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Bell
(Fort Worth,
Texas, USA)
www.bellflight.com
* Formerly Bell Helicopter. Name changed to Bell on February 22, 2018.
Boeing Vertical Lift
(Chicago, Illinois, USA)
www.boeing.com/Apache
www.boeing.com/Chinook
www.boeing.com/V22
Osprey
* Sea Knight production ended
in 1990.
FH1100 Manufacturing Group
(Century, Florida, USA)
www.fh1100.com
Enstrom Helicopter Corporation
(Menominee, Michigan, USA)
www.enstromhelicopter.com
Helibras
(Itajubá, Minas Gerais, Brazil)
www.helibras.com.br |
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Erickson Inc.
(Portland, Oregon, USA)
www.ericksoninc.com
* Founded as Erickson Air-Crane Inc. in 1971. Erickson renamed the Skycrane, the Air Crane.
*
Sikorsky Skycrane production ended in 1975.
*
The Skycrane Type Certificate was sold to Erickson in 1992.
* Today, people, companies and organizations are calling the heavy-lift rotorcraft the Crane, the Air Crane, the Erickson Air Crane or the Sikorksy Skycrane.
Kaman Corporation
(Bloomfield, Connecticut,
USA)
www.kaman.com
MD Helicopters,
Inc.
(Mesa, Arizona,
USA)
www.mdhelicopters.com
* Became MD Helicopters, Inc. in 2005.
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Robinson Helicopter Company
(Torrance, California, USA)
www.robinsonheli.com
Schweizer
(Fort Worth, Texas, USA)
www.schweizerrsg.com
* Began in 1955 and had several name changes. Became Schweizer again, in 2018.
Scott's — Bell 47, Inc.
(Le Sueur, Minnesota, USA)
www.scottsbell47.com
* Purchased the Bell 47 helicopter Type Certificate and then was founded in 2009.
Sikorsky Aircraft
(Stratford, Connecticut, USA)
www.lockheedmartin.com
Research and development rotary aircraft company
Piasecki Aircraft Corporation
(Essington, Pennsylvania, USA)
www.piasecki.com
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Airbus Helicopters
(Marignane, Bouches-du-Rhône, Provence-Alpes-Côte
d'Azur, France)
www.airbus.com
* Formerly Eurocopter. Name changed from Eurocopter to Airbus Helicopters on January 1, 2014.
Kopter Group AG
(Wetzikon, Switzerland)
www.koptergroup.com
Leonardo Helicopters
(Casina Costa di Samarate, Province
of Varese, Lombardy, Italy)
www.helicopters.leonardo.com
* Formerly AgustaWestland. Name changed to Leonardo Helicopters on January 1, 2017.
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NHIndustries
(Aix-En-Provence, Bouches-du-Rhône, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France)
www.nhindustries.com
PZL-Świdnik
OSD
(Swidnik, Lublin,
Poland)
www.pzlswidnik.pl
Russian Helicopters
(Moscow, Central
Federal District, Russia)
www.rus-helicopters.ru
* Russian Helicopters was formed on August 16, 2007.
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Turkish Aerospace
Industries, Inc.
(Ankara, Central
Anatolia, Turkey)
www.tusas.com/urunler/helikopter
Ural Avia
(Yekaterinburg,
Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia)
www.uralavia.com
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Airbus Helicopters
* Formed in 1992 as Eurocopter and headquarted in Marignane, France. Eurocopter was formed by the merger of Aerospatiale and DASA.
* Name changed from Eurocopter to Airbus Helicopters on January 1, 2014.
Bell
* Bell Aircraft Corporation was founded by Lawrence Dale Bell on July 10, 1935 in Buffalo, New York, USA.
*
The helicopter division was eventually renamed Bell Helicopter Company. In January 1976, the name was changed to Bell Helicopter Textron.
* Name changed to Bell on February 22, 2018.
Boeing Vertical Lift
* Boeing Vertol was founded in 1960 in Morton, Pennsylvania, USA.
*
Vertol was an abbreviation for vertical takeoff and landing.
*
The company changed its name to Boeing Aircraft Company, Vertol Division and Beoing Philadelphia and Boeing Helicopters.
* In 2002, the company's name was changed to Boeing Rotorcraft Systems. As of April 2025, Boeing's rotorcraft main web page features the names of Boeing Military Rotorcraft and Boeing Vertical Lift.
* If you notice the company's URL address, it is www.boeing.com/defense/rotocraft!
Enstrom Helicopter Corporation
* R. J. Enstrom Corporation was founded in 1959 by Rudolph J. "Rudy" Enstrom in Menominee, Michigan, United States.
* The company was purchased by the Chongqing Helicopter Investment Corporation in 2013 and when out of business in January 2022.
* The company's assests were then purchased by Surack Enterprises in May 2022 and production was restarted.
Erickson Inc.
