The Schweizer S300 series (formerly Hughes 300, Schweizer 300, and Sikorsky S-300) family of light 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 ...
s was originally produced by
Hughes Helicopters
Hughes Helicopters was a major manufacturer of military and civil helicopters from the 1950s to the 1980s.
The company began in 1947, as a unit of Hughes Aircraft, then was part of the Hughes Tool Company after 1955. It became the Hughes Helic ...
, as a development of the
Hughes 269
The Hughes TH-55 Osage is a piston-powered light training helicopter produced for the United States Army. It was also produced as the Model 269 family of light utility helicopters, some of which were marketed as the Model 300. The Model 300C wa ...
. Later manufactured by
Schweizer Aircraft
The Schweizer Aircraft Corporation was an American manufacturer of sailplanes, agricultural aircraft and helicopters located in Horseheads, New York. It was incorporated in 1939 by three Schweizer brothers (Paul, William, and Ernest), who bui ...
, and currently produced by Schweizer RSG, the basic design has been in production for over 50 years. The single, three-bladed main rotor and piston-powered S300 is mostly used as a cost-effective platform for training and agriculture.
Development
Background
In 1955, Hughes Tool Company's Aircraft Division (later Hughes Helicopters) carried out a market survey showing that there was a demand for a low-cost, lightweight, two-seat helicopter. The division began building the Model 269 in September 1955. The prototype flew on 2 October 1956, but it was not until 1960 that the decision was made to develop the helicopter for production.
On 9 April 1959, the 269 received certification from the
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) and Hughes continued to concentrate on civil production. With some design changes, deliveries of the Model 269A version began in 1961. By mid-1963 about 20 aircraft were being produced per month, and by the spring of 1964 314 had been built. Hughes had successfully captured a large portion of the civilian helicopter market with an aircraft that would prove popular in agriculture, police work and other duties.
Model 300
In 1964, Hughes introduced the slightly larger three-seat Model 269B which it marketed as the Hughes 300. That same year, the Hughes 269 set an endurance record of 101 hours. To set the record, two pilots took turns piloting the aircraft and hovered in ground-effect for fueling. To ensure no cheating, eggs were attached to the bottom of the skid gear to register any record-ending landing.
The Hughes 300 was followed in 1969 by the improved Hughes 300C (sometimes Hughes 269C), which first flew on 6 March 1969 and received FAA certification in May 1970. This new model introduced a more powerful 190 hp (140 kW) Lycoming HIO-360-D1A engine and increased rotor diameter, giving a payload increase of 45%, plus overall performance improvements. It was this model that Schweizer began building under license from Hughes in 1983.
In 1986, Schweizer acquired all rights to the helicopter from
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 produ ...
, which had purchased Hughes Helicopters in 1984. After Schweizer acquired the FAA Type Certificate, the helicopter was known for a short time as the Schweizer-Hughes 300C and then simply, the Schweizer 300C. The basic design remained unchanged over the years, despite Schweizer making over 250 minor improvements.
Schweizer was purchased on August 26, 2004 by Sikorsky Aircraft. The Schweizer 300 models fill a gap in the Sikorsky helicopter line, which is known for its medium and heavy utility and cargo helicopters.
In February 2009, the 300C was rebranded as the Sikorsky S-300C.
In 2018 the type certificate for the 269/300 product line was sold by Sikorsky to Schweizer RSG in Fort Worth Texas. The new company, affiliated with Rotorcraft Services Group, will support the existing fleet and will start to build new aircraft at Meacham Airport in Fort Worth, Texas. The management team includes industry and product veterans such as David Horton and Mike Iven.
Derivatives
Between Hughes and Schweizer, and including foreign-licensed production civil and military training aircraft, nearly 3,000 units of the Model 269/300 have been built and flown over the last 50 years. Schweizer continued to develop the Model 300 by adding a turbine and redesigning the body to create the
Schweizer 330
The Schweizer 330 and S333 are turbine-powered developments of the Schweizer 300 light piston-powered helicopter. As of 2007, only the Schweizer 333 remains in production. In February 2009, the 333 was rebranded as the Sikorsky S-333. In 2018 th ...
. Further developing the dynamic components to take greater advantage of the power of the turbine engine led to the development of the
Schweizer S-333
The Schweizer 330 and S333 are turbine-powered developments of the Schweizer 300 light piston-powered helicopter. As of 2007, only the Schweizer 333 remains in production. In February 2009, the 333 was rebranded as the Sikorsky S-333. In 2018 the ...
.
In recent years the cockpit received an upgrade when an STC was developed for the installation of the
Garmin
Garmin Ltd. (shortened to Garmin, stylized as GARMIN, and formerly known as ProNav) is an American, Swiss-domiciled multinational technology company founded in 1989 by Gary Burrell and Min Kao in Lenexa, Kansas, United States, with headquart ...
G500H helicopter dual-screen electronic flight display, as well as the Mid-Continent MD302 Standby Attitude Indicator.
Design
The Hughes 269 was created with a fully articulated three-bladed main
rotor
Rotor may refer to:
Science and technology
Engineering
*Rotor (electric), the non-stationary part of an alternator or electric motor, operating with a stationary element so called the stator
* Helicopter rotor, the rotary wing(s) of a rotorcraft ...
wherein the blades advance to the right and a two-bladed
tail rotor
The tail rotor is a smaller rotor mounted vertically or near-vertically at the tail of a traditional single-rotor helicopter, where it rotates to generate a propeller-like horizontal thrust in the same direction as the main rotor's rotation. The ...
that would remain as distinctive characteristics of all its variants. It also has shock absorber-damped, skid-type landing gear. The flight controls are directly linked to the control surfaces of the helicopter so there are no
hydraulics
Hydraulics (from Greek: Υδραυλική) is a technology and applied science using engineering, chemistry, and other sciences involving the mechanical properties and use of liquids. At a very basic level, hydraulics is the liquid counter ...
in the 269. There are generally two sets of controls, although this was optional on the civil 269A. For three-seat aircraft, the middle collective control stick is removable and a seat cushion can be put in its place for the third passenger. In the 300CB and 300CB''i'', the collective control can be repositioned to left-handed configuration for the Pilot In Command position (right seat).
