 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Aerospace |
| Founded | 1937; 89 years ago (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 inBrockworth, Gloucestershire that specialises in the manufacture, repair and overhaul ofpropellers and propeller components for customers around the world. It is owned byGE Aerospace.
The company was formed asRotol Airscrews in 1937 byRolls-Royce andBristol 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 theHawker Hurricane,Supermarine Spitfire, and many otherSecond 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 toRotol 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 theDowty 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 firstfibreglass propellers, which went on to see widespread use.[1] Since then it has migrated tocarbon 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 theSafran Group, operating as part of itsMessier-Bugatti-Dowty landing gear subsidiary (now known as Safran Landing Systems). 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 ofGE Aviation Systems throughGE buyingSmiths 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 manyturbopropfeederliners, including theBombardier Dash 8 Q400,Saab 340 andSaab 2000, and on turboproptransport aircraft such as later models of theC-130J andAlenia C-27J. Dowty propellers can also be found onLCACs used by the militaries of several countries. The USNational Air and Space Museum's Udvar Hazy Center,Virginia, has a Dowty propeller on display.
