The ancient Norwich firm of Boulton & Paul were brought into aircraft
construction in 1915, and quickly became one of the great innovators.
They pioneered metal construction and built the frame of the largest
aircraft ever built in Britain, the R.101 airship. The Overstrand, the
last of their superlative medium bombers, was the first aircraft in the
world to feature a power-operated gun turret, and after their move to
Wolverhampton in 1936 and change of name to Boulton Paul Aircraft their
gun turrets became a vital component of the war effort, not least in
their own Defiant, which fought in the Battle of Britain and was the
most successful night fighter in the dark nights of the Blitz. Their
post-war Balliol trainer was the World's first single-engine turboprop
and their last production aircraft, because the technology of their gun
turrets was translated into their world lead as manufacturers of power
operated control units, and then fly-by-wire. Becoming part of the Dowty
Group and later GE Aviation, their advanced aerospace product line is
now invested in the firm of Moog, still in Wolverhampton, still
innovating.
