Development Schweizer_300

1 development

1.1 background
1.2 model 300
1.3 derivatives

development
background

in 1955, hughes tool company s aircraft division (later hughes helicopters) carried out market survey showed there demand low-cost, lightweight two-seat helicopter. division began building model 269 in september 1955. prototype flew on 2 october 1956, not until 1960 decision made develop helicopter production.

on 9 april 1959, 269 received certification federal aviation administration (faa) , hughes continued concentrate on civil production. design changes, deliveries of model 269a version began in 1961. mid-1963 20 aircraft being produced per month, , spring of 1964 314 had been built. hughes had captured large portion of civilian helicopter market aircraft prove popular in agriculture, police work , other duties.

model 300

schweizer 300c



schweizer 300cb on hangar dolly

in 1964, hughes introduced larger three-seat model 269b marketed hughes 300. same year, hughes 269 set endurance record of 101 hours. set record, 2 pilots took turns piloting aircraft , hovered in ground-effect fueling. ensure no cheating, eggs attached bottom of skid gear register record-ending landing.

the hughes 300 followed in 1969 improved hughes 300c (sometimes 269c), first flew on 6 march 1969 , received faa certification in may 1970. new model introduced more powerful 190 hp (140 kw) lycoming hio-360-d1a engine , increased diameter rotor, giving payload increase of 45%, plus overall performance improvements. model schweizer began building under license hughes in 1983.

in 1986, schweizer acquired rights helicopter mcdonnell douglas, had purchased hughes helicopters in 1984. after schweizer acquired faa type certificate, helicopter known short time schweizer-hughes 300c , simply, schweizer 300c. basic design remained unchanged on years, despite schweizer making on 250 minor improvements.

schweizer purchased on august 26, 2004 sikorsky aircraft. schweizer 300 models fill gap in sikorsky helicopter line, known medium , heavy utility , cargo helicopters.

in february 2009, 300c rebranded sikorsky s-300c.

derivatives

between hughes , schweizer, , including foreign-licensed production civil , military training aircraft, 3,000 units of model 269/300 have been built , flown on last 50 years. schweizer continued develop model 300 adding turbine , redesigning body create schweizer 330. further developing dynamic components take greater advantage of power of turbine engine led development of schweizer s-333.

in recent years cockpit received upgrade when stc developed installation of garmin g500h mid-continent md302 standby attitude indicator.