The MD Helicopters MD Explorer is a light twin-engined utility
helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...
designed and initially produced by the American rotorcraft specialist
McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Systems
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 until 1984, when M ...
.
On 18 December 1992, the
maiden flight
The maiden flight, also known as first flight, of an aircraft is the first occasion on which it leaves the ground under its own power. The same term is also used for the first launch of rockets.
The maiden flight of a new aircraft type is alwa ...
was conducted, initial certification for the type followed roughly two years later. The initial model, the MD 900, was joined by an improved successor, the MD 902, during the late 1990s. The Explorer is currently produced by
MD Helicopters
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 until 1984, when Mc ...
.
Development
In January 1989, McDonnell Douglas Helicopters officially announced the launch of the Explorer, which it initially referred to as the ''MDX''. Amongst other things, the Explorer was the first McDonnell Douglas helicopter to incorporate the
NOTAR
NOTAR ("no tail rotor") is a helicopter system which avoids the use of a tail rotor. It was developed by McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Systems (through their acquisition of Hughes Helicopters). The system uses a fan inside the tail boom to build ...
system from its initial design.
[Frawley 2003, p. 156.] McDonnell Douglas partnered with
Hawker de Havilland of Australia, which handled the manufacturing of the airframes. A total of ten
prototype
A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototyp ...
s were constructed, seven of which being used for ground-based tests. McDonnell Douglas Helicopters became a launch customer for
Pratt & Whitney Canada
Pratt & Whitney Canada (PWC or P&WC) is a Canada-based aircraft engine manufacturer. PWC's headquarters are in Longueuil, Quebec, just outside Montreal. It is a division of the larger US-based Pratt & Whitney (P&W), itself a business unit of ...
's
PW200 turboshaft
A turboshaft engine is a form of gas turbine that is optimized to produce shaftpower rather than jet thrust. In concept, turboshaft engines are very similar to turbojets, with additional turbine expansion to extract heat energy from the exhaust ...
engines, for which it had an exclusive agreement to power the first 128 Explorers with pairs of PW206As. While plans had been mooted to offer the
Turbomeca Arrius
The Turbomeca Arrius is one of a family of turboshaft engines for helicopter use, first produced in 1981. As of 2012, some 2,700 units had been sold. Power ranges between 357 kW (479 shp) and 530 kW (716 shp) for different versions.
Fo ...
powerplant as an alternative option, these were subsequently discarded.
On 18 December 1992, the
maiden flight
The maiden flight, also known as first flight, of an aircraft is the first occasion on which it leaves the ground under its own power. The same term is also used for the first launch of rockets.
The maiden flight of a new aircraft type is alwa ...
of the Explorer took place, performed by ship #2 (N900MD). On 2 December 1994,
Federal Aviation Administration
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...
(FAA) certification for the Explorer was granted, permitting its use in North America;
Joint Aviation Authorities
The Joint Aviation Authorities (JAA) was an associated body of the European Civil Aviation Conference representing the civil aviation regulatory authorities of a number of European States who had agreed to co-operate in developing and implementin ...
(JAA) certification was received shortly thereafter. However, certification of the Explorer's
instrument flight rules
In aviation, instrument flight rules (IFR) is one of two sets of regulations governing all aspects of civil aviation aircraft operations; the other is visual flight rules (VFR).
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) ''Instrument Fly ...
(IFR) capability was protracted due to technical difficulties with integration; in February 1997, FAA certification for IFR operations was finally received.
![MD 900 NOTAR](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/16/MD_900_NOTAR.jpeg)
On 29 May 1997, all Explorers were temporarily grounded following the discovery of a broken drive-link; during the following month, flight operations resumed after the FAA gave its approval of a redesigned component that addressed the issue.
During September 1997, a range of improvements to the Explorer were introduced. These included the availability of the PW206E engine, which had a higher single engine inoperative rating, along with revised engine air inlets, improved NOTAR inlet design, and a more powerful stabiliser control system. The benefits were improvements to both range and endurance, along with an increased maximum takeoff weight. This enhanced Explorer was unofficially designated the MD 902.
In May 1998, it was reported that
Bell Helicopters
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 Mir ...
, as part of a wider deal 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 product ...
