visiting Heads of State and Senior Ministers.

“It was a thrilling job”, Andre recalled, “being a Wessex Helicopter Crew Chief means close ties with the Royal Family and flying them around for all their daily visits. They are Patrons of so many charities and we would try and visit as many as we could throughout the year.

“In many ways, the thrill of ensuring the helicopter worked impeccably throughout the day whilst flying Her Majesty through her duties and keeping on time is very similar to our role here now with BRITANNIA. We have to get the boat out early in the morning, we have to make it to the racecourse, and then we have to compete reliably. It’s a similar pressure.”

In 2019 Andre was working as Head of a R&D workshop at Riversimple, helping to develop and build Hydrogen Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles, when he received a phone call asking if he would like to interview for a role at the British Challenger for the 36^th America’s Cup, INEOS TEAM UK. It was an opportunity he leapt at.

“My background was fast cars and aircraft so to get the opportunity to work on this very special boat was certainly exciting. Our boat, BRITANNIA, relates in many ways to an aircraft. It is so complex with the systems onboard. Then it also has the refinements and the attention to detail of a Formula 1 car. It may not be as complicated as a F1 car or aircraft system yet, but this concept of boat is in its early stages of development and only increasing in complexity.”

Andre is a Senior Hydraulics Technician at INEOS TEAM UK, part of the team responsible for the hugely complex hydraulics systems that enable BRITANNIA to fly. There are over 240M of hydraulic pipes onboard BRITANNIA that the team must ensure are all working perfectly every single time they go out on the water.

“It’s labour-intensive work”, Andre said smiling, “it is very constant as we need to ensure everything is reliable. I was initially involved in the fit out of the boat, all the pipework, building the manifolds from scratch, getting all the basic kit fitted into the boat and ensuring everything was working properly.

“Then once the boat was initially fitted out it has been a constant cycle of testing, measuring, building components and fitting them to the boat all to make sure BRITANNIA is as reliable as possible. It is nonstop and the hours we put in are exhausting but they have been very well worth it. We have been picking away at this boat and trying to inch out every second of speed that we need to win races.”

From flying Her Majesty The Queen in a helicopter around the country to preparing BRITANNIA for Ben Ainslie and the INEOS TEAM UK sailing team, Andre’s career has come a long way. It is, however, that same sense of British pride and camaraderie that continues to drive him to this day.

“Without a doubt I am so proud to be representing the British Challenger for the America’s Cup. We are a very close team here; the camaraderie is very similar to my time in the RAF. There are not a great many of us and we all work closely together. I hope to retire after this campaign and to end my career winning the America’s Cup for the first time for Queen and Country would be so thrilling”.