Dowty Rotol

Dowty Rotol is a British engineering company based in Cheltenham specialised in the manufacture of propellers and propeller components. It is owned by General Electric, forming part of its GE Aviation Systems division.

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 really need more than one company in this space. 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 1960 the Company merged with Dowty Equipment and continued as a subsidiary of what became Dowty Group.^[1]

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.

Operations

Dowty R391 Propeller on display at Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center

Dowty's current 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

• Dowty Group
• Messier-Dowty
• George Dowty
• GE Aviation Systems

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} Gloucester Transport History

External links

• Information and pictures: Dowty Propellers plant in Gloucester, UK, from Smiths Aerospace web site.
• GE Aviation - Dowty propellers