Bell Helicopter

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bell Helicopter is an American rotorcraft manufacturer

headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. A division of Textron,
Bell manufactures military helicopter and tiltrotor products in
and around Fort Worth, as well as in Amarillo, Texas, and
commercial rotorcraft products in Mirabel, Quebec, Canada.
Bell provides training and support services worldwide.

Bell Helicopter

Contents
Type

Subsidiary[1]

Industry

Aerospace

Founded

1935

2.1 Commercial helicopters

Headquarters

Fort Worth, Texas, United States

2.2 Military helicopters

Key people

Mitch Snyder, President & CEO

Products

Helicopters, tiltrotors

2.3 Tiltrotors

Parent

Textron

2.4 Projects produced by other companies

Website

http://bellhelicopter.com

1 History
2 Product list

3 See also
4 References
5 External links

History
The company was founded on July 10, 1935 as Bell Aircraft Corporation by Lawrence Dale Bell in Buffalo,
New York. The company focused on designing and building of fighter aircraft. Their first fighters were the
XFM-1 Airacuda, a twin-engine fighter to attack bombers, and the P-39 Airacobra. The P-59 Airacomet, the
first American jet fighter, and the P-63 Kingcobra, the successor to the P-39, and the Bell X-1 were also Bell
products.[2]
In 1941, Bell hired Arthur M. Young, a talented inventor, to provide expertise for helicopter research and
development. It was the foundation for what Bell hoped would be a broader economic base for his company that
was not dependent on government contracts. The Bell 30 was their first full-size helicopter (first flight
December 29, 1942) and the Bell 47 became the first helicopter rated by a civil aviation authority in the world
and would become a civilian and military success.[2]

Textron purchased Bell Aerospace in 1960. Bell Aerospace was composed of three divisions of Bell Aircraft
Corporation, including its helicopter division, which had become its only division still producing complete
aircraft. The helicopter division was renamed to Bell Helicopter Company and in a few years, with the success
of the UH-1 during the Vietnam War, it had established itself as the largest division of Textron. In January 1976,
Textron changed the name of the company again to Bell Helicopter Textron.[3]
Bell Helicopter has a close association with AgustaWestland. The
partnership dates back to separate manufacturing and technology
agreements with Agusta (Bell 47 and Bell 206) and as a sublicence via
Agusta with Westland (Bell 47).[4] When the two European firms
merged, the partnerships were retained, with the exception of the
AB139, which is now known as the AW139. As of 2014, Bell and AW
cooperate on the AW609 tiltrotor.[5]
Bell intends to reduce employment by 760 in 2014 as fewer V-22s are
made.[5] A rapid prototyping center called XworX assists Bell's other
divisions in improving development speed.[6]

Product list
Commercial helicopters
Bell 30
Bell 47
Bell 47J Ranger
Bell 204 civilian version of UH-1
Bell 205 civilian version of UH-1
Bell 206 in production
Bell 210 remanufactured, civilian version of UH-1H
Bell 212
Bell 214
Bell 214ST
Bell 222
Bell 230
Bell 400
Bell D-292
Bell 407 in production
Bell 412 in production
Bell 417 model canceled in 2007
Bell 427
Bell 429 GlobalRanger in production
Bell 430
Bell 525 Relentless under development
Bell 505 Jet Ranger X under development (formerly Bell SLS)

Military helicopters

The Bell 47 is displayed at the

MOMA

Bell 206B JetRanger III

Bell H-12
Bell H-13 Sioux
Bell XH-13F
Bell XH-15
Bell HSL
Bell UH-1 Iroquois (or Huey)
Bell Huey family
Bell UH-1 Iroquois variants
Bell UH-1N Twin Huey
Bell YHO-4
Bell 207 Sioux Scout - experimental attack helicopter
Bell 533 - experimental Huey variant with increased performance
Bell AH-1 Cobra
Bell AH-1 SeaCobra/SuperCobra
Bell 309 KingCobra
YAH-63/Model 409 - competitor with the YAH-64 for Advanced
Attack Helicopter program
Bell OH-58 Kiowa
H-1 upgrade program
Bell UH-1Y Venom
Bell AH-1Z Viper
Bell CH-146 Griffon
Bell ARH-70 Arapaho

Tiltrotors
Bell XV-3
Bell XV-15
Bell V-280 Valor - currently in development, estimated first flight
2017
V-22 Osprey - with Boeing BDS
TR918 Eagle Eye UAV
Quad TiltRotor - with Boeing BDS

Comparison of the Bell 212 (U.S.

Navy HH-1N) and 412 (Mercy Air) at
the Mojave Airport

Bell 412EP Griffin HT1 helicopter of

the UK Defence Helicopter Flying
School

Projects produced by other companies

AgustaWestland AW139 helicopter (formerly 50/50 as the
Bell/Agusta AB139, now 100% AgustaWestland)
AgustaWestland AW609 tiltrotor (formerly 50/50 as the
Bell/Agusta BA609, now 100% AgustaWestland)
Lockheed Martin VH-71 Kestrel

See also
Aviation portal

References

V-22 in flight

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

http://www.textron.com/about/our-businesses/
History of Bell Helicopter (http://www.bellhelicopter.com/en/company/history.cfm)
"Our History". Bell Training Academy.
helis.com Westland: Part IV (http://www.helis.com/timeline/westland4.php)
Oliver Johnson & Elan Head. "Bell CEO outlines European growth plan
(http://www.verticalmag.com/news/article/BellCEOoutlinesEuropeangrowthplan)" Vertical, October 15, 2014. Accessed:
October 21 ,2014.
6. Bells XworX studying improved rotor blades (http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/aviation-internationalnews/2009-12-29/bells-xworx-studying-improved-rotor-blades)

External links
Official website (http://bellhelicopter.com)
Wikimedia Commons has
Bell timeline at the Helicopter History Site
media related to Bell
(http://www.helis.com/timeline/bell.php)
Helicopter.
Video history of Bell Helicopter
(http://www.educatedearth.net/video.php?id=5148)
"Patents owned by Bell Helicopter Textron". US Patent and Trademark Office. Retrieved December 5,
2005.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bell_Helicopter&oldid=700492854"
Categories: Helicopter manufacturers of the United States Defense companies of the United States
Helicopter manufacturers of Canada Companies based in Fort Worth, Texas Textron
This page was last modified on 18 January 2016, at 20:56.
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