Boeing Rotorcraft Systems (formerly Boeing Helicopters and before that Boeing Vertol) is the former name of an American aircraft manufacturer, now known as Vertical Lift division of Boeing Defense, Space & Security. The headquarters and main rotorcraft factory is in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania, a suburb of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

. Production of Apache attack helicopters in Mesa, Arizona, formerly part of Rotorcraft Systems, is now under the Global Strike Division of Boeing Military Aircraft.

History

Background

Boeing Helicopters was created as Boeing Vertol when the Vertol Aircraft Corporation (formerly Piasecki Helicopter) company of Morton, Pennsylvania was acquired by

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 ...

in 1960; the Vertol name was an abbreviation for Vertical Take Off and Landing. Other names by which the division sometimes referred to itself in correspondence over the years were "Boeing Aircraft Company, Vertol Division" and "Boeing Philadelphia". The company was responsible for the design and production of the CH-46 Sea Knight and the CH-47 Chinook. The name became Boeing Helicopters in 1987, and the current name was adopted in 2002. When Boeing merged with

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 ...

, the former Hughes Helicopters operations in Mesa, Arizona were placed under Boeing Helicopters. A year and a half later Boeing sold the civilian line of helicopters to MD Helicopter Holdings Inc., an indirect subsidiary of the Dutch company, RDM Holding Inc. By December 2006

Columbia Helicopters Columbia Helicopters, Incorporated (CHI) is an aircraft manufacturing and operator company based in Aurora, Oregon, United States. It is known for operating tandem rotor helicopters; in present times, exclusively the Boeing Vertol 107 and Boein ...

Aurora, Oregon Aurora is a city in Marion County, Oregon, United States. Before being incorporated as a city, it was the location of the Aurora Colony, a religious commune founded in 1856 by William Keil and John E. Schmit. William named the settlement after h ...

had purchased the

Type certificate A type certificate signifies the airworthiness of a particular category of aircraft, according to its manufacturing design (''type design''). It confirms that the aircraft of a new type intended for serial production, is in compliance with applic ...

of the Boeing Vertol 107-II and Boeing Model 234 Commercial Chinook from Boeing. The Columbia Helicopters is seeking FAA issuance of a Production Certificate to produce parts with eventual issuance of a PC to produce aircraft.

Mass transit

For much of the 1970s, Boeing Vertol entered the railroad rolling stock market in an attempt to keep government-funded contracts in the wake of the Vietnam War. During this period, Boeing Vertol manufactured the Morgantown Personal Rapid Transit system for

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley, Potomac State Coll ...

, the 2400 series Chicago 'L' cars for the Chicago Transit Authority, and the US Standard Light Rail Vehicle (marketed as the ''Boeing LRV''). It was the last vehicle, an attempt at a standardized light rail vehicle promoted by the federal Urban Mass Transportation Administration, that led to the company's ending rail production due to myriad problems. This cost Boeing and the vehicle's two buyers,

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (abbreviated MBTA and known colloquially as "the T") is the public agency responsible for operating most public transportation services in Greater Boston, Massachusetts. The MBTA transit network ...

and San Francisco Municipal Railway millions and led to premature retirement of the vehicles. While the company's subway cars performed better, they did not continue in the railcar business, as competitors may have underbid on a key contract and the post-Vietnam War military build-up provided far more lucrative military contracts.

Boeing Vertol products

Rotorcraft

AH-6 Little Bird The Boeing AH-6 is a series of light helicopter gunships based on the MH-6 Little Bird and MD 500 family. Developed by Boeing Rotorcraft Systems, these include the Unmanned Little Bird (ULB) demonstrator, the A/MH-6X Mission Enhanced Little Bi ...

(acquired when Boeing merged with

) * AH-64 Apache (acquired when Boeing merged with

) * Boeing Model 234 Commercial Chinook *

Boeing Model 360 The Boeing Model 360 is an American experimental medium-lift tandem rotor cargo helicopter developed privately by Boeing to demonstrate advanced helicopter technology. The aircraft was intended as a technology demonstrator, with no plans to put ...

(an all-composite, private venture, technology demonstrator) * Boeing Vertol 107-II *

Boeing Vertol XCH-62 The Boeing Vertol XCH-62 (Model 301) was a triple-turbine, heavy-lift helicopter project designed for the United States Army by Boeing Vertol. Approved in 1971, one prototype reached 95% completion before it was canceled in 1975. The prototype wa ...

(Model 301) * Boeing Vertol YUH-61 * Boeing Vertol CH-46 Sea Knight * Boeing CH-47 Chinook ** Boeing Chinook (UK variants) * V-22 Osprey (built as a teaming arrangement with Bell Helicopter Textron) * Boeing-Sikorsky RAH-66 Comanche * Sikorsky-Boeing SB-1 Defiant * Boeing MH-139 (Military variant AW139M to be American-built)

Rail

* US Standard Light Rail Vehicle (aka the Boeing LRV) * Morgantown Personal Rapid Transit * Boeing Vertol 2400-series

Chicago "L" The Chicago "L" (short for "elevated") is the rapid transit system serving the city of Chicago and some of its surrounding suburbs in the U.S. state of Illinois. Operated by the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), it is the fourth-largest rapid t ...

cars

References

Notes Further reading * Jonathan M. Feldman (author), Gerald I. Susman and Sean O'Keefe, eds. "Chapter 18, The Defense Industry in the Post-Cold War Era: Corporate Strategy and Public Policy Perspectives", ''The Conversion of Defense Engineers' Skills: Explaining Success and Failure Through Customer-Based Learning, Teaming and Managerial Integration'', pp. 281–318. Oxford: Elsevier Science, 1998: .

External links

Boeing Military Aircraft's Mobility division, headquartered at Ridley Park, PA
{{Boeing Vertol Rotorcraft Systems Helicopter manufacturers of the United States Defunct rolling stock manufacturers of the United States Manufacturing companies based in Pennsylvania Companies based in Delaware County, Pennsylvania 1960 establishments in Pennsylvania