Retirement Benefits (Narrative) (Details) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended																		12 Months Ended			12 Months Ended			12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended					12 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2011 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2010 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2009 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2011 Cash and Cash Equivalents [Member] Pension Plans, Defined Benefit [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2011 Pooled funds: Index linked U.K. government securities fund [Member] Pension Plans, Defined Benefit [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2011 Pooled funds: Index linked U.K. long-term government securities fund [Member] Pension Plans, Defined Benefit [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2010 Pooled funds: Index linked U.K. long-term government securities fund [Member] United Kingdom Plan, Defined Benefit [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2011 Mutual funds: U.S. corporate bond fund [Member] Pension Plans, Defined Benefit [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2011 Pooled funds: Index linked U.K. corporate bonds fund [Member] Pension Plans, Defined Benefit [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2011 Pooled funds: Japanese fixed income securities [Member] Pension Plans, Defined Benefit [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2011 Pooled funds: International fixed income securities [Member] Pension Plans, Defined Benefit [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2011 Mutual funds: U.S. equity large cap fund [Member] Pension Plans, Defined Benefit [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2011 Mutual funds: International equity large cap growth fund [Member] Pension Plans, Defined Benefit [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2011 Pooled funds: Japanese equity securities [Member] Pension Plans, Defined Benefit [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2011 Pooled funds: International equity securities [Member] Pension Plans, Defined Benefit [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2011 Pooled funds: Index linked U.K. equity fund [Member] Pension Plans, Defined Benefit [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2011 Pooled funds: Index linked international equity fund [Member] Pension Plans, Defined Benefit [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2011 Insurance Backed Assets [Member] Pension Plans, Defined Benefit [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2011 Pension Plans, Defined Benefit [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2010 Pension Plans, Defined Benefit [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2009 Pension Plans, Defined Benefit [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2011 United States Pension Plans of US Entity, Defined Benefit [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2010 United States Pension Plans of US Entity, Defined Benefit [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2009 United States Pension Plans of US Entity, Defined Benefit [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2011 United Kingdom Plan, Defined Benefit [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2007 United Kingdom Plan, Defined Benefit [Member] GBP (£)	Sep. 30, 2011 Japan Plan, Defined Benefit [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2011 Switzerland Plan, Defined Benefit [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2011 Foreign Pension Plans, Defined Benefit [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2010 Foreign Pension Plans, Defined Benefit [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2009 Foreign Pension Plans, Defined Benefit [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2011 Other Postretirement Benefit Plans, Defined Benefit [Member] USD ($) years	Sep. 30, 2010 Other Postretirement Benefit Plans, Defined Benefit [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2009 Other Postretirement Benefit Plans, Defined Benefit [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2011 United Kingdom, Other Postretirement Benefit Plans, Defined Benefit [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2011 United States Postretirement Benefit Plans of US Entity, Defined Benefit [Member]
Expense associated with defined contribution plans	$ 16,927	$ 16,474	$ 16,869
Contributions associated with the multiemployer plan	476	495	550
Approximate number of current employees who may receive future benefits																			1,000
Approximate number of retired employees eligible to receive or currently receiving benefits																			550
Discount rate support/source data																						In the U.S., Woodward used a bond portfolio matching analysis based on recently traded, non-callable bonds rated AA or better, which have at least $50 million outstanding.			In the United Kingdom, Woodward used the iBoxx AA-rated corporate bond index (applicable for bonds over 15 years) to determine a blended rate to use as the benchmark.		In Japan, Woodward used Standard & Poors AA-rated corporate bond yields (applicable for bonds over 10 years) as the benchmark.	In Switzerland, Woodward used high quality swap rates plus a credit spread of 0.36% as high quality swaps are available in Switzerland at various durations and trade at higher volumes than bonds.							In the United Kingdom, Woodward used the iBoxx AA-rated corporate bond index (applicable for bonds over 15 years) to determine a blended rate to use as the benchmark.	In the U.S., Woodward used a bond portfolio matching analysis based on recently traded, non-callable bonds rated AA or better, which have at least $50 million outstanding.
Projected benefit obligation																			163,696	154,443	143,001	106,341	97,786	89,551	39,677		15,140	2,538	57,355	56,657	53,450	32,923	37,222	42,427	509
Fair value of plan assets				323	3,646	6,440	5,707	36,958	13,255	3,958	1,336	29,169	23,655	1,921	1,652	7,098	7,062	1,874	138,347	128,667	104,828	89,980	85,128	64,102	37,546		8,947	1,874	48,367	43,539	40,726	0	0	0
Benefits paid																			4,300	4,691		2,210	1,552						2,090	3,139		5,349	5,738		46
Discretionary contribution by the Company																							10,000
Company contributions in fiscal 2012																						600			1,787		1,382	191				4,493
Special Company contribution																										3,000
Option to elect company provided medical insurance coverage up to this age and a Medicare supplemental plan after this age																																65
Obligation assumed in HRT acquisition																			$ 2,038	$ 0		$ 0	$ 0						$ 2,038	$ 0				$ 2,251
Participation in assumed HRT plan is frozen for retirees over this age																																65
Age employees were eligible to participate in plan																																55
Years of service required to be eligible to participate in plan																																10
Approximate number of retired employees and their covered dependents and beneficiaries currently providing postretirement benefits																																1,100
Approximate number of active employees and their covered dependants and beneficiaries who may receive postretirement benefits in the future																																70
As a result of a plan amendment, all postretirement medical benefits are fully insured for retirees who have attained this age																																65