Hughes 369 / MD 500 Light Helicopter Family
The MD 500 is the continuing civil and military light-helicopter family developed from the Hughes Model 369 that first flew in 1963. Its compact teardrop fuselage, crashworthy truss structure, fully articulated rotor, and single Rolls-Royce 250-series turboshaft evolved through OH-6, Hughes 500, MD 500, MD 520N, and MD 530 variants used for utility, training, observation, public-service, and executive missions.
Follow this vehicle family
Alerts for directly linked future launches and major activity.
Identity
- Aliases
- Hughes 369Hughes 500Hughes OH-6 CayuseOH-6A CayuseOH-6MD 500MD 500CMD 500DMD 500EMD 520NMD 530FMD 530
- Family Name
- MD 500
- Full Name
- Hughes 369 / MD 500 Light Helicopter Family
- Roles
- businessgeneral_aviationutilitytrainermilitary
- Status
- active
- Type
- aircraft
Details
- Aircraft Specs
- Configuration
- rotorcraft
- Operating Modes
- land
- Takeoff Landing Capabilities
- vtol
- Description
- The MD 500 is the continuing civil and military light-helicopter family developed from the Hughes Model 369 that first flew in 1963. Its compact teardrop fuselage, crashworthy truss structure, fully articulated rotor, and single Rolls-Royce 250-series turboshaft evolved through OH-6, Hughes 500, MD 500, MD 520N, and MD 530 variants used for utility, training, observation, public-service, and executive missions.
- First Flight Year
- 1,963
- Manufacturer
Links
- Official Url
- https://www.mdhelicopters.com/models/md-500e/
Assets & Meta
- Creation Time
- July 30, 2026 at 03:01:39 UTC
- Updated Time
- July 30, 2026 at 03:01:39 UTC