Article & Video by Lyn Burks - Photos by Lynnette Burks A


s a working helicopter pilot of 22 years, I have watched the bumpy business roads that MD Helicopters has travelled. Although the


legacy of MD is much older than its owner, Lynn Tilton, it seems like it may have inherited its resilient scrappiness from the company’s matriarch. With a Brooklyn street sense of inde­


pendence, a Yale education, and sharp tongue, I have personally seen her take naysayers to task at press conferences. I read in a Forbes interview, where she had a run­in with the CEO of Ansaldo Sistemi Industriali, a producer of electric motors and generators. He failed to treat Tilton with proper respect when she first came to tour the soon­to­be­ bankrupt factory in Genoa in 2005. “He was like, ‘In Italy, we like­a the


women,’”she says. “‘We like­a them in the bedroom. We like­a them in the kitchen. Not in the boardroom.’ I’m thinking, I’m going to buy this compa­ ny, and I’m going to fire these arrogant men.” A week later, at the bankruptcy auction, when the CEO, who had been at the company for 32 years failed to provide essential paperwork, Tilton grabbed him by the knot of his tie and, in a boardroom full of people, shoved him against the wall. “You’ve showed me no respect and no appreciation,” she hissed. “Today I can give your com­ pany away. So when I say ‘Step right,’ you step right. When I say ‘Step left,’ you step left. Do you understand that dance?” Then she stormed out. I am sure the cash that her $8 billion


private equity firm, Patriarch Partners, LLC, brings to the table does not hurt, but I believe that MD Helicopters’ ability to claw its way back into existence is due


in large part to Ms. Tilton’s forced will, tenacity, and dedication to American enterprise and manufacturing. These traits have won her dozens of awards, including the recent honor of Aviation Entrepreneur of the Year, which was presented to her at the Living Legends of Aviation Awards ceremony.


A HISTORY REFRESHER


We should not forget that MD Helicopters traces its roots back more than 50 years to when Hughes Tool Company, Aircraft Division first started to develop “light helicopters” in 1955. After years of successfully manufactur­ ing such models as the Hughes 269, 300, 500 and 530F for civil use and TH­ 55 Osage, OH­6 Cayuse and the highly successful AH 64­Apache, Hughes sold its helicopters business to McDonnell Douglas in 1984. For the most part, McDonnell Douglas stayed true to the original Hughes designs and nomencla­ tures. In 1997, McDonnell Douglas merged


with Boeing in a $13­billion deal to become The Boeing Company. At the merger’s completion, Boeing modified their logo to incorporate the McDonnell Douglas symbol. In 1999, Boeing sold the former MD


commercial helicopter lines to MD Helicopter Holdings, Inc., an indirect subsidiary of the Dutch company, RDM Holding, Inc. Included in the sale were the MD 500E and MD 530F single­ engine helicopters with conventional tail rotors, the MD 520N and MD 600N single­engine helicopters with the Boeing exclusive NOTAR® system for anti­torque and directional control, and the MD Explorer series of twin­engine,


eight­place helicopters. Boeing maintained the AH­64 line of


helicopters, and rights to the NOTAR® system. MD Helicopters Holdings Inc. was


acquired in July 2005 by Patriarch Partners, LLC, the private equity fund founded by Lynn Tilton in 2000. The company was recapitalized as an inde­ pendent company, MD Helicopters, Inc. Since the acquisition, under the direc­ tion of CEO Lynn Tilton, MD Helicopters has enjoyed a successful turn around, increasing its production and sales 700%. Additionally, MD Helicopters reached another milestone when it was awarded a $186M contract by the U.S. Army, the first of its kind since Ms. Tilton took over the company at its low­ est point. MD Helicopters is based in Mesa,


Arizona and the current product line includes the MD 500E, MD 530F, MD 520N, MD 600N and the MD Explorer. With more than 2,500 aircraft currently in use around the world, MD Helicopters is a substantial company by any measure.


NOTAR® - WHAT’S THE DEAL? I recall that NOTAR® (an acronym for


the phrase NO TAil Rotor) anti­torque technology, was hitting the market at approximately the same time I was beginning my career as a helicopter pilot. At the time, I could not help but think the technology would make con­ ventional tail rotors obsolete. Now, nearly two­and­a­half decades


later, I cannot help but wonder why the technology has not gotten more uptake by helicopter operators in the industry. Since the technology was


Since the acquisition, under the direction


of CEO Lynn Tilton, MD Helicopters has enjoyed a successful turn around, increasing its production and sales 700%.


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