Vertol Aircraft

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Vertol Aircraft

Vertol Aircraft Corporation · Piasecki Helicopter Corporation

Born when Piasecki Helicopter’s board pushed out its own founder, Vertol lasted only four years but designed the tandem-rotor Model 107 that became the Sea Knight.

1956Opgericht
Samengevoegd in Boeing in 1960Status
4Vliegtuigen geregistreerd
Photo: Andrew Schmidt / Wikimedia Commons (CC0)
LandVerenigde StatenOpgericht1956HoofdkwartierMorton, PennsylvaniaStatusSamengevoegd in Boeing in 1960
Het verhaal

Vertol Aircraft: the company and the aircraft that made its name

A boardroom coup

Vertol was born in a boardroom. Piasecki Helicopter had made its name with Frank Piasecki’s tandem-rotor flying bananas, but its majority owners, who had taken 51 per cent in 1946, lost faith in his leadership and in his enthusiasm for compound helicopters. When he started a rival company, two special stockholders’ meetings in 1956 renamed the business Vertol, for vertical take-off and landing, and changed the by-laws to bar his re-election. In May 1956 he was out.

The tiltwing and the 107

The new company kept the tandem formula and added turbines. In 1956 it began the Model 107, a turboshaft successor to the HUP; the prototype flew on 22 April 1958 and the US Army ordered production examples that June. Vertol also flew the VZ-2, a tiltwing research aircraft that hovered on 13 August 1957 and made its first full transition from vertical to forward flight on 23 July 1958. It made some 450 flights before the programme ended in 1965 and is preserved by the Smithsonian.

Into Boeing

Two new designs at once proved too much. When the Army asked in March 1959 for a larger version, the V-114, Vertol ran into financial pressure, and Boeing bought it on 30 March 1960. As Boeing Vertol, the company turned the 107 into the CH-46 Sea Knight, 524 of which served the US Navy and Marines until 2015, and the V-114 into the CH-47 Chinook, still in production today.

Born when Piasecki Helicopter’s board pushed out its own founder, Vertol lasted only four years but designed the tandem-rotor Model 107 that became the Sea Knight.Vertol Aircraft · verified 2026-10-03
In één oogopslag

Vertol Aircraft in numbers

Het bedrijf

Kortom
Named 1956

  • Renamed from Piasecki Helicopter Corporation in 1956
  • Founder Frank Piasecki forced out in May 1956
  • Based at Morton, near Philadelphia

Productie

Het meest bekend om
Vertol 107

  • Model 107 prototype, 1958
  • VZ-2 tiltwing research aircraft
  • V-114, the future Chinook, begun 1959

Vandaag

Nu
Part of Boeing since 1960

  • Boeing Vertol, then Boeing Helicopters, now Boeing Vertical Lift
  • Ridley Park, Pennsylvania

The Chinook descends directly from Vertol’s V-114.

De cijfers

H-46 Sea Knight built (from the Vertol 107)
524
VZ-2 flights
about 450, including 34 full transitions1957–1965
Het vliegtuig

Every notable Vertol Aircraft aircraft

Vliegtuig Rol Eerste vlucht Gebouwd Status Opmerking
Vertol H-21 Workhorse (Piasecki PV-22) Tandem-rotor transport helicopter 1952 707 Gepensioneerd Flying Banana; begun under Piasecki
Vertol VZ-2 (Model 76) Tiltwing research aircraft 1957 1 Gepensioneerd Preserved by the National Air and Space Museum
Vertol 107 / CH-46 Sea Knight Tandem-rotor medium helicopter 1958 524 Gepensioneerd H-46 total, built by Boeing Vertol
Vertol V-114 / CH-47 Chinook Zware transporthelikopter In productie Requested by the Army in 1959; built as the Boeing CH-47
Plaatsen, mensen, archieven

Where Vertol Aircraft built, who led it, what it achieved

Fabrieken

  • Morton plant · Morton, Pennsylvania — Piasecki and Vertol home; Boeing’s rotorcraft centre later moved to nearby Ridley Park

Mensen

  • Frank Piasecki · founder of the predecessor — Forced out in May 1956
  • Don R. Berlin · president from 1953

Records en primeurs

  • VZ-2: first full tiltwing transition from vertical to horizontal flight for the type, 23 July 1958
Tijdlijn

Vertol Aircraft, year by year

1956

Piasecki Helicopter renamed Vertol; Model 107 work begins

1956

Frank Piasecki forced out

1957

VZ-2 tiltwing first hover

1958

Vertol 107 prototype first flight

1958

US Army orders YHC-1A production aircraft

1958

VZ-2 completes first full transition

1959

Army asks for the larger V-114

1960

Acquired by Boeing; becomes Boeing Vertol

De stamboom

Before and after Vertol Aircraft

Kwam eerderPiaseckiRenamed Vertol in 1956Read the Piasecki pageKwam daarnaBoeingAcquired 30 March 1960 as Boeing VertolLees de Boeing-pagina
Vragen en antwoorden

Everything people ask about Vertol Aircraft

What does Vertol stand for?
Vertical take-off and landing.
Is Vertol the same company as Piasecki?
Vertol was the renamed Piasecki Helicopter Corporation; Frank Piasecki left in 1956 and founded Piasecki Aircraft.
Which famous helicopters came from Vertol?
The Vertol 107 became the CH-46 Sea Knight, and the V-114 became the CH-47 Chinook, both built by Boeing Vertol.
When did Boeing buy Vertol?
On 30 March 1960.

Vervolg de rondleiding

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Geverifieerd op 3 oktober 2026.