 hughes helicopters was a major manufacturer of military and civil 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 helicopter division, summa corporation in 1972, and was reformed as hughes helicopters, inc. in 1981. however, throughout its history, the company was informally known as "hughes helicopters". it was sold to mcdonnell douglas in 1984 and made a subsidiary under the name mcdonnell douglas helicopter systems. see md helicopters for history of the company after this acquisition. ==history== thumb|hughes's first major successful helicopter was the model 269/300, known to the u.s. army as the th-55 osage.  in 1947, howard hughes redirected the hughes aircraft company's efforts from airplanes to helicopters. the effort began in earnest in 1948, when helicopter manufacturer kellett autogiro corporation sold their latest design to hughes for production. the xh-17 "sky crane" first flew in october 1952, but was commercially unsuccessful. in 1955 the company began building light helicopterscompany. md helicopters. retrieved on 2013-08-16. when howard hughes split the helicopter production unit from the hughes aircraft co., and reconstituted it with the hughes tool co. as the hughes tool co. aircraft division, with a focus on the production of light helicopters. the hughes model 269 was the first successful helicopter design. built in 1956, and entering production in 1957, it served to capture a large portion of the commercial market for hughes. it would eventually become part of the army inventory as a primary trainer (th-55 osage). in may 1965, the company won the contract for a new observation helicopter for the u.s. army, and produced the [[hughes h-6|oh-6 cayus
1947_establishments_in_California Companies_established_in_1947 Defunct_companies_in_the_Greater_Los_Angeles_Area Defunct_helicopter_manufacturers_of_the_United_States Hughes_Aircraft_Company Hughes_aircraft McDonnell_Douglas_mergers_and_acquisitions