1973 : Hughes Model 77 (YAH-64)
wins US Army
AAH (Advanced Attack Helicopter) competition
September 30, 1975:
The YAH-64 has it first flight
1976 :
Hughes received the AH-64A full-scale development contract.
August 1981 :
AH-64A development completed
1986 :
The Hughes Model 300 product line is finally sold to Schweizer
1990s: Commercial Helicopters
MD 500 series NOTAR (NO TAil Rotor)
This configuration uses jet thrust rather
than blades to give the
directional stability
, providing 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
1997 :
Boeing acquired Mc Donnell Douglas.
Bell Helicopters ( Textron Inc. )
try to buy the MD 500 and 600 series, but didn't want the Explorer
because they have their own twin turbine models, so by this time its 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 :
The
Boeing Commercial Helicopter Division Company is sold
RDM and rnamed to
MDH.
The dutch company bought 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.
Production Lists:
MD500E
MD530F
MD520N
MD600N
MD900 / MD902 Explorer
2005 :
Lynn Tilton acquired MDH and
MD Helicopters Inc is formed.
Sept 14, 2006 :
MD Helicopters
NOTAR Fleet Clocks
670,000 Flight Hours
June 8, 2010 :
MD Helicopters
600th MD500
Contribution:
Mc Donnell Douglas Corp Company press releases between 1986 and 1997