Schweizer 300
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The SchweizerS300 series (formerly the Hughes300, Schweizer300, and SikorskyS-300 series) is a family of light utility
helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...
s originally produced by
Hughes Helicopters Hughes Helicopters was a major manufacturer of military and civilian helicopters from the 1950s to the 1980s. The company began in 1947, as a unit of Hughes Aircraft, then was part of the Hughes Tool Company after 1955. It became the Hughes ...
, as a development of the Hughes 269. Later manufactured by
Schweizer Aircraft The Schweizer Aircraft Corporation was an American manufacturer of sailplanes, agricultural aircraft and helicopters located in Horseheads (town), New York, Horseheads, New York. It was incorporation (business), incorporated in 1939 by three Sc ...
, and currently produced by Schweizer RSG, the basic design has been in production for over 50 years. The piston-powered S300series features single three-bladed rotors; these helicopters tend to be used as a cost-effective platform for training and agriculture.


Development


Background

In 1955, Hughes Tool Company's Aircraft Division (later Hughes Helicopters) carried out a market survey showing that there was a demand for a low-cost, lightweight, two-seat helicopter. The division began building the Model 269 in September 1955. The prototype flew on 2 October 1956, but it was not until 1960 that the decision was made to develop the helicopter for production. On 9 April 1959, the 269 received certification from the
Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is a Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Transportation that regulates civil aviation in t ...
(FAA) and Hughes continued to concentrate on civil production. With some design changes, deliveries of the Model 269A version began in 1961. By mid-1963 about 20 aircraft were being produced per month, and by the spring of 1964 314 had been built. Hughes had successfully captured a large portion of the civilian helicopter market with an aircraft that would prove popular in agriculture, police work and other duties.


Model 300

In 1964, Hughes introduced the slightly larger three-seat Model 269B which it marketed as the Hughes 300. That same year, the Hughes 269 set an endurance record of 101 hours. To set the record, two pilots took turns piloting the aircraft and hovered in ground-effect for fueling. To ensure no cheating, eggs were attached to the bottom of the skid gear to register any record-ending landing. The Hughes 300 was followed in 1969 by the improved Hughes 300C (sometimes Hughes 269C), which first flew on 6 March 1969 and received FAA certification in May 1970. This new model introduced a more powerful 190 hp (140 kW) Lycoming HIO-360-D1A engine and increased rotor diameter, giving a payload increase of 45%, plus overall performance improvements. It was this model that Schweizer began building under license from Hughes in 1983. In 1986, Schweizer acquired all rights to the helicopter from
McDonnell Douglas McDonnell Douglas Corporation was a major American Aerospace manufacturer, 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 ...
, which had purchased Hughes Helicopters in 1984. After Schweizer acquired the FAA Type Certificate, the helicopter was known for a short time as the Schweizer-Hughes 300C and then simply, the Schweizer 300C. The basic design remained unchanged over the years, despite Schweizer making over 250 minor improvements. Schweizer was purchased on August 26, 2004, by Sikorsky Aircraft. The Schweizer 300 models fill a gap in the Sikorsky helicopter line, which is known for its medium and heavy utility and cargo helicopters. In February 2009, the 300C was rebranded as the Sikorsky S-300C. In 2018 the type certificate for the 269/300 product line was sold by Sikorsky to Schweizer RSG in Fort Worth Texas. The new company, affiliated with Rotorcraft Services Group, will support the existing fleet and will start to build new aircraft at Meacham Airport in Fort Worth, Texas. The management team includes industry and product veterans such as David Horton and Mike Iven.


Derivatives

Between Hughes and Schweizer, and including foreign-licensed production civil and military training aircraft, nearly 3,000 units of the Model 269/300 have been built and flown over the last 50 years. Schweizer continued to develop the Model 300 by adding a turbine and redesigning the body to create the
Schweizer 330 The Schweizer 330 and S333 are turbine-powered developments of the Schweizer 300 light piston-powered helicopter. As of 2007, only the Schweizer 333 remains in production. In February 2009, the 333 was rebranded as the Sikorsky S-333. In 2018 th ...
. Further developing the dynamic components to take greater advantage of the power of the turbine engine led to the development of the Schweizer S-333. In recent years the cockpit received an upgrade when an
STC STC may refer to: Education * Saint Theresa's College (disambiguation), any of several institutions * St. Thomas' College, Matale, Sri Lanka * S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia, Sri Lanka * Scott Theological College, Kenya * Sha Tin College, H ...
was developed for the installation of the
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G500H helicopter dual-screen electronic flight display, as well as the Mid-Continent MD302 Standby Attitude Indicator.


