TH-55 Osage

The Hughes TH-55 Osage was produced by Hughes Helicopter Company for the United States Army in 1956. It was also produced as the Model 269 family of light utility helicopters, some marketed as the Model 300.

Carrying the civilian name Model 269, the Hughes 269 was created with a fully articulated, counter-clockwise rotating, three-bladed main rotor, and a two-bladed tail rotor that would remain as distinctive characteristics of all its variants.

The Army adopted the Model 269 in 1964 as a training helicopter to replace the TH-23, the 269 was designated as the TH-55 Osage. 792 TH-55 helicopters almost remained in service if the Army’s primary helicopter trainer was not replaced by the UH-1 Huey in 1988. At the time of its replacement, over 60,000 Army pilots had trained on the TH-55 making it the Army’s longest serving training helicopter.

TH-55 Osage

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