Up and Running

In the wake of an 08 March 2023 announcement that it had developed a new RPM governor for its piston helicopter models, Enstrom Helicopter Corporation—the Michigan-based American designer and manufacturer of piston and turbine-engine helicopters—set forth that it had sold an impressive 12 helicopters at the Helicopter Association International’s (HAI) Heli-Expo 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia.

Enstrom vice-president of sales and marketing Dennis Martin stated: “We came into the show with some very high sales expectations, and we are thrilled with the results.”

On 30 January 2023, the first specimen of Enstrom’s new 480B helicopter model took flight. The newly-produced turbine-powered 480B was the 1,317th helicopter to roll out of the Enstrom factory and the 255th 480 series helicopter built. Enstrom stressed that the aircraft in question had not been cobbled together from an unfinished left-over airframe and surplus parts; rather, it had been built using components procured, machined, fabricated, and assembled onsite.

That a new Enstrom helicopter had flown was fine news. That it had done so only eight short months after the company was wrested from bankruptcy’s dusty embrace beggared belief. Today’s announcement of robust initial sales rings sweet in the ears of those familiar with the outstanding engineering, robustness, and reliability of Enstrom helicopters.

A hallmark of Enstrom's designs is the lack of exposed main-rotor pitch-change-linkages. Contrary to convention, subject mechanisms are housed within the aircraft’s hollow main-rotor shaft. The unique architecture reduces aerodynamic drag, thereby rendering the linkages less susceptible to external hazards the likes of bird-strike, powerlines, and FOD.

New Enstrom helicopters will feature updated interiors and signature exterior paint schemes envisaged by renowned artist Dean Loucks. What’s more, newly-produced 480B and 280FX models will be offered with a glass panel option.

Enstrom Helicopter Corporation owner Chuck Surack remarked: ”I’ve meet with many people this week who have come to our booth expressing interest in our aircraft and even more who have said how happy they are to see that Enstrom’s back and how excited they are that we’re manufacturing helicopters again.”

Founded in 1959 by mining engineer Rudolph "Rudy" Enstrom and rescued from bankruptcy in 2022 by Sweetwater Music founder Chuck Surack, Enstrom Helicopter Corporation is an American designer and manufacturer of piston and turbine-engine helicopters. The company is based at Michigan’s Menominee–Marinette Twin County Airport (MNM).

Notwithstanding his surname’s enduring synonymousness with the marque, Rudy Enstrom knew little of helicopter design. His young company, in point of fact, was sustained to an extensive degree by outside aerospace experts and generous investors. By the time Enstrom’s first helicopter, the venerable F-28, was in production, Rudy had been ousted in person—if not in name—from the company he founded.

Between 1965 and 2011, Enstrom built over 1,100 helicopters in both piston and turbine iterations. Throughout those decades, the company offered three models: the F-28, the more aerodynamic 280, and the turbine-powered 480—each with its own variants.

In January 2022 Enstrom declared bankruptcy due to what the company’s management described as “several financial difficulties.” Technical support for Enstrom customers ceased, and the Menominee factory was shuttered. At the time of its closure the company employed only thirty workers.

In May 2022 Surack Enterprises purchased Enstrom.

Years prior to adding Enstrom to his portfolio, Chuck Surack had learned to fly helicopters in an Enstrom 280. Impressed with the machine and the company by which it had been built, Surack purchased a 480.

Of Enstrom as a whole, Surack remarked: “When the company became available, I knew how good the employees were … it’s the safest helicopter in the world. If you look at the safety record it’s really, really safe, and I just knew there was an opportunity to improve the company and restore it, and take it on to the next level.”

FMI: www.enstromhelicopter.com