, had acquired the rights to support and produce spare components for the Explorer; however, this deal did not include the ability to perform final assembly or otherwise produce complete rotorcraft. Accordingly, it was speculated that the deal could impact the long term future of the Explorer. However, these plans were terminated due to the intervention of the US
Federal Trade Commission
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. The FTC shares jurisdiction ov ...
.
[Frawley 2003, p. 155.] Instead, in the following year, Boeing opted to
spin off its civilian line of helicopters, including the Explorer, to the newly formed ''MD Helicopter Holdings Inc.'' (MDHI).
During November 1999, the JAA recommended that all 27 member nations certify the Explorer series for Category A single pilot IFR operations. In September 2000, the first Explorers had been delivered with the further improved PW207E engine, which provided improved hot and high performance, as well as when flown with only a single engine operational.
During the 2000s, the company recovered from its financial woes and invested in the replenishment of its supply chain.
In the 2010s, the manufacturer dedicated considerable attention to renewing the avionics of the type, such as the addition of a
glass cockpit
A glass cockpit is an aircraft cockpit that features electronic (digital) flight instrument displays, typically large LCD screens, rather than the traditional style of analog dials and gauges. While a traditional cockpit relies on numerous mech ...
. During 2013, it was announced that MHDI had selected Universal Avionics’ InSight display system for the MD 902 Explorer, replacing the original
cathode ray tube
A cathode-ray tube (CRT) is a vacuum tube containing one or more electron guns, which emit electron beams that are manipulated to display images on a phosphorescent screen. The images may represent electrical waveforms ( oscilloscope), pictu ...
(CRT) displays; four years later, the company started offering an alternative arrangement with
Genesys Aerosystems Genesys may refer to:
* Genesys (company), a customer experience and contact center technology company
* ''Genesys'' (video game), an educational video game released in 2000
* Genesys (website), a portal to information about plant genetic resource ...
. In January 2020, the company announced a new partnership with Universal Avionics, effectively switching back to the vendor, under which the latter would provide their fully-digital flight deck avionics for the MD 900/902 Explorer.
In October 2015, the
Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand
The Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand (CAA; Māori: ''Te Mana Rererangi Tūmatanui o Aotearoa'') is the government agency tasked with establishing civil aviation safety and security standards in New Zealand.
The CAA also monitors adherence ...
(CAANZ) granted type acceptance to the MD 900/902 Explorer series, permitting the restriction-free importing of the type into the country. That same year, the
European Aviation Safety Agency
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is an agency of the European Union (EU) with responsibility for civil aviation safety. It carries out certification, regulation and standardisation and also performs investigation and monitorin ...
(EASA) approved an increased maximum gross weight of 6,770 pounds for the MD 900/902 Explorer, increasing its maximum payload capacity by 270 pounds; this increase had been already approved by the FAA in March 2013.
Reportedly, by 2015, almost 50 percent of all MD 900/902 Explorers produced were being operated in Europe in three areas of the market:
emergency medical services
Emergency medical services (EMS), also known as ambulance services or paramedic services, are emergency services that provide urgent pre-hospital treatment and stabilisation for serious illness and injuries and transport to definitive care. ...
(EMS),
law enforcement
Law enforcement is the activity of some members of government who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by discovering, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms governing that society. The term en ...
and military/para-military organizations.
The EMS sector has been a deliberately selected focus area for MDHI; during 2011, the firm forecasted that
Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...
ern operators would require several hundred EMS rotorcraft over the coming years.
During March 2015, MDHI announced that it was in the process of redesigning the MD Explorer with a higher level of in-house content with the intention of making it more affordable and thus boost sales. The redesign/modernisation of the MD902 Explorer was subsequently referred to the ''MD969''.
By August 2022, while the MD Explorer series was still technically in production, some operators were facing difficulties obtaining some crucial components and the supply chain was reportedly drying up. In response, some vendors were acquiring existing airframes and stripping them for their parts.
Design
The MD Helicopters MD Explorer is a twin engined utility
helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...