* Jack Erickson purchased three Sikorsky Skycranes and founded as Erickson Air-Crane Inc. in 1971. Erickson renamed the Skycrane, the Air Crane.
* Sikorsky Skycrane production ended in 1975.
* The Skycrane Type Certificate was sold to Erickson in 1992.
* Erickson has been modifying military Skycranes to civilian Air Cranes for decades.
* Erickson also provides maintenance, repair and overhaul for the Air Crane.
* Erickson is the only OEM manufacturer of the Air Crane. For the first time in the company's history, Erickson expects to start new-builds of the Air Crane in late 2025 or in 2026.
* Some companies which own the Air Crane, continue to call the helicopter the Skycrane and/or the Sikorsky Skycrane.
* The company name was changed to Erickson Inc. on April 1, 2014.
* This information on Erickson and the Air Crane was updated on April 14, 2025. |
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Leonardo Helicopters
* Agusta was an Italian aircraft manufacture that was formed in 1907. The company started helicotper manufacturing in 1952.
* Westland Aircraft was a British aircraft manufacturer that was formed in 1935. After World War II, the company focused on manufacturing helicopters and changed its name to Westland Helicopters.
* Agusta and Westland Helicopters working together dates back to 1981 when the two companies began developing a new medium sized helicopter named the EH101.
* In March 1999, Finmeccanica and GKN announced their intention to merge their respective helicopter subsidiaries.
* AgustaWestland was formed in July 2000.
* AgustaWestland changed their name to Leonardo Helicopters on January 1, 2017.
Kaman Corporation
* Kaman Aircraft Company was founded by Charles Kaman in 1945 in West Harford, Connecticut, USA.
*
The company's headquarters was eventually moved to Bloomfield, Connecticut, USA and was named Kaman Corporation.
Kopter Group
* In 2007, Martin Stucki formed Marenco Swisshelicopter. The name was formed from Martin Engineering and Consulting.
*
Stucki created the company because he had not seen any all new designs of light single-engine helicopters in decades.
* Leonardo acquired Kopter Group AG in January 2020.
MD Helicopters
* Hughes Helicopters was founded by Howard Hughes as unit of Hughes Aircraft in 1947, then later, after 1955, became part of the Hughes Tool Company. Hughes Helicopters came to an end in 1984.
* In 1972, the company became the Hughes Helicopter Division, Summa Corporation. Changed to Hughes Helicopters, Inc. in 1981.
* In January 1984, the company was sold to McDonnell Douglas and became McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Systems. McDonnell Douglas was merged into Boeing on August 1, 1997.
* Boeing formed MD Helicopters Holdings, Inc. in 1999.
* The company was purchased by Patriarch Partners, LLC in 2005 and changed the name to MD Helicopters, Inc.
NH Industries
* NH Industries was founded in 1992 to estabilish a NATO contractor to design, develope and manufacture the NH90 medium-sized twin-engine multi-role military helicopter.
* The helicopter has been designed to fly in battle ground and naval environments.
* The company was originally formed between Eurocopter (now Airbus Helicopters) and Agusta (now Leonardo Helicopters) and Stork Fokker Aerospace (now Fokker Aerostructures).
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Piasecki Aircraft Corporation
* Piasecki Helicopter Corporation was founded by Frank Piasecki in 1940.
* Piasecki was removed from the company in 1956 and then several years later, he started a new company named Piasecki Aircraft.
* The headquarters are located in Morton, Pennsylvania, USA.
Schweizer
* The company began in 1955 as Hughes Tool Company's Aircraft Division which would eventually become Hughes Helicopters. The first helicopter developed was the Hughes 269 which would become the Schweizer 300CBi today.
* In 1984, McDonnell Douglas purchased Huges Helicopters. In 1986, Schweizer purchased the entire rights of the helicopter from McDonnell Douglas.
* In 2004, Sikorsky Aircraft Company purchased the company. Then Sikorsky sold the Schweizer 300CBi helicopter to private individuals and created a new company called Schweizer!
* The company is now located in Fort Worth, Texas, USA.
Scott's — Bell 47
* Scott's — Bell 47 was founded in 2009 after purchasing the type certificates from Bell Helicopter.
* The company is located in Le Sueur, Minnesota, USA.
Sikorsky
* The Sikorsky Aero Engineering Corporation was founded on March 5, 1923. In 1925, the name was changed to Sikorsky Manufacturing Company. Then changed its name to Sikorsky Aviation Company.
* Sikorsky was then purchased by United Technologies Corporation and then was sold to Lockheed Martin.
Robinson Helicopter Company
* Robinson Helicopter Company was founded in 1973 and is headquarted in Torrance, California, USA.
Russian Helicopters
* Russian Helicopters was formed on August 16, 2007 by consolidating Kazan Helicopters, Kumertau Aviation Production Enterprise, Progress Arsenyev Aviation Company, Rostvertol and Ulan-Ude Aviation Plant. |
