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Jorge Gazzola
http://www.helis.com
Product of the join of the companies founded
by James S. McDonnell and Donald W. Douglas , Mc Donnell Douglas was a
leader manufacturer in commercials, military, helicopters and space aircrafts.
The WW II 's C-47/DC-3, the military jets A-4 Skyhawk, F-4 Phantom, AV-8
Harrier, F-15 Eagle, F-18 Hornet, and the DC family of civilian jets are
examples of the success of this corporation.
Mc Donnell Douglas was great involved in
the helicopter market when in 1984 acquired the Hughes Helicopters Company
founded by Howard Hughes .
Notice : The helicopter 's history of Mc Donnell Douglas is being
consider in this page with the early firms Mc Donnell and Hughes.
April 27, 1946 :
Mc Donnell
Whirlaway (XHJD-1)
The first helo of the
company was designed for the US Navy.
The engine were 2 Pratt & Whitney R-985 of 450 Hp each
One unit built.
May 5, 1947 : Mc Donnell "Little
Henry" (XH-20)
First world's
ram-jet helicopter It was powered with ram-jets mounted at the tips
of the rotor blades.
It had no tail rotor and weighed only 280 pounds.
Was cancelled due the heavy consumption of fuel
A proposed H-29 improved version was cancelled
August 1948 :
Hughes acquired Kellett projects
1952 :
Hughes "Flying Crane" XH-17
First project of the Hughes
company, the XH-17 had a two-bladed main rotor system with a diameter of
40.8 m, and was capable of flying at a gross weight of more than 18600 kgs
One unit built.
The H-28 was a derivate with a max weight of 47.000 Kg but the program was
cancelled and therefore non built.
July 14, 1954 :
Mc Donnell
Model 86 (XV-1) [H-35]
First designation was H-35
Was a convertiplane
compound helicopter for the US Army
on April 29, 1955 : made the
first successful conversion from vertical rotor lift to horizontal winged
flight It engine was a Continental R-975 of 525 hp
and was capable of reach a max speed of 322 km/h
Two units built.
1956 :
Hughes 200 / 269 / 300 (TH-55
Osage)
First military aircraft production of the
Hughes Company
A observation version called YHO-2 was cancelled.
792 units of the military Osage were built.
300C
Rotor diameter: 8.18 m
Length: 9.40 m
Height: 2.67 m
Weight: 480 kg - Max: 930
Engine: 1 Avco Lycoming
HIO-360 of 190 hp
Speed: Max: 150 km/h
Range: 370 km
Service Ceiling: 3100 m
November 13, 1957 : Mc Donnell Model
120
A private project of the
company that uses the XV-1 concept, the model 120 was a flying crane that
was also cancelled
February 27, 1963 :
Hughes 369 Cayuse (OH-6)
1964 :
Hughes "Hot Cycle" (XV-9)
Was a experimental design,
where the engine exhaust was ducted through the rotor hub and the blades,
and expelled from the rotor tips.
One unit built
1966 :
Hughes 500
Commercial version of the OH-6 Cayuse
April 28, 1967
Merger of
McDonnell and Douglas
1968 :
Hughes OH-6 Cayuse 's peak production,
during the Vietnam War, as many as 100 OH-6As were built a month.
August 1970
Last deliveries of OH-6A, 1434 units
completed.
1973 :
Hughes Model 77 (YAH-64)
The Model 77 wins US Army
AAH (Advanced Attack
Helicopter) competition
The YAH-64 has it first flight
on September 30, 1975
1976 :
Hughes received the AH-64A full-scale
development contract.
August 1981 :
AH-64A development completed
1983
Hughes licenses the Model 300 product line
to the Schweizer Aircraft Corp
January 1984 :
Mc Donnell Douglas acquired
Hughes Helicopters
February 1984
:
Mc Donnell Douglas AH-64A Apache
AH-64A deliveries began.
1986 :
The Hughes Model 300 product line is
finally sold to Schweizer
90s Commercial Helicopters
MD 500
series NOTAR
(NO TAil Rotor)
This configuration uses jet thrust rather
than blades to give the directional stability and also is one of the world's
quietest helicopters.
MD 600 series
MD 900 Explorer
( MDX )
1992 :
| Venezuelan helicopter pilots
Francisco Pacheco and Tomas Spanier flew a record-setting,
trans-Atlantic trek from Venezuela to Spain on a MD 500D. Beginning on
October 11, 1992, from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., and ending at Palos de la
Frontera on December 16, the flight was marked as the longest over-ocean flight
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1997 :
Boeing acquired
Mc Donnell Douglas
Bell Helicopters ( Textron Inc. )
try to buy the MD 500 and 600 series, but didn't want to buy the Explorer
because they have their own twin turbine models, so it future is unknown.
The AH-64 Apache is now owned by Boeing
1998 :
The initial planned sale of the commercial
line to Textron Inc. fell through after the Federal Trade Commission raised
unspecified concerns.
February 19, 1999 :
Boeing sold commercial
line to RDM
The Dutch company buy the MD 500E and MD
530F single-engine helicopters with conventional tail rotors, the MD 520N
and MD 600N single-engine NOTAR helicopters and the MD Explorer series of
twin-engine, eight-place helicopters.
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