The aircraft had a retractable tail wheel, fully enclosed main gear, enlarged tail, and a. Dowty rotol rugby sevens team from the 1950s for those of you who dont know, the dowty archive takes up about 1500 boxes worth of space on our shelves. In 1977, a single standard bn2 was reengined with dowty rotol ducted fans. Back in the late 70s the dowtyrotol fan version of the islander gfans was based in the same hangar we operated from at shoreham and he was the test pilot on that. Remembrance pages page 1017 the online book company. Rolls royce dowty aircraft hydraulic synchronizer pn. In 1968, the company introduced the first fibreglass propellers, which went on to see widespread use. Boultonpaul project gutenberg selfpublishing ebooks. The company has its origins as the aircraft components company in 1931 and the work of british inventor and businessman george dowty. Rotol the history of an airscrew company by stait abebooks. Rotol later became dowtyrotol and in 1946 he was sent to india i understand to train indian airforce apprentices to repair their aircraft propellors and engined. Powered by the popular rollsroyce dart turboprop engine, it was specifically designed as a modern feederliner to act as a replacement for the aging douglas dc3s then in widespread service.
To inform operators that dowty propellers no longer has the capacity to repair and overhaul the r321, r324, r333 and r334 propeller types. The ducted fan produced less noise than conventional propeller propulsion, some structural strengthening of the main wing spar at the root was required due to the extra weight. The book provides a vital link in landing gear design technology from historical practices to modern design trends, and it considers the necessary airfield. R334482f, dowty rotol propellers type numbers, dowty propellers. Whether youve loved the book or not, if you give your honest and detailed thoughts then people will find new books that are right for them. It was listed on the london stock exchange and was once a constituent of the ftse 100 index.
Aviation history and nostalgia neville duke just finished reading his book test pilot, and would like to know, 1. His numerous books include the limits of american isolation and the jewish state. He married and moved to cheltenham in 1953 to work at dowty rotol as a draughtsman. Rotol the history of an airscrew company 1937 1960 by bruce stait. The young keith richards witnessed hurricanes and spitfires chasing lone dorniers out of kent theres a good chance their propellors were made by rotol, as were vital engine parts for britains pioneering jets. Like gchq and the dowty company with which rotol later merged, rotol was a prestigious cheltonian workplace. Thematic protoroles and argument selection david dowty. He had a lifelong passion for aviation and did his national service in the raf just after the war. Jan 21, 2015 rotol the history of an airscrew company 1937 1960 by bruce stait. Navy as an aircraft mechanic in vq1 mostly in vietnam and japan.
Dowty rotol of staverton, churchdown see george dowty. Since then it has migrated to carbon fibre, and remains a leader in propeller design. Illustrated talk on the history of dowty, gloucestershires global engineering firm, by archivist ally mcconnell, using. My late father worked in a reserved occupation making propeller blades at dowty rotol in gloucestershire. Dowty group history dowty group ltd dowty heritage. This book recounts the history of folland aircraft and of the hamble.
Dowty heritage the history of gloucestershires global engineering. This is a hydraulic synchronizer used on rolls royce aircraft engines. Files are available under licenses specified on their description page. Dowty rotol publications dowty rotol dowty heritage. Dowty group was a leading british manufacturer of aircraft equipment. Dowty rotol sourced components were used on a majority of british aircraft designs in the mid to late 20th century, and so far as i can ascertain this concern is still manufacturing. Dowty received his undergraduate education at shimer college, where he enrolled via the early entrance program and graduated in. The firm ceased operating as an individual entity following its acquisition by ti group in 1992 the company has its origins as the aircraft components company in 1931 and the work of british inventor and businessman george dowty. From its origins as rotol airscrews which was created in 1937 to pursue. The fokker f27 began life as a 1950 design study known as the p275, a 32 seater powered by two rollsroyce dart turboprops. Aerion supersonic announces agreement with international hightechnology group, safran. It was introduced to service in 1959 to replace the obsolete douglas skyraider, and was intended as an interim solution until the planned introduction of a new, purpose built aew platform for use on the. In 1958, bristol aeroplane and rollsroyce agreed to sell rotol and british messier to the dowty group, giving dowty a propeller manufacturing capability. Boulton paul aircraft ltd was a british aircraft manufacturer that was incorporated in 1934, although its origins in aircraft manufacturing began earlier in 1914, and lasted until 1961.