Design

The Hughes 269 was created with a fully articulated three-bladed main
rotor ROTOR was an elaborate air defence radar system built by the British Government in the early 1950s to counter possible attack by Soviet bombers. To get it operational as quickly as possible, it was initially made up primarily of WWII-era syst ...
wherein the blades advance to the right and a two-bladed
tail rotor The tail rotor is a smaller rotor mounted vertically or near-vertically at the tail of a traditional single-rotor helicopter, where it rotates to generate a propeller-like horizontal thrust in the same direction as the main rotor's rotation. ...
that would remain as distinctive characteristics of all its variants. It also has shock absorber-damped, skid-type landing gear. The flight controls are directly linked to the control surfaces of the helicopter so there are no
hydraulics Hydraulics () is a technology and applied science using engineering, chemistry, and other sciences involving the mechanical properties and use of liquids. At a very basic level, hydraulics is the liquid counterpart of pneumatics, which concer ...
in the 269. There are generally two sets of controls, although this was optional on the civil 269A. For three-seat aircraft, the middle collective control stick is removable and a seat cushion can be put in its place for the third passenger. In the 300CB and 300CB''i'', the collective control can be repositioned to left-handed configuration for the Pilot In Command position (right seat).


Variants

;269C "Model 300C" :The 300C is powered by a 190 hp (141 kW) Lycoming HIO-360-D1A and has a larger diameter main rotor (26 ft 10 in compared to 25 ft 4 in). The larger rotor and engine gives it a 45% performance increase over previous 269-series models. Hughes and Schweizer both marketed the 269C as the Model 300C. ;300CQ :The Sky Knight is a purpose-built 300C for urban police helicopter patrols with a muffler and other noise attenuating materials and design changes to reduce the helicopter's noise signature by 75%. ;300CB :The 300CB is the first pure production of the 300 by Schweizer and is powered by a Textron Lycoming HO-360-C1A, 180 hp engine. The 300CB first flew on 28 May 1993, and was certified by the FAA in August 1995. The 300CB can be reconfigured from a two-seat cockpit to a three-seat configuration. While it is still suited for utility and special missions, this aircraft was designed for helicopter training. ;300CB''i'' :A fuel injected version of the 300CB that alleviates carburetor icing concerns in colder temperatures. The 300CB''i'' also includes overspeed protection and automatic rotor engagement during startup, as well as a low rotor RPM warning system.


Operators

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Argentine Coast Guard The Argentine Naval Prefecture ( or PNA) is a service of Argentina's Security Ministry charged with protecting the country's rivers and maritime territory. It therefore fulfills the functions of other countries' coast guards, and furthermore acts ...
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Colombian Air Force The Colombian Aerospace Force (FAC, ) is the air force of the Republic of Colombia. The Colombian Aerospace Force is one of the three institutions of the Military Forces of Colombia charged, according to the 1991 Constitution, with working to exe ...
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Air Force of El Salvador The Salvadoran Air Force (, abbreviated FAS) is the air force branch of the Armed Forces of El Salvador. History Early history The Salvadoran Army Air Force was formed on 20 March 1923 during a period of heavy interest in aviation in El ...
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Hellenic Army The Hellenic Army (, sometimes abbreviated as ΕΣ), formed in 1828, is the army, land force of Greece. The term Names of the Greeks, '' Hellenic'' is the endogenous synonym for ''Greek''. The Hellenic Army is the largest of the three branches ...
received 30 Breda-Nardi NH 300C helicopters from November 1985. ; *
Indonesian Army The Indonesian Army ( (TNI-AD), ) is the army, land branch of the Indonesian National Armed Forces. It has an estimated strength of 300,400 active personnel. The history of the Indonesian Army has its roots in 1945 when the (TKR) "People's Se ...
; * Senegalese Air Force ; *
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Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ), commonly known as the Pak Army (), is the Land warfare, land service branch and the largest component of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The president of Pakistan is the Commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the army. The ...


Accidents and incidents

* 8 September 2017: A Schweizer 269C,
aircraft registration An aircraft registration is a code unique to a single aircraft, required by international convention to be marked on the exterior of every civil aircraft. The registration indicates the aircraft's country of registration, and functions much li ...
number ''N204HF'', serial number ''0109'', crashed during a sightseeing flight at Flying W Airport in
Medford, New Jersey Medford is a township in Burlington County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 24,497, an increase of 1,464 (+6.4%) from the 2010 census count of 23,033, which in turn reflected ...
, United States, killing the pilot along with guitarist and singer Troy Gentry of the popular American
country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...
band
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, who were scheduled to perform at a resort at the airport later that day. The crash was attributed to the pilot's loss of control during a power-off
autorotation Autorotation is a state of flight in which the main rotor system of a helicopter or other rotary-wing aircraft turns by the action of air moving up through the rotor, as with an autogyro, rather than engine power driving the rotor. Bensen, Igor ...
landing attempt; a contributing factor was failure of the throttle control tie-rod assembly caused by improper replacement of the throttle cable.


Specifications (Schweizer 300C)


See also


References


FAA Type Certificate 4H12


Bibliography

* * * *


External links

*
Schweizer 300C

Schweizer 300CBi pages on SACusa.com

Schweizer S333
{{Sikorsky Aircraft 1960s United States helicopters 1960s United States civil utility aircraft S-300 S-300 Hughes aircraft Single-engined piston helicopters Aircraft first flown in 1956 Single-rotor helicopters Aircraft with skid landing gear