Douglas Equipment

Last updated

Douglas Equipment Limited
Company type Subsidiary
IndustryAirport and aircraft support vehicles
Founded1947
Headquarters,
Number of employees
120
Parent Textron Inc.
Website http://www.textrongse.com

Douglas Equipment Limited is an English manufacturer of vehicles that support the aircraft industry such as tugs, tractors etc. The firm is headquartered in the Arle area of Cheltenham, England with manufacturing operations around the world.

Douglas Taskmaster Aircraft Tractor Douglas Taskmaser RAF Museum.jpg
Douglas Taskmaster Aircraft Tractor

Established as FL Douglas (Equipment) Limited in 1947 by Frank Leslie Douglas, it today is a brand of Textron Ground Support Equipment Inc. [1]

Frank Douglas had previously been employed by Universal Power Drives (Unipower), which in 1937 introduced a 4x4 timber tractor, an idea he used when he converted war-surplus 95 bhp AEC Matador 4x4 medium artillery tractors as 4x4 timber tractors. [1]

The firm also built a range of industrial tug trucks for trailer haulage in factories, ports and docks loading ships. [1]

The company is most well known for their line of towbarless aircraft pushback tractors. [2]

In 2010 the company received the Queen's Award for Enterprise in the categories of Innovation and International Trade.

In 2015 Textron acquired Douglas Equipment under their Textron Specialized Vehicles business unit. [3] Then in 2016 Douglas Equipment along with Tug Technologies, Premier Deicers, and Safeaero Deicers re-branded together as Textron Ground Support Equipment. [4]

As of November 2020 the Cheltenham site appears closed, all signage has been removed and the site is locked up. There are no press releases regarding a re-location of operations. January 2021 the Douglas site is now up for sale confirming the site has closed.

Even with the Cheltenham site closed the aftermarket side of the business was moved to Ransomes Jacobsen site in Ipswich so the support for the Douglas vehicles in the field can continue.

Official website

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AAI RQ-7 Shadow</span> American unmanned aerial vehicle

The AAI RQ-7 Shadow is an American unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) used by the United States Army, Australian Army, Swedish Army, Turkish Air Force and Italian Army for reconnaissance, surveillance, target acquisition and battle damage assessment. Launched from a trailer-mounted pneumatic catapult, it is recovered with the aid of arresting gear similar to jets on an aircraft carrier. Its gimbal-mounted, digitally stabilized, liquid nitrogen-cooled electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) camera relays video in real time via a C-band line-of-sight data link to the ground control station (GCS).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Brown Ltd.</span> British engineering company


David Brown Santasalo, formerly David Brown Engineering, is a British engineering company, principally engaged in the manufacture of gears and gearboxes. Their major gear manufacturing plant is in Swan Lane, Lockwood, Huddersfield, adjacent to Lockwood railway station. It is named after the company's founder, David Brown, though it is more closely associated with his grandson, Sir David Brown (1904–1993).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Textron</span> American industrial conglomerate

Textron Inc. is an American industrial conglomerate based in Providence, Rhode Island. Textron's subsidiaries include Arctic Cat, Bell Textron, Textron Aviation, and Lycoming Engines. It was founded by Royal Little in 1923 as the Special Yarns Company. In 2020, Textron employed over 33,000 people in 25 different countries. The company ranked 265th on the 2021 Fortune 500 of the largest United States corporations by revenue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AAI Corporation</span>

AAI Corporation is an aerospace and defense development and manufacturing firm, located in Hunt Valley, Maryland, US. Formerly a wholly owned subsidiary of United Industrial Corporation, AAI was acquired by Textron in 2007. It currently operates as a unit of Textron Systems and employs more than 2,000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Garrett Motion</span> American industrial company

Garrett Motion Inc., formerly Honeywell Transportation Systems and Honeywell Turbo Technologies, is an American company primarily involved in engineering, development and manufacturing of turbochargers and related forced induction systems for ground vehicles from small passenger cars to large trucks and industrial equipment and construction machinery. It originated as part of Garrett AiResearch's Industrial Division in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1954, after which they entered a contract to provide 5,000 turbochargers for the Caterpillar mining vehicle. It manufactured turbochargers for railroads and commercial trucks. The business produced approximately $3.6 billion in revenue in 2021. Garrett Motion is also involved in motorsports providing turbochargers and forced induction systems, solutions and related equipment to racing teams and various forms of automobile racing and professional competitions. In 2004, the business became part of American industrial conglomerate Honeywell International, Inc., as their Transportation Systems division. In 2018, it was spun off to become an independent company under the Garrett Motion name with corporate headquarters in Rolle, Switzerland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oshkosh Corporation</span> American industrial company

Oshkosh Corporation, formerly Oshkosh Truck, is an American industrial company that designs and builds specialty trucks, military vehicles, truck bodies, airport fire apparatus, and access equipment. The corporation also owns Pierce Manufacturing, a fire apparatus manufacturer in Appleton, Wisconsin, and JLG Industries, a manufacturer of lift equipment, including aerial lifts, boom lifts, scissor lifts, telehandlers and low-level access lifts.

