 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Aerospace |
| Founded | 1937 as Rotol Airscrews |
| Founders | Rolls-Royce Limited Bristol Aeroplane Company |
| Headquarters | , |
| Parent | GE Aerospace |
| Website | dowty |
Dowty Propellers is a British engineering company based in Brockworth, Gloucestershire that specialises in the manufacture, repair and overhaul of propellers and propeller components for customers around the world. It is owned by General Electric, forming part of its GE Aviation division.
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 propellers 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 its 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.
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. On 16 January 2007, Dowty Propellers became part of GE Aviation Systems through GE buying Smiths Group’s aerospace division. [3] [4]
On 5 February 2015, a fire at Dowty's Staverton facility caused severe damage to 80% of the factory building, destroying the main production line. [5] A facility at Vantage Point Business Village in Mitcheldean, Gloucestershire, was selected for the company's interim propeller blade manufacturing. [6] In late 2019, the company began moving its operations to an all-new purpose-built facility at Gloucester Business Park in Brockworth, on part of the site of the former aerodrome used by the Gloster Aircraft Company. [7]
Dowty propellers are used on many turboprop feederliners, including the Bombardier Dash 8 Q400, Saab 340 and Saab 2000, and on turboprop transport aircraft such as later models of the C-130J and Alenia C-27J. Dowty propellers can also be found on LCACs used by the militaries of several countries. The US National Air and Space Museum's Udvar Hazy Center, Virginia, has a Dowty propeller on display.
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Sir George Herbert Dowty was an English inventor and businessman.
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Filton Airport or Filton Aerodrome was a private airport in Filton and Patchway, within South Gloucestershire, 4 NM north of Bristol, England.
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Gloucestershire Airport, formerly Staverton Airport, is a small airport at Churchdown, England. It lies 3.5 nautical miles west of Cheltenham, near the city of Gloucester and close to the M5 motorway. Its operator claims it to be Gloucestershire's largest general aviation airfield, and it is regularly used for private charter flights to destinations such as Jersey and Guernsey.
The Allison T56 is an American single-shaft, modular design military turboprop with a 14-stage axial flow compressor driven by a four-stage turbine. It was originally developed by the Allison Engine Company for the Lockheed C-130 Hercules transport entering production in 1954. It has been a Rolls-Royce product since 1995 when Allison was acquired by Rolls-Royce. The commercial version is designated 501-D. Over 18,000 engines have been produced since 1954, logging over 200 million flying hours.
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The aerospace industry of the United Kingdom is the second-largest national aerospace industry in the world and the largest in Europe by turnover, with a global market share of 17% in 2019. In 2020, the industry employed 116,000 people.
Dowty Group was a leading British manufacturer of aircraft equipment. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. The firm ceased operating as an individual entity following its acquisition by TI Group in 1992.
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The Jet Age Museum is the trading name of the Gloucestershire Aviation Collection, an all-volunteer, charitable organisation dedicated to the preservation of Gloucestershire's aviation heritage. The aviation museum is located on the north side of Gloucestershire Airport, between Gloucester and Cheltenham. It houses a number of aircraft, aero engines, cockpits and other related exhibits. It is themed on the early development of jet aircraft, in particular the role played by the Gloster Aircraft Company and other local firms such as Dowty Rotol and Smiths Industries. The museum is also the custodian of the Russell Adams photographic archive.
