The 1964-built Brantly B-2B s/n 346 was registered N2184U in the USA. In
April 1964, the Brantley was registered D-HIDE in Germany with Franz
Hartmannsberger, Heusenstamm, and based at Flugplatz Egelsbach. In
December 1982, the Brantly was withdrawn from use and registration
D-HIDE was cancelled in 1983. Brantly B-2B D-HIDE was seen at Fliegerhorst
Ahlhorner Heide in Germany during the Tag der offenen Tür on 14 September 1975.
The Brantly B2B is a two-seat light helicopter powered by a single 180
hp Lycoming IVO-360-A1A four-cylinder horizontally-opposed aircooled
engine with fuel injection, driving a three-blade main rotor and a
two-blade tail rotor. The Brantly B-2 was the second helicopter designed
by Newby Odell Brantly. The first Brantly helicopter, Model B-1, was a
two-seater with two coaxial rotors powered by a 150 hp Franklin O-335
engine, having been constructed by the Pennsylvania Elastic Company and
first flew as NX69125 in 1946. The Brantly B-1 had a fixed tailwheel
undercarriage and directional control was achieved through a small
rudder on the sternpost and was too complex to operate as a personal
helicopter. The Brantly B-2, is a conventional configuration (main and
tail rotor) using the B-1 rotor design. Simpler, lighter and more
economical. The prototype B-2, registered N9069H, with two main wheels
in the front and a small tail-wheel, was powered by a 100
hp Lycoming O-29 engine and first flew on 21 February 1953. A second prototype,
registered N545A, improved and with a more powerful Lycoming VO-340-A1A, first flew on 14
August 1956. Brantly decided to introduce a series of modifications on
the N9069H, like the new skid landing gear and a raised tail rotor. In the Spring of 1958 the
U.S. Department of Defense announced the award of a contract for five
helicopters to be used for evaluation purposes by the US Army as candidates to replace the
OH-13 and OH-23 in the U.S. Army observation helicopter category.
Production was started in 1958 on the five military evaluation models,
designated YHO-3BR (s/n 58-1492 to 58-1496). Three of these were evaluated at Fort Rucker and the other two at the Naval
Air Test Centre, Patuxent River, Maryland. The YHO-3BR did not complete
user testing after engineering evaluations revealed significant
deficiencies and all the five units were later returned to the
manufacturer because judged to be too small to be of practical military
use. Following the military examples, commercial B-2s entered production
and the Model B-2 (Military YHO 3BR) received type certificate No.
2H2 from the Federal Aviation Agency on 27 April 1959. The production in
series started that same year with a rate of one unit a week. The first
two B-2s were delivered to Mid-States Helicopter Corp. and Keystone
Helicopter Corp. and before the end of 1959 the company sold 10 units.
On 25 May 1961, the company delivered its hundredth B-2. Brantly
Model B-2A was a further development, distinguished from the earlier
model by cabin redesign, engine accessory refinements, a more
comprehensive range of equipment and the recontouring of the transparant
cabin hood to provide improved all-round visibility. FAA Type
certification for Model B-2A was approved on 21 December 1962, and the
B-2 was replaced in production after completing more than 200 B-2s. The
Model B-2B was the next development, with as main change the
introduction of a fuel-injection engine by adding the Bendix fuel
injector RSA-5AD1 with servo regulator. Type certification for Model
B-2B was approved on 1 July 1963. A total of over 470 Brantly B-2s were
built in the Models B-2 (YHO 3BR); B-2A and B-2B.
On 15 December 1953, the Brantly Helicopter Corporation was founded in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania. On 25 April 1966, Lear Jet Corporation announced the acquisition of
Brantly Helicopter Corporation through an exchange of stock giving Lear 97% ownership
of Brantly. Lear was interested in Brantly with the intention to develop a new, sleek,
fast executive jet helicopter. In 1967, Lear Jet Corporation ran into
financial problems and was taken over by Gates. Production of the
Brantly B-2B and Model 305 continued, but Gates wasn't realy interested
in helicopters and in 1969, Gates Lear Jet sold all the rights of
Brantly Helicopters to Aeronautical Research & Development
Corporation (ARDC) of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Early 1970, ARDC ended production and
by the end of 1970, the rights of the Brantly helicopters were acquired by
Brantly Operators Inc. of Michael K. Hynes. In 1975, he renamed the
company as Brantly-Hynes Helicopter Inc. and later that year, the
Franklin Capital Corp, headed by F. Lee Bailey who also owned Enstrom
Helicopter Corporation at that time, purchased the company.
Brantly-Hynes first was just providing product support but later
placed the B-2B and 305 back into production. In 1984, the company was
renamed Hynes Helicopter Inc. and in 1987 all assets were offered for
sale. In 1989, Brantly Helicopter Industries U.S.A. Co. Ltd. took over
manufacturing and marketing rights and production facilities. First
new-build B-2B (N25411 c/n 2001) flew 12 April 1991; three (c/n 2001,
2004 and 2006) were built under this name. Production of another four
B-2Bs (c/n 2002, 2003, 2005 and 2007) were subsequent manufactured by
Brantly International Inc., Vernon, Texas, which received FAA production
certificate on 19 July 1996. In 2009, Brantly International and Weifang Tianxiang, Qingdao China,
set up a joint venture, Weifang Tianxiang Aerospace Industry Co. Ltd., and received approval
to set up a production line in Qingdao. In 2011, the engineering and administrative offices of Brantly
were relocated into the facilities of their sister company Superior Air Parts
in Coppell, Texas. From this new location Brantly provides communication and technical support for their customers and suppliers.
All its manufacturing is done at its parent facility in Qingdao, China, but no new helicopters are currently available for sale.
Luchtvaart déjà vu