Variants
;269C "Model 300C" :The 300C is powered by a 190 hp (141 kW) Lycoming HIO-360-D1A and has a larger diameter main rotor (26 ft 10 in compared to 25 ft 4 in). The larger rotor and engine gives it a 45% performance increase over previous 269-series models. Hughes and Schweizer both marketed the 269C as the Model 300C.
;300CQ :The Sky Knight is a purpose-built 300C for urban police helicopter patrols with a muffler and other noise attenuating materials and design changes to reduce the helicopter's noise signature by 75%.
;300CB :The 300CB is the first pure production of the 300 by Schweizer and is powered by a Textron Lycoming HO-360-C1A, 180 hp engine. The 300CB first flew on 28 May 1993, and was certified by the FAA in August 1995. The 300CB can be reconfigured from a two-seat cockpit to a three-seat configuration. While it is still suited for utility and special missions, this aircraft was designed for helicopter training.
;300CB''i'' :A fuel injected version of the 300CB that alleviates carburetor icing concerns in colder temperatures. The 300CB''i'' also includes overspeed protection and automatic rotor engagement during startup, as well as a low rotor RPM warning system.
Operators
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The Argentine Naval Prefecture ( es, Prefectura Naval Argentina or PNA) is a service of Argentina's Ministry of Security (Argentina), Security Ministry charged with protecting the country's rivers and maritime territory. It therefore fulfills the ...
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Military Police of Rio de Janeiro State
The Military Police of Rio de Janeiro State ( pt, Polícia Militar do Estado do Rio de Janeiro) (PMERJ) like other military polices in Brazil is a reserve and ancillary force of the Brazilian Army, and part of the System of Public Security and B ...
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Colombian Air Force
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, march = Colombian Air Force Hymn
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Air Force of El Salvador
The Salvadoran Air Force ( es, Fuerza Aérea Salvadoreña, abbreviated FAS) is the air force component of the Armed Forces of El Salvador, and is an independent branch from the army and navy.
Early history
The Salvadoran Army Air Force ('' es, ...
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Hellenic Army
The Hellenic Army ( el, Ελληνικός Στρατός, Ellinikós Stratós, sometimes abbreviated as ΕΣ), formed in 1828, is the land force of Greece. The term ''Hellenic'' is the endogenous synonym for ''Greek''. The Hellenic Army is the ...
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Indonesian Army
The Indonesian Army ( id, Tentara Nasional Indonesia Angkatan Darat (TNI-AD), ) is the land branch of the Indonesian National Armed Forces. It has an estimated strength of 300,000 active personnel. The history of the Indonesian Army has its ...
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Senegalese Air Force
The Senegalese Air Force (french: Armée de l'Air Sénégalaise) is the air force branch of the Military of Senegal, Senegalese Armed Forces.
History
It was formed on 1 April 1961 with Douglas C-47 Skytrain, Douglas C-47s, Max Holste MH.1521 B ...
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Royal Thai Army
The Royal Thai Army or RTA ( th, กองทัพบกไทย; ) is the army of Thailand and the oldest and largest branch of the Royal Thai Armed Forces.
History
Origin
The Royal Thai Army is responsible for protecting the kingdom's so ...
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Turkish Army
The Turkish Land Forces ( tr, Türk Kara Kuvvetleri), or Turkish Army (Turkish: ), is the main branch of the Turkish Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. The army was formed on November 8, 1920, after the collapse of the ...
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Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD), officially the County of Los Angeles Sheriff's Department, is a law enforcement agency serving Los Angeles County, California. LASD is the largest sheriff's department in the United States a ...
Accidents and incidents
* 8 September 2017: A Schweizer 269C,
aircraft registration
An aircraft registration is a code unique to a single aircraft, required by Chicago Convention, international convention to be marked on the exterior of every civil aircraft. The registration indicates the aircraft's country of registration, and ...
number ''N204HF'', serial number ''0109'',
crashed
"Crashed" is the third U.S. rock Single (music), single, (the fifth overall), from the band Daughtry (band), Daughtry's debut album. It was released only to U.S. rock stations on September 5, 2007. Upon its release the song got adds at those stat ...
Medford, New Jersey
Medford is a township in Burlington County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the township's population was 24,497, an increase of 1,464 (+6.4%) from the 2010 census count of 23,033,Troy Gentry of the popular American
country music
Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...
band
Montgomery Gentry
Montgomery Gentry is an American country music duo founded by singers Eddie Montgomery and Troy Gentry, both Kentucky natives. They began performing together in the 1990s as part of two different bands with Montgomery's brother, John Michael Mo ...
, who were scheduled to perform at a resort at the airport later that day. The crash was attributed to the pilot's loss of control during a power-off
autorotation
Autorotation is a state of flight in which the main rotor system of a helicopter or other rotary-wing aircraft turns by the action of air moving up through the rotor, as with an autogyro, rather than engine power driving the rotor. Bensen, Igor ...
landing attempt; a contributing factor was failure of the throttle control tie-rod assembly caused by improper replacement of the throttle cable.