MD Helicopters, LLC. (formerly McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Systems) is an American aerospace manufacturer. It produces light utility helicopters for commercial and military use. The company was a subsidiary of

Hughes Aircraft The Hughes Aircraft Company was a major American aerospace and defense contractor founded on February 14, 1934 by Howard Hughes in Glendale, California, as a division of Hughes Tool Company. The company was known for producing, among other prod ...

until 1984, when

McDonnell Douglas McDonnell Douglas was a major American aerospace manufacturing corporation and defense contractor, formed by the merger of McDonnell Aircraft and the Douglas Aircraft Company in 1967. Between then and its own merger with Boeing in 1997, it ...

acquired it and renamed it McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Systems. It later became MD Helicopters in the late 1990s when McDonnell Douglas merged with

Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and ...

History

The company began in 1947 as a unit of Hughes Aircraft, then was part of the Hughes Tool Company after 1955. It became the helicopter division of Hughes'

Summa Corporation Summa Corporation was a holding company for the business interests of Howard Hughes after he sold the tool division of Hughes Tool Company in 1972. Its holdings included casino hotels, aviation businesses, and television channels. After Hughes's d ...

in 1972, and was finally reformed as Hughes Helicopters, Inc. in 1981. However, throughout its history, the company was informally known as Hughes Helicopters. The company was sold to

in 1984. Hughes Helicopters produced three major designs during its 37-year history. The Model 269/300 was Hughes' first successful helicopter design. Built in 1956, and entering production in 1957, it would eventually become part of the Army inventory as a primary trainer, designated TH-55 Osage. In 1983, the company licensed Schweizer Aircraft to produce the Model 300C. Schweizer was eventually purchased by Sikorsky Aircraft, which is itself now a division of Lockheed Martin. In May 1965, the company won the contract for a new observation helicopter for the U.S. Army, and produced the OH-6 Cayuse (Hughes Model 369). The OH-6 was later developed into the civilian Model 500, variants of which remain in production to this day. AH-64A on FOB Speicher

In 1975, the company won the contract for the

AH-64 Apache The Boeing AH-64 Apache () is an American twin- turboshaft attack helicopter with a tailwheel-type landing gear arrangement and a tandem cockpit for a crew of two. It features a nose-mounted sensor suite for target acquisition and night v ...

attack helicopter. By December 1981, six AH-64A prototypes had been built and the Army had awarded a production contract to the company. Production would reach more than 1,100 by 2005. In January 1984, Hughes Helicopters, Inc. was sold to

. McDonnell Douglas paid $470 million for the company and made it a subsidiary with the name ''McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Systems'' in August 1984. In 1986, McDonnell Douglas sold all the rights to the Model 300C to Schweizer Aircraft. On August 1, 1997, McDonnell Douglas merged into

, but Boeing's subsequent plans to sell the civilian helicopter line to

Bell Helicopter Bell Textron Inc. is an American aerospace manufacturer headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. A subsidiary of Textron, Bell manufactures military rotorcraft at facilities in Fort Worth, and Amarillo, Texas, as well as commercial helicopters ...

in 1998 were thwarted by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC).Frawley, Gerard: ''The International Directory of Civil Aircraft, 2003-2004'', p. 155. Aerospace Publications Pty Ltd, 2003. In 1999, Boeing completed the spin off of the civilian line of helicopters to a newly formed ''MD Helicopter Holdings Inc.'', an indirect subsidiary of the Dutch company, RDM Holding Inc. The line included the MD 500 and variants as well as the family of derivative NOTAR aircraft that originated with Hughes Helicopters Inc. Boeing maintained the AH-64 line of helicopters and rights to the NOTAR system. After suffering dismal commercial performance, the company was purchased in 2005 by Patriarch Partners, LLC, an investment fund. The company was recapitalized as an independent company, ''MD Helicopters, Inc''. MD Helicopters is based in Mesa, Arizona. Lynn Tilton, the Chief Executive Officer and sole principal of Patriarch Partners, was CEO of MD Helicopters until she relinquished control in March 2020 following bankruptcy court rulings related to Patriarch holdings. By March 2022, the manufacturer filed for US

Chapter 11 bankruptcy Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, whet ...

protection for restructuration, to be acquired by a

creditor A creditor or lender is a party (e.g., person, organization, company, or government) that has a claim on the services of a second party. It is a person or institution to whom money is owed. The first party, in general, has provided some property ...

consortium led by Bardin Hill Investment Partners and MBIA Insurance, providing around $60 million of financing as

debtor A debtor or debitor is a legal entity (legal person) that owes a debt to another entity. The entity may be an individual, a firm, a government, a company or other legal person. The counterparty is called a creditor. When the counterpart of th ...

Products

(Under both McDonnell Douglas and MD Helicopters) * MD 500 ** MD 500 Defender ** MD 520 ** MD 530 * MD 600 *

MD Explorer The MD Helicopters MD Explorer is a light twin-engined utility helicopter designed and initially produced by the American rotorcraft specialist McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Systems. On 18 December 1992, the maiden flight was conducted, initial ...

(Under McDonnell Douglas only) *

- Product line transferred to Boeing Defense, Space & Security in 1998 * MH-6 Little Bird - later under

Boeing Rotorcraft Systems Boeing Rotorcraft Systems (formerly Boeing Helicopters and before that Boeing Vertol) is the former name of an American aircraft manufacturer, now known as Vertical Lift division of Boeing Defense, Space & Security. The headquarters and main ...

and now as Vertical Lift division of Boeing Defense, Space & Security

References

External links

MD Helicopters official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Md Helicopters Helicopter manufacturers of the United States Companies based in Arizona Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2022

History

Products

See also

References

External links