Helio Aircraft Company

The Helio Aircraft Company was an American aircraft manufacturer founded in 1948.

Helio Aircraft Company
IndustryAerospace
Founded1948 (1948)
Founders
Defunct1985 (1985)
Headquarters
United States
ParentGeneral Aircraft Corporation
(1969–1976)

History

The Koppen-Bollinger Aircraft Corporation was founded by Otto Koppen and Lynn Bollinger in Massachusetts in 1948 to develop a light STOL utility aircraft. Initially located at Boston Metropolitan Airport in Canton, Massachusetts,[1] it was renamed the Helio Aircraft Corporation by the time manufacture of the Helio Courier commenced in the early 1950s at a plant in Pittsburg, Kansas.[2] The plant, located at the Atkinson Municipal Airport was acquired by Helio from Mid-States Manufacturing Company in July 1956 and was almost destroyed by a wildfire in March 1966.[3][4] In 1959, the company announced it was moving its factory to Tucson, Arizona.[5]

The business was bought by the General Aircraft Corporation in 1969, was renamed Helio Aircraft Company and continued production until 1974, when General Aircraft commenced legal proceedings against the CIA, alleging that the agency had planned to ruin the business through organizing unlicensed production of the Courier.[6]

The production rights were sold by General Aircraft to Helio Aircraft Ltd in 1977.[7] Despite an abortive attempt to restart production, the company remained essentially inactive until 1980.[8][9] The Courier was returned to production, but only 18 aircraft were built. In 1984, the company was forced to lay off 100 workers and the following February it was evicted from its factory.[10][11]

The rights to the Courier and Stallion were bought and sold a number of times more before being purchased by Helio Aircraft LLC of Prescott, Arizona, which announced plans in 2004 to return both types to production.

Aircraft
A Helio Courier at Edmonton, circa 1959
Model name First flight Number built Type
Helio Courier ~500 Single engine utility airplane
Helio H-500 Twin Courier 1960 7 Twin engine utility airplane
Helio HST-550 Stallion 1964 20 Single engine utility airplane
Helio Rat'ler 1 Single engine agricultural airplane

References

Notes
  1. Riley, Arthur A. (10 September 1968). "New 'Short Takeoff' Plane Traces Origins to Bay State". Boston Globe. p. 26. Retrieved 25 December 2020.
  2. "Helioplane Really Safe". Terre Haute Tribune-Star. 10 July 1949. p. 51. Retrieved 25 January 2021. They call their plane a helioplane because it combines the advantages of both the present small plane and the helicopter.
  3. "Helio Purchases Pittsburgh Plant". Parsons Sun. 27 July 1956. p. 2. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
  4. "SEK News". Parsons Sun. 4 March 1966. p. 10. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
  5. Stirling, Bob (25 March 1959). "'Go Ahead' Signal Flashed by Helio". Tucson Daily Citizen. p. 1. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  6. "Aircraft Company CIA Spy Cover?". Indianapolis Star. UPI. 29 November 1976. p. 8. Retrieved 25 December 2020.
  7. Townsend, Lew (28 March 1983). "Helio Makes Comeback". Wichita Eagle-Beacon. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  8. "Helio Aircraft Ready to Start Up Again". Kansas City Star. AP. 16 October 1976. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  9. Townsend, Lew (31 May 1980). "Design Veteran Builds Payload Increase Into Helio's Courier". Wichita Eagle and Beacon. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  10. "Helio Aircraft to Lay Off 100 of Its Workers". Wichita Eagle-Beacon. 16 May 1984. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  11. "Pittsburgh Company Receives Eviction Notice". Parsons Sun. 13 February 1985. Retrieved 22 February 2021.

Bibliography
  • Gunston, Bill (1993). World Encyclopedia of Aircraft Manufacturers. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press.
  • Hazeltine, Bill; Mirer, Frank (December 1971). "The CIA and the Professors". Central Intelligence Agency. Archived from the original on January 23, 2017. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  • Simpson, R. W. (1995). Airlife's General Aviation. Shrewsbury: Airlife Publishing.
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