The Yorkshire Air Museum & Allied Air Forces Memorial is an aviation museum in Elvington, York on the site of the former RAF Elvington airfield, a Second World War RAF Bomber Command station. The museum was founded, and first opened to the public, in the mid 1980s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">USAir Flight 405</span> 1992 plane crash in New York City

USAir Flight 405 was a regularly scheduled domestic passenger flight between LaGuardia Airport in Queens, New York City, New York, and Cleveland, Ohio. On March 22, 1992, a USAir Fokker F28, registration N485US, flying the route, crashed in poor weather in a partially inverted position in Flushing Bay, shortly after liftoff from LaGuardia. The undercarriage lifted off from the runway, but the airplane failed to gain lift, flying only several meters above the ground. The aircraft then veered off the runway and hit several obstructions before coming to rest in Flushing Bay, just beyond the end of the runway. Of the 51 people on board, 27 were killed, including the captain and a member of the cabin crew.

Cobham Limited is a British aerospace manufacturing company based in Bournemouth, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pushback (aviation)</span> Removal of an aircraft from an airport gate by external power

In aviation, pushback is an airport procedure during which an aircraft is pushed backwards away from its parking position, usually at an airport gate by external power. Pushbacks are carried out by special, low-profile vehicles called pushback tractors or tugs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BEML</span> Indian heavy equipment manufacturer

BEML Limited, formerly Bharat Earth Movers Limited, is an Indian public sector undertaking which manufactures a variety of heavy equipment, such as that used for earth moving, railways, transport and mining. It is headquartered in Bangalore. BEML is Asia's second-largest manufacturer of earth moving equipment. Its stock trades on the National Stock Exchange of India under the symbol "BEML", and on the Bombay Stock Exchange under the code "500048".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ground support equipment</span> Equipment for servicing aircraft between flights

Ground support equipment (GSE) is the support equipment found at an airport, usually on the apron, the servicing area by the terminal. This equipment is used to service the aircraft between flights. As the name suggests, ground support equipment is there to support the operations of aircraft whilst on the ground. The role of this equipment generally involves ground power operations, aircraft mobility, and cargo/passenger loading operations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mahindra & Mahindra</span> Indian automobile manufacturer

Mahindra & Mahindra Limited (M&M) is an Indian multinational automotive manufacturing corporation headquartered in Mumbai. It was established in 1945 as Mahindra & Mohammed and later renamed Mahindra & Mahindra. Part of the Mahindra Group, M&M is one of the largest vehicle manufacturers by production in India. Its unit, Mahindra Tractors, is the largest manufacturer of tractors in the world by volume. It was ranked 17th on a list of top companies in India by Fortune India 500 in 2018. Its major competitors in the Indian market include Maruti Suzuki India and Tata Motors. Dr. Anish Shah is the current CEO and Managing Director of Mahindra & Mahindra.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Articulated hauler</span>

An articulated hauler, articulated dump truck (ADT), or sometimes a dump hauler, is a very large heavy-duty type of dump truck used to transport loads over rough terrain, and occasionally on public roads. The vehicle usually has all-wheel drive and consists of two basic units: the front section, generally called the tractor, and the rear section that contains the dump body, called the hauler or trailer section. Steering is made by pivoting the front in relation to the back by hydraulic rams. This way, all wheels follow the same path, making it an excellent off-road vehicle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Schopf</span>

SCHOPF Maschinenbau GmbH is a German company that produces specialist vehicles for the mining and aviation industries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Garrett AiResearch</span> Former American manufacturer of aircraft engines

Garrett AiResearch was a manufacturer of turboprop engines and turbochargers, and a pioneer in numerous aerospace technologies. It was previously known as Aircraft Tool and Supply Company, Garrett Supply Company, AiResearch Manufacturing Company, or simply AiResearch. In 1964, Garrett AiResearch merged with Signal Oil & Gas, to form a company renamed in 1968 to Signal Companies. In 1985, it merged with Allied Corporation, forming AlliedSignal. In 1999 AlliedSignal acquired Honeywell and adopted the Honeywell name.

DRB-HICOM Defence Technologies Sdn Bhd, officially known as DEFTECH, is a Malaysian defence contractor involved in the development, manufacture, supply, deliver and commissioning of armoured, non-armoured, and logistic vehicles for the military and homeland security. DEFTECH is also a supplier of specialised vehicles and commercial buses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MOL Trucks</span>

MOL is a manufacturer of specialist trucks and trailers, based in Hooglede, Belgium. Specializes in manufacturing of trailers, waste vehicles, port equipement, trucks and rail equipments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ground deicing of aircraft</span> Removal of frost, ice, or frozen contaminants

In aviation, ground deicing of aircraft is the process of removing surface frost, ice or frozen contaminants on aircraft surfaces before an aircraft takes off. This prevents even a small amount of surface frost or ice on aircraft surfaces from severely impacting flight performance. Frozen contaminants on surfaces can also break off in flight, damaging engines or control surfaces.

The Mercury Truck & Tractor Company was based in Gloucester, England and manufactured small industrial vehicles for use primarily within factories carrying loads or hauling trailers, road vehicles for moving rail trucks in yards, and vehicles for airfields for towing munitions trolleys or baggage trolleys. In later years they produced increasingly powerful aircraft tugs.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Ed, Burrows. "Classic Truck: Onwards and upwards". Heritage Commercials. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
  2. "Textron GSE - Douglas Equipment Ltd". Aviation Pros. Archived from the original on 24 August 2020. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  3. "Douglas Equipment". The Douslas Archives. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  4. "Douglas Equipment Limited". Aviation Technology. Archived from the original on 24 August 2020. Retrieved 24 August 2020.