; it is equipped with a fully-
articulated
An articulated vehicle is a vehicle which has a permanent or semi-permanent pivot joint in its construction, allowing it to turn more sharply. There are many kinds, from heavy equipment to buses, trams and trains. Steam locomotives were someti ...
five-bladed main rotor system as well as
bearingless composite flexbeams and
rotor hub. The fuselage is composed of
composite material
A composite material (also called a composition material or shortened to composite, which is the common name) is a material which is produced from two or more constituent materials. These constituent materials have notably dissimilar chemical or ...
s, such as
carbonfibre, that are resistant to corrosion even in hostile marine environments, it also incorporates lightning strike protection measures.
The tail features similar construction.
It is powered by a pair of
Pratt & Whitney Canada
Pratt & Whitney Canada (PWC or P&WC) is a Canada-based aircraft engine manufacturer. PWC's headquarters are in Longueuil, Quebec, just outside Montreal. It is a division of the larger US-based Pratt & Whitney (P&W), itself a business unit of ...
-built
PW200 turboshaft
A turboshaft engine is a form of gas turbine that is optimized to produce shaftpower rather than jet thrust. In concept, turboshaft engines are very similar to turbojets, with additional turbine expansion to extract heat energy from the exhaust ...
engines. It can be flown by a single pilot, and carry up to six passengers at a time.
A key feature of the MD Explorer is the
NOTAR
NOTAR ("no tail rotor") is a helicopter system which avoids the use of a tail rotor. It was developed by McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Systems (through their acquisition of Hughes Helicopters). The system uses a fan inside the tail boom to build ...
anti-torque system; instead of a traditional tail rotor, a fan exhaust is directed out of slots in the tail boom, thus using the
Coandă effect
The Coandă effect ( or ) is the tendency of a fluid jet to stay attached to a convex surface. ''Merriam-Webster'' describes it as "the tendency of a jet of fluid emerging from an orifice to follow an adjacent flat or curved surface and to ent ...
for
yaw control. The benefits of NOTAR have reportedly included reduced pilot workload, greatly minimised external noise levels, and significant improvements in safety, particularly when operating in confined areas and from
offshore platform
An oil platform (or oil rig, offshore platform, oil production platform, and similar terms) is a large structure with facilities to extract and process petroleum and natural gas that lie in rock formations beneath the seabed. Many oil platfor ...
s, along with general performance and controllability enhancements.
It is disputed which of the
fenestron
A Fenestron (sometimes alternatively referred to as a fantail or a "fan-in-fin" arrangementLeishman 2006, p. 321.) is an enclosed helicopter tail rotor that operates like a ducted fan. The term ''Fenestron'' is a trademark of multinational helico ...
and NOTAR approaches produces less noises. Boeing retains the design rights to the NOTAR technology despite selling the former McDonnell Douglas civil helicopter line to MD Helicopters in early 1999.
Variants
;MD 900 Explorer
:Initial Production model, powered by two Pratt & Whitney Canada PW206A (or PW206E or PW207E) turboshaft engines.
;MD 901 Explorer
:Civil utility transport model, powered by two Turbomeca Arrius turboshaft engines and tri-angel landing gear. McDonnel Douglas Helicopters announced that this type was available from serial number 127 and upwards. By sale of civil helicopter variants to MD Helicopters the type was not further developed. None ordered.
;MD 902
:Marketing name for an enhanced version with Category A approval and powered by two Pratt & Whitney Canada PW206E or PW207E.
[Federal Aviation Administration Type Certificate Data Sheet H19NM](_blank)
/ref> Enhanced version has additional engine isolation features and changes to the Integrated Instrument Display System. Older helicopters (except for the first seven built) can be modified to the enhanced version.
;MH-90 Enforcer
:Armed version for the United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mult ...
flown by the Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron
The Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron (HITRON) is an armed United States Coast Guard helicopter squadron specializing in Airborne Use of Force (AUF) and drug-interdiction missions. It is based at Cecil Field in Jacksonville, Florida.
HI ...
between 1998 and 2000.
;MD 969 Combat Explorer
:Armed helicopter
An armed helicopter is a military helicopter equipped with aircraft ordnance. Most commonly, it is used for attacking targets on the ground. Such a helicopter could be either purposely designed for a ground-attack mission—in which case it wou ...
version.