The firm ceased operating as an individual entity following its acquisition by ti group in 1992. Oct 15, 2011 he married and moved to cheltenham in 1953 to work at dowty rotol as a draughtsman. Dowty received his undergraduate education at shimer college, where he enrolled via the early entrance program and graduated in 1959. Dowty heritage the history of gloucestershires global. Dowty became involved with dowty rotol, manufacturers of various aircraft components including landing gear uk undercarriage and propellers. The saab 2000 is a twinengined highspeed turboprop airliner built by saab. About the hovercraft hovertravel isle of wight ferry. Rivenhall was his first book, but he went on to write rotol the history of an airscrew company alan sutton and riding the skies with brad boyer a rivenhall. Other readers will always be interested in your opinion of the books youve read. Pictorial history of british aerospace aircraft first edition by.
The uiuc airfoil data site gives some background on the database. He called the first issue smoke screen, but he afterwards agreed that that smacked too much of concealment we have nothing to hide. The history of an airscrew company, 19371960 stait, b. The factory employed around 700 people at its peak, but by 1919, despite a full order book, the firm encountered difficulties. Following a series of changes of ownership, the original dowty rotol facility. The company mainly built and modified aircraft under contract to other manufacturers, but had a few notable designs of its own, such as the boulton paul defiant the companys origins date back to an.
Probably the closest to being the fabled dc3 replacement, the fokker f27 friendship, including the fairchild built f27 and fh227, was built in greater numbers than any other western turboprop airliner. The company mainly built and modified aircraft under contract to other manufacturers, but had a few notable designs of its own, such as the boulton paul defiant. The excellent book rotol the history of an airscrew company by bruce stait explained the story, but it was not until i managed to get hold of an original ww2 16 mm sound film of the blades being manufactured, that my respect for their creation really took off. The hoses are intact as well and the data plate reads synchronizer dowty rotol, type 670020009, mod. Dowty leased a factory and bought arle court, cheltenham. One of four 6bladed dowty rotol r391 composite controllable and reversiblepitch. Also several important vendors, including dowty rotol limited for the undercarriage and jarry hydraulics for the powered flight controls, are sharing the risk of the development of the f. Here you can browse through our collection of historical material, which includes photos, old documents and the memories of employees past and present. Dowty rotol rotol airscrews originatedin 1937 at temporary premises in llanthony road, gloucesterand was formed by rolls royce and bristol aircraft to take over both companies propellor developments, the companytransferred to the new factory at staverton at the end of 1937. Originally intended to seat a smaller number of passengers, market research. The companys history of firststomarket include the allcomposite. Wayne ballenger obituary kansas city, missouri white.
The company promoted george dowtys designs and patents. He graduated from park hill high school in 1966 and served four years in the u. This talk can be booked with the the story of aviation, design and manufacturing for. This aircraft was subject to 18 months of flying trials to test the suitability of the ducted fan as a means of reducing aircraft noise. This website records the history of the dowty group. Thematic protoroles and argument selection david dowty language, vol. Roe and co and later with gloster aircraft co set up his own oneman company aircraft components co while still employed at the latter. Safran wins landing gear mro contract for easyjet airbus a320 family fleet. Avro vulcan dowty rotol toggle pin 27q17344 display. Uiuc airfoil coordinates database university of illinois.
Index the raf benevolent fund the online book company. The history of an airscrew company, 193760 by stait, bruce a. Copies of the sales and information publications published and issued by dowty rotol. E304, 0, 04212005, 697070002, log books for the r408 propeller. Dowty propellers is a british engineering company based in staverton, gloucestershire that specialises in the manufacture of propellers and propeller components. Consequently, by virtue of technical, budgetary and planning reasons the fatigue testing of the major airframe components is spread over a large area in.
Idris retains vivid recollections of life in tregaron during ww2, especially when the family farm was almost hit by bombs which had been dropped by an overflying bomber during a snowstorm in 1943. Hamble group is now well positioned as part of dowty, a member of the ti group. In 1957 he moved to cheltenham in gloucestershire with his family and began working for dowty. The hawker siddeley hs 748 is a mediumsized turboprop airliner originally designed and initially produced by the british aircraft manufacturer avro.
