Dowty Propellers
Dowty Rotol was a British engineering company based in Staverton, Gloucestershire and specialised in the manufacture of propellers and propeller components. Following a series of changes of ownership, the original Dowty Rotol facility at Staverton is now owned by the Safran Group, operating as part of its Messier-Bugatti-Dowty Landing Gear subsidiary. Propeller design and manufacture was moved a few hundred metres down the road when the company was split into business units under its Dowty ownership in the early 1990s. Dowty Propellers is now under GE ownership.
History
The Company was formed as Rotol Airscrews in 1937 by Rolls-Royce and Bristol Engines to take over both companies' propeller development,[1] the market being too small to support more than one company. The name is a contraction of "ROlls-Royce" and "BrisTOL".[1] Rotol's props were always considered leading edge, its models equipping the Hawker Hurricane, Supermarine Spitfire, and many other Second World War-era aircraft.[1] By the end of the war it had introduced the first five-bladed propeller to see widespread use, used on late-model Spitfires. In 1943 the company changed name from Rotol Airscrews Limited to Rotol Limited and in 1952 it acquired British Messier Limited a specialist in landing gear and hydraulics.
In 1958 Bristol Aeroplane and Rolls-Royce agreed to sell Rotol and British Messier to the Dowty Group.[2] By 1959 Rotol and British Messier along with Dowty Equipment and Dowty Fuel Systems became part of the new Dowty Aviation Division based at Cheltenham.
In 1968 the company introduced the first fibreglass propellers, which went on to see widespread use.[1] Since then it has migrated to carbon fibre, and remains a leader in propeller design.
On February 5, 2015 a fire at Dowty's Staverton facility caused severe damage to 80% of the factory building, destroying the main production line.[3]
A facility at Vantage Point Business Village in Mitcheldean, Gloucestershire has been selected for the company’s interim propeller blade manufacturing.[4]
Operations
GE's current Dowty propeller lineup is used on many turboprop feederliners, including the Dash 8Q400, Saab 340 and Saab 2000, as well as turboprop transport aircraft such as the latest models of the C-130J and Alenia C-27. Dowty Propellers can also be found on LCAC's from the United States Navy and other militaries. The National Air and Space Museum's Udvar Hazy Center, Virginia, has one such propeller example presently on display.
See also
References
- ^ a b c d Gloucester Transport History
- ^ "Airscrew Firm Sold To Dowty Group". News. The Times. No. 54338. London. col C, p. 10. template uses deprecated parameter(s) (help)
- ^ "Dowty fire: Gloucestershire factory 'severely damaged'". http://www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 5 February 2015.
{{cite web}}: External link in|website= - ^ http://dowty.com/feature-stories/dowty-propellers-selects-new-interim-production-facility-location-and-advances-its-recovery-plan/
External links
- Information and pictures: Dowty Propellers plant in Gloucester, UK, from Smiths Aerospace web site.
- GE Aviation - Dowty propellers
- Grace's Guide "Dowty Rotol of Staverton, Churchdown"