;Swift
:A high-speed compound helicopter derived from the MD 969 that was being developed for the US Army’s Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft
The Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) program was initiated by the United States Army in 2018 to develop a successor to the Bell OH-58 Kiowa scout helicopter as part of the Future Vertical Lift program. The OH-58 was retired in 2014; ...
(FARA) program. Excluded from FARA in 2019.
Operators
;
* Federal Police
A law enforcement agency (LEA) is any government agency responsible for the enforcement of the laws.
Jurisdiction
LEAs which have their ability to apply their powers restricted in some way are said to operate within a jurisdiction.
LEAs ...
;
* Landespolizei
''Landespolizei'' (; ) is a term used to refer to the state police of any of the states of Germany.
History
The ''Landespolizei'' of today can trace its origins to the late 19th century, when Germany united into a single country in 18 ...
;
* Hungarian Police Hungarian may refer to:
* Hungary, a country in Central Europe
* Kingdom of Hungary, state of Hungary, existing between 1000 and 1946
* Hungarians, ethnic groups in Hungary
* Hungarian algorithm, a polynomial time algorithm for solving the assignme ...
;
* Heliservices
Heliservices (HK) Ltd is a Hong Kong-based helicopter operator operating local and cross-border passenger charters and sightseeing services, including services from the rooftop helipad of the Peninsula Hotel in Kowloon, and from the Business Aviat ...
;
* Luxembourg Air Rescue
Luxembourg Air Rescue (LAR) is a private, humanitarian air rescue organisation in Luxembourg, the Greater Region surrounding Luxembourg or worldwide through the operation of its helicopters and air ambulances. /www.etat.lu/memorial/2010/C/Html/1720 ...
* Luxembourg Police
;
* Mexican Navy
The Mexican Navy is one of the two independent armed forces of Mexico. The actual naval forces are called the ''Armada de México''. The ''Secretaría de Marina'' (''SEMAR'') (English: Naval Secretariat) includes both the ''Armada'' itself and ...
** 1st Shipborne Patrol Naval Air Squadron, Mexican Naval Aviation
Mexican Naval Aviation (FAN; es, Fuerza AeroNaval, , Naval Air Force), is the naval air arm of the Mexican Navy. The Mexican Navy is divided into two naval fleets: Pacific Ocean and Gulf of Mexico.
History
Naval aviation in Mexico dates back f ...
;
* Essex & Herts Air Ambulance
Essex & Herts Air Ambulance Trust (EHAAT) is a charity air ambulance service providing a free, life-saving Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) for the critically ill and injured of Essex, Hertfordshire and surrounding areas.
The c ...
* London's Air Ambulance
London's Air Ambulance Charity is a registered charity that operates a helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) dedicated to responding to serious trauma emergencies in and around London. Using a helicopter from 08:00 to sunset and rapid res ...
* Wiltshire Police
Wiltshire Police, formerly known as Wiltshire Constabulary, is the territorial police force responsible for policing the county of Wiltshire (including the Borough of Swindon) in South West England.
The force serves 722,000 people over an area ...
;
* Calstar
* Drug Enforcement Administration
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA; ) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating drug trafficking and distribution within th ...
* National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...
* University of Missouri Hospital
University Hospital is located in Columbia, Missouri. It has the only Level I trauma center and helicopter service in Mid-Missouri, and the only burn intensive care unit in the region. It also has an accredited chest pain center cardiology program ...
;
* Doctor Heli
Former operator
;
* Cornwall Air Ambulance
The Cornwall Air Ambulance Trust is a charity that provides a dedicated helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.
The service also has two critical care cars that operate when the helicopter is unable t ...
;
* United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mult ...
** Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron 1998-2000
Specifications
See also
References
Citations
Bibliography
* Frawley, Gerard: ''The International Directory of Civil Aircraft, 2003-2004'', Aerospace Publications Pty Ltd, 2003. .
* Jackson, Paul. ''Jane's All The World's Aircraft 2003–2004''. Coulsdon, UK: Jane's Information Group, 2003. .
External links
MD Helicopters MD Explorer page
BlueSkyRotor.com- performance datasheet of MD900 Explorer
{{US helicopters
1960s United States helicopters
1960s United States civil utility aircraft
Explorer
Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians.
Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...
NOTAR helicopters
Twin-turbine helicopters
Aircraft first flown in 1992