Helio Aircraft Company

Initially located at Boston Metropolitan Airport in Canton, Massachusetts,[1] it was renamed the Helio Aircraft Corporation by the time manufacture of the Helio Courier commenced in the early 1950s at a plant in Pittsburg, Kansas.

[2] The plant, located at the Atkinson Municipal Airport was acquired by Helio from Mid-States Manufacturing Company in July 1956 and was almost destroyed by a wildfire in March 1966.

[7] Despite an abortive attempt to restart production, the company remained essentially inactive until 1980.

[citation needed] In 1984, the company was forced to lay off 100 workers and the following February it was evicted from its factory.

[10][11] The rights to the Courier and Stallion were bought and sold a number of times more before being purchased by Helio Aircraft LLC of Prescott, Arizona, which announced plans in 2004 to return both types to production.