Rohr, Inc. is an

aerospace Aerospace is a term used to collectively refer to the atmosphere and outer space. Aerospace activity is very diverse, with a multitude of commercial, industrial, and military applications. Aerospace engineering consists of aeronautics and astron ...

manufacturing company based in Chula Vista,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, south of

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

. It is a wholly owned unit of the

Collins Aerospace Collins Aerospace is an American technology company that is one of the world's largest suppliers of aerospace and defense products. It was formed in 2018 from the merger of Rockwell Collins and UTC Aerospace Systems. Headquartered in Charlotte, ...

division of

RTX Corporation RTX Corporation, formerly Raytheon Technologies Corporation, is an American multinational aerospace and defense conglomerate headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. It is one of the largest aerospace and defense manufacturers in the world by reve ...

; it was founded in 1940 by Frederick H. Rohr as Rohr Aircraft. Rohr's main product line are aerostructures, such as

engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ge ...

-related components, including engine

nacelle A nacelle ( ) is a streamlined container for aircraft parts such as Aircraft engine, engines, fuel or equipment. When attached entirely outside the airframe, it is sometimes called a pod, in which case it is attached with a Hardpoint#Pylon, pylo ...

thrust reverser Thrust reversal, also called reverse thrust, is the temporary diversion of an aircraft engine's thrust for it to act against the forward travel of the aircraft, providing deceleration. Thrust reverser systems are featured on many jet aircraft to ...

s, and mounting pylons for military and commercial aircraft. It also consults on integrating and managing its designs with the other aircraft systems. Other products include auxiliary power units, flight control surfaces, and other aircraft parts.

History

Frederick H. Rohr, creator of the fuel tanks for

Charles Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, and author. On May 20–21, 1927, he made the first nonstop flight from New York (state), New York to Paris, a distance of . His aircra ...

's '' Spirit of St. Louis'', founded Rohr Aircraft Corporation on August 6, 1940 with the help of Reuben H. Fleet after approaching him for a job. The company incorporated as Rohr Corporation in 1969, and changed its name to Rohr Industries, Inc. in 1971. In the 1960s and 1970s, Rohr Industries made a foray into

mass transit Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of whi ...

equipment manufacturing. It manufactured

railcar A railcar (not to be confused with the generic term railroad car or railway car) is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coa ...

s for Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

, and the first 300 subway cars for the

Washington Metro The Washington Metro, often abbreviated as the Metro and formally the Metrorail, is a rapid transit system serving the Washington metropolitan area of the United States. It is administered by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority ...

, among others.Rohr will call it quits '' Railway Age'' June 14, 1976 page 46 It was also the United States license holder of the Aérotrain. In 1970 it produced an experimental Aérotrain design, the TACV, and purchased the rights to the Monocab design and turned it into the ROMAG. In the same year it acquired the Flxible Company, a bus manufacturer, which would produce a Transbus design, which evolved into the Model 870 Advanced Design Bus, as well as the later Flxible Metro, which addressed all of the shortcomings of the Model 870. Rohr divested itself of, or discontinued those programs by the late 1970s. Rohr Industries became Rohr, Inc. in 1992. It was listed on the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is the List of stock exchanges, largest stock excha ...

under the ticker symbol RHR, until it merged with the

Goodrich Corporation The Goodrich Corporation, formerly the B.F. Goodrich Company, was an American manufacturing company based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Founded in Akron, Ohio in 1870 as Goodrich, Tew & Co. by Benjamin Goodrich, Dr. Benjamin Franklin Go ...

in 1997 and remained a separately incorporated company as Goodrich Aerostructures. In August 2012,

United Technologies Corporation United Technologies Corporation (UTC) was an American multinational corporation, multinational list of conglomerates, conglomerate headquartered in Farmington, Connecticut. It researched, developed, and manufactured products in numerous are ...

(UTC) purchased Goodrich Corporation and all its divisions. After the acquisition, UTC created an aerospace systems division, United Technologies Aerospace Systems (UTAS), into which all divisions of Goodrich Corporation and UTC's Hamilton Sundstrand divisions were incorporated as one entity. On 26 November 2018, United Technologies announced the completion of its

Rockwell Collins Rockwell Collins, Inc. was a multinational corporation headquartered in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, providing avionics and information technology systems and services to government agencies and aircraft manufacturers. It was formed when the Collins Radi ...

acquisition, after which it merged its newly acquired business with UTC Aerospace Systems to form

. UTC merged with the

Raytheon Company Raytheon is a business unit of RTX Corporation and is a major List of United States defense contractors, U.S. defense contractor and industrial corporation with manufacturing concentrations in weapons and military and commercial electronics. Fou ...

in April 2020 to form Raytheon Technologies. Rohr is a wholly owned unit of the Collins Aerospace division of Raytheon Technologies.

Sales and divestitures

UTC sold its UTC Power unit in early 2013 to Oregon-based ClearEdge Power. UTC sold the former Goodrich electric power systems to Safran for $400 million. This was a divestiture that was a condition of UTC's 2012 acquisition of Goodrich.

Pratt & Whitney Pratt & Whitney is an American aerospace manufacturer with global service operations. It is a subsidiary of RTX Corporation (formerly Raytheon Technologies). Pratt & Whitney's aircraft engines are widely used in both civil aviation (especially ...

Rocketdyne Rocketdyne is an American rocket engine design and production company headquartered in Canoga Park, California, Canoga Park, in the western San Fernando Valley of suburban Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles, in southern California. Rocketdyne ...

operations were sold to jet engine maker

GenCorp Aerojet Rocketdyne is a subsidiary of American Arms industry, defense company L3Harris that manufactures rocket, Hypersonic flight, hypersonic, and electric propulsive systems for space, defense, civil and commercial applications. Aerojet traces ...

for $550 million in mid-2013. Three former Hamilton Sundstrand businesses, Milton Roy, Sullair and Sundyne, were sold to private equity firms BC Partners and

The Carlyle Group The Carlyle Group Inc. is an American multinational company with operations in private equity, alternative asset management and financial services. As of 2023, the company had $426 billion of assets under management. Carlyle specializes in ...

for $3.46 billion.

References

Bibliography

Rohr, Inc. 10-K for July 31, 1997

External links

{{Commons category
Rohr Aircraft Memories
1940 establishments in California Aerospace companies of the United States Aircraft component manufacturers of the United States Aircraft engine manufacturers of the United States Companies based in Chula Vista, California Companies based in San Diego County, California Manufacturing companies established in 1940 Rolling stock manufacturers of the United States