In the 1940s, Mining engineer Rudolph J. “Rudy” Enstrom began trying to design his own helicopter. Since he had no training in this area, his first attempts were not very good. However, local businessmen in the Upper Peninsula noticed his efforts and decided to support him. They brought in several experienced aeronautical engineers, and together they formed the R.J. Enstrom Co. in 1959. The company’s first product was the F-28, a piston-engine aircraft developed in 1965. Enstrom, however, had already left the company before it sold this product, even though it still used his name. In October 1968, Purex Industries purchased a controlling interest in Enstrom, aiming to develop a turbine-powered helicopter. The project took more than 20 years to finish. Because the venture failed, the piston-engine models fell behind. In January 1971, F. Lee Bailey, a well-known criminal defense attorney, bought Purex’s stake and renamed the company. Bailey was an eager entrepreneur and quickly increased production to over a hundred helicopters per year. He also led the development and certification of the 280 Shark, which launched in 1974 and sold well.
Encouraged by this success, Bailey started designing a four-passenger version of the Shark, called the 280L Hawk. However, technical difficulties and a slowing economy drained the company’s funds, and Bailey sold the company in 1979. Since then, it has changed owners several times, including Victor Kiam and Dean Kamen, who created the Segway PT. Kamen focused on improving the company’s products and developed the turbine-powered 480 in response to a bid for a military training helicopter. In 2000, a Swiss investor bought the company, and Kamen continued as an advisor. In January 2013, China’s Chongqing Helicopter Investment Corporation bought the company. By then, Enstrom had been making helicopters since it received Federal Aviation Administration approval for the F-28 model in April 1965. By July 2011, the company had produced over 1,100 helicopters. However, the Great Recession reduced production, and the company had just 60 employees. In 2010, it made just six helicopters. By early 2013, after receiving investment from China, Enstrom grew again, increasing its workforce to 200 employees and planning to expand its facilities due to rising sales, mostly in Asia. In 2013, the company built 26 helicopters, including the F-28, the more aerodynamic 280, and the turbine-engined 480.
A feature of Enstrom’s helicopter designs is that the main rotor’s pitch change links are not exposed. Instead, these mechanisms are inside the hollow main rotor shaft, which reduces aerodynamic drag. In 2014, Enstrom signed a contract with the Venezuelan government to supply 16 training versions of the Enstrom 480 helicopter to its armed forces. It was the first time in ten years that Venezuela bought a helicopter from a US manufacturer. The deal also included spare parts and technical support. The first helicopters were delivered in October 2015. Enstrom was the third-highest seller of piston helicopters, with 22 helicopters delivered in 2018 and 16 in 2019. In January 2022, the company filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy after facing several financial problems. Technical support for Enstrom customers stopped on January 19, 2022, and the Menominee factory closed on January 21, 2022. At the time of the closure, the company had 30 employees. Several companies showed interest in buying the company. One of them was MidTex Aviation, which planned to buy Enstrom’s assets in March 2022. The United States Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Michigan approved this purchase as part of a Chapter 7 liquidation.
MidTex aimed to make parts for the existing Enstrom aircraft and to build new planes by creating a new company called Enstrom Aerospace Industries. The company was to operate in the old Enstrom plant in Menominee, Michigan. However, MidTex did not secure financing, and the purchase did not go through. In May 2022, Surack Enterprises bought Enstrom. The company wanted to restart parts production, then move on to helicopter production and create new products to improve the Enstrom fleet. In December 2022, the FAA issued the company a production certificate, allowing it to make parts under its own quality control. The first new helicopter, an Enstrom 480B, flew in January 2023. In April 2023, the company announced they sold two 480Bs to the Zambian Air Force. As of July 2026, Enstrom delivered a new 480B turbine helicopter to Safomar Aviation and displayed a 280FX and a 480B at its booth at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2026 in August 2026. Read more Forgotten Factories articles HERE.
