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 Boeing Defense, Space & Security (BDS) is a division of Boeing, the Boeing Company based in Arlington, Virginia, near Washington, D.C. The division builds military Military aircraft, airplanes, Military helicopter, rotorcraft, and Missile, missil ...

. The headquarters and main rotorcraft factory is in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania, a suburb of

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. Production of Apache attack helicopters in

Mesa, Arizona Mesa ( ) is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. The population was 504,258 at the 2020 census. It is the List of municipalities in Arizona, third-most populous city in Arizona, after Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona, T ...

, 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, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...

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 Boeing CH-47 Chinook is a tandem-rotor helicopter originally developed by American rotorcraft company Piasecki Helicopter, Vertol and now manufactured by Boeing Defense, Space & Security. The Chinook is a Military transport helicopter, heav ...

. The name became Boeing Helicopters in 1987, and the current name was adopted in 2002. When Boeing merged with McDonnell Douglas in 1997, the former Hughes Helicopters operations in

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 of Aurora, Oregon had purchased the

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

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 Morgantown Personal Rapid Transit (WVU PRT) is a personal rapid transit (PRT) system in Morgantown, West Virginia, United States. The system connects the three Morgantown campuses of West Virginia University (WVU) and the city's downtown area. ...

system for West Virginia University, 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 Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...

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 and San Francisco Municipal Railway millions and led to premature retirement of the vehicles.''TRANSIT RAIL: Potential Rail Car Cost-Saving Strategies Exist,''
Report to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, U.S. Senate (GAO-10-730 Transit Rail), June 2010, United States

Government Accountability Office The United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) is an independent, nonpartisan government agency within the legislative branch that provides auditing, evaluative, and investigative services for the United States Congress. It is the s ...

, Page 24, retrieved August 11, 2023''Communications-Based Train Control (CBTC) Before/After Cost Effectiveness Study,''
(FTA-TX-26-7005.2010.01), March 2011, Lea & Elliot, Inc., for Federal Transit Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation Page 8, (citing Sullivan, Kathleen: "Muni knew about trolley lemons in '70s," September 14, 1998, '' San Francisco Examiner''), retrieved August 11, 2023 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 (acquired when Boeing merged with McDonnell Douglas) * AH-64 Apache (acquired when Boeing merged with McDonnell Douglas) * Boeing Model 234 Commercial Chinook * Boeing Model 360 (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 Rotorcraft Systems, Boeing Vertol. Approved in 1971, one prototype reached 95% completion before it was cancel ...

(Model 301) * Boeing Vertol YUH-61 * Boeing Vertol CH-46 Sea Knight *

Boeing CH-47 Chinook The Boeing CH-47 Chinook is a tandem-rotor helicopter originally developed by American rotorcraft company Piasecki Helicopter, Vertol and now manufactured by Boeing Defense, Space & Security. The Chinook is a Military transport helicopter, heav ...

Boeing Chinook (UK variants) The Boeing Chinook is a large, tandem rotor helicopter operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF). A series of variants based on the United States Army's Boeing CH-47 Chinook, the RAF Chinook fleet is the largest outside the United States. RAF Chin ...

V-22 Osprey The Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey is an American multi-use, tiltrotor military transport aircraft, military transport and cargo aircraft with both vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) and short takeoff and landing (STOL) capabilities. It is designed ...

(built as a teaming arrangement with Bell Helicopter Textron) * Boeing-Sikorsky RAH-66 Comanche * Sikorsky-Boeing SB-1 Defiant * Boeing MH-139 Grey Wolf

Rail

* US Standard Light Rail Vehicle (aka the Boeing LRV) *

* Boeing Vertol 2400-series Chicago "L" 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