Media in category dowty rotol the following 6 files are in this category, out of 6 total. Included below are coordinates for nearly 1,600 airfoils version 2. Boulton paul aircraft project gutenberg selfpublishing. Rivenhall was his first book, but he went on to write rotol the history of an airscrew company alan sutton and riding the skies with brad boyer a rivenhall pilot. Well assume youre ok with this, but you can optout if you wish.
It is owned by general electric, forming part of its ge aviation systems division. He must have been working at this factory because he used to work on aircraft engines and propellors. It amazes me how in the late 1800s, dow was as a dow employee, this book was very interesting and i enjoyed learning about the history of the company. The airfoils are listed alphabetically by the airfoil filename which is usually close to the airfoil name. He is preceded in death by his mother, doris ballenger. It amazes me how in the late 1800s, dow was as a dow employee, this book was very interesting and i. The arrival of more advanced watercooled engines in the 90s led hovertravel to further improve the ap188, stretching the back end enough to fit 800 hp mtu engines, the improvement in performance and reliability was remarkable, this coupled with a marked reduction in noise resulted in a number of other craft going through this conversion, named ap188100s. Through the manufacturing and refurbishing of wheels and carbon brakes, the messierbugattidowty employees located here in kentucky help. The hs 748 was developed during the late 1950s as a move to reorientate the company towards the civil and export markets. Dowty became involved with dowtyrotol, manufacturers of various aircraft components including landing gear uk undercarriage and propellers. In 1961 boulton paul aircraft, by now a producer of aircraft equipment rather than complete aircraft, merged with the dowty group to form first dowty boulton paul ltd and then dowty aerospace. This book would probably be less interesting for those that dont work for dow, but would certainly be intriguing for anyone involved in chemistry or the chemical industry. Dowty rotol and 4 related entities entities finder.
Idris jones was born in tregaron where his parents kept a sheep farm. In 1934, dowty achieved its breakthrough sale of its innovative undercarriage designs, being contracted by the gloster aircraft company to provide oleo struts for the gloster gauntlet biplane. Answers to frequently asked questions are posted here airfoils. He continued as a consultant for dowty for a further 16 years, until he finally retired in 1999, aged nearly 80.
This one was removed during tear down and has been in storage since. Following a series of changes of ownership, the original dowty rotol facility at staverton is now owned by the safran group. No actual dates for deliverys operational usage etc, but might help confirm the time line etc. All structured data from the file and property namespaces is available under the creative commons cc0 license. Its research on advanced propeller blade designs includes novel.
Thats a huge number of records, and my approach has been to work on the archive semisystematically. It was the last aircraft to be developed by avro prior to its dissolution. In addition, a handful continued flying operations in the hands of civilian operators into the 1980s one was used by hamilton standard in the united states for propeller vibration trials, while another was used by dowty rotol for propeller development purposes. Dowty group was a leading british manufacturer of aerospace, industrial, mining and electrical equipment. Dowtyrotol sourced components were used on a majority of british aircraft designs in the mid to late 20th century, and so far as i can ascertain this concern is still manufacturing. Great britains aerospace industry has an interesting and intriguing history with many. The air ministry appointed ashley pope to oversee the factory because one of the aircraft in production at the time had a large 90 hp 67 kw engine which was vital to the war effort. It is designed to carry 5058 passengers and cruise at a speed of 665 kmh. He officially retired in 1983, by which time he had become technical director at dowty rotol.
Thanks to the concurrent technical revolution in aircraft design to include retractable undercarriages, brakes, and flaps, his work and knowledge expanded rapidly. He worked for dowty rotol, sperry aviation, twa and other organizations as a mechanic. During 1960, dowty group acquired rotol airscrews, giving it a propeller manufacturing. Aerospace manufacturer messierbugattidowty to expand walton. Consult our certificates and company selfdeclaration. Home about dowty group oral histories events get involved contact us tell us your story dowty group aerospace mining industrial electronics. It is in very good condition without damage to the housing or mounts. Recommended for anyone who has strong ties to rotol, british messier or dowty prior to 1990. In 1969, the turbothree corporation, a division of specialized aircraft, proposed an airliner with 1,535 hp dart turboprop engines with dowty rotol propellers, on a modified dc3 airframe. The companys history of firststomarket include the allcomposite propeller. From its origins as rotol airscrews which was created in 1937 to pursue thenemerging aviation propulsion technologies dowty propellers has maintained its industry leadership during 80 years of developing, producing and supporting propeller systems for civil and military aircraft, along with marine hovercraft.