Helicopter manufacturer Helicopter manufacturer Helicopter manufacturers belong to the broader category of aerospace manufacturers. It is useful to think of helicopter manufacturers as falling into two categories, those that can design, certify and manufacture new helicopter designs from scratch and those that can only manufacture extant designs under license. Boeing Vertol is an example of the first type and Kawasaki Heavy Industries, who license-produced Boeing Vertol designs for much of its recent history, is an example of the second type. The peace dividend at the end of the Cold War and the increased cost of developing new helicopters has seen a consolidation
Birdman Chinook 2008, described the Chinook Plus 2 with the HKS 700E engine: The factory claims that a first time builder can complete the Chinook Plus 2 in 220 hours of labour. The rights to the Chinook Plus 2 were sold to US company, the Aeroplane Manufactory in 2013, which put the design back into production in 2016. The Chinook WT-11 design won Reserve Grand Champion at AirVenture in 1983 and again in 1984. In August 1983 test pilot Dennis Maland flew a WT-11 with the standard Rotax 277 engine to a height of . In November 1984 Jack Hughes flew a