BRANTLY

Brantly International Inc. is an American helicopter company that specializes in designing and manufacturing helicopters. The company has its engineering and administrative offices based in Coppell, Texas, United States. Brantly International was founded in 1945 by Newby O. Brantly under the name Brantly Helicopter Corporation in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Brantly was impressed with the Sikorsky VS-300 and decided to design his own helicopter. In 1946, Brantly’s first helicopter, the Brantly B-1 with coaxial rotors made its first flight. Using lessons learned from the B-1, Brantly designed a two-seater with a simple rotor design, and the Brantly B-2 was born, making its first flight in 1953. In 1957, the company moved to Frederick, Oklahoma, where the B-2 was certified in 1959. Brantly later designed the Brantly 305, a five-seater which made its first flight in 1964. It was certified by the FAA in 1965, and in the same year, it entered production. Lear Jet acquired the Brantly Helicopter Corporation in 1966, and later Aeronautical Research & Development Corporation (ARDC) bought all the rights to Brantly helicopters from Lear Jet in 1969. However, ARDC ended operations in early 1970. In 1994, Brantly International changed ownership to a Beijing-based company, FESCO, and in 2007, Cheng Shenzong, referred to as the “helicopter king” in China, acquired a major interest in the company, establishing a joint venture between Brantly International Inc, Qingdao Wenquan International Aviation Investment Co., Ltd, and Qingdao Brantly Investment Consultation Co., Ltd. Manufacturing of Brantly-designed helicopters is now carried out by Qingdao Haili Helicopters of China.