Bell Textron Inc. is an American

aerospace manufacturer An aerospace manufacturer is a company or individual involved in the various aspects of designing, building, testing, selling, and maintaining aircraft, aircraft parts, missiles, rockets, or spacecraft. Aerospace is a high technology industry ...

headquartered in

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the List of cities in Texas by population, fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the List of United States cities by population, 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, T ...

. A subsidiary of

Textron Textron Inc. is an American industrial conglomerate based in Providence, Rhode Island. Textron's subsidiaries include Arctic Cat, Bell Textron, Textron Aviation (which itself includes the Beechcraft, and Cessna brands), and Lycoming Engine ...

, Bell manufactures military

rotorcraft A rotorcraft or rotary-wing aircraft is a heavier-than-air aircraft with rotary wings or rotor blades, which generate lift by rotating around a vertical mast. Several rotor blades mounted on a single mast are referred to as a rotor. The Inter ...

at facilities in Fort Worth, and

Amarillo, Texas Amarillo ( ; Spanish for " yellow") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of Potter County. It is the 14th-most populous city in Texas and the largest city in the Texas Panhandle. A portion of the city extends into Randall Co ...

, as well as commercial

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attribut ...

s in

Mirabel, Quebec Mirabel is a suburb of Montreal, located on the North Shore in southern Quebec. Mirabel is also the name of a territory equivalent to a regional county municipality (TE) and census division (CD) of Quebec, coextensive with the city of Mirabel. I ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

History

Bell Aircraft

The company was founded on July 10, 1935, as Bell Aircraft Corporation by Lawrence Dale Bell in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

. The company focused on the designing and building of fighter aircraft. Their first fighters were the XFM-1 Airacuda, a twin-engine fighter for attacking bombers, and the

P-39 Airacobra The Bell P-39 Airacobra is a fighter produced by Bell Aircraft for the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. It was one of the principal American fighters in service when the United States entered combat. The P-39 was used by the ...

. The P-59 Airacomet, the first American jet fighter, the P-63 Kingcobra, the successor to the P-39, and the

Bell X-1 The Bell X-1 (Bell Model 44) is a rocket engine–powered aircraft, designated originally as the XS-1, and was a joint National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics–U.S. Army Air Forces– U.S. Air Force supersonic research project built by ...

were also Bell products.History of Bell Helicopter
. bellhelicopter.com

In 1941, Bell hired Arthur M. Young, a talented inventor, to provide expertise for

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 in the world rated by a

civil aviation authority A civil aviation authority (CAA) is a national or supranational statutory authority that oversees the regulation of civil aviation, including the maintenance of an aircraft register. Role Due to the inherent dangers in the use of flight vehicles ...

, becoming a civilian and military success.

Bell Helicopter

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 Bell Helicopter Company and in a few years, with the success of the UH-1 Huey during the Vietnam War, it had established itself as the largest division of Textron. In January 1976, Textron changed the division's name to Bell Helicopter Textron. Bell Helicopter had a close association with AgustaWestland. The partnership dated back to separate manufacturing and technology agreements with

Agusta Agusta was an Italian helicopter manufacturer. It was based in Samarate, Northern Italy. The company was founded by Count Giovanni Agusta in 1923, who flew his first airplane in 1907. The MV Agusta motorcycle manufacturer began as an offshoot ...

( Bell 47 and

Bell 206 The Bell 206 is a family of two-bladed, single- and twin-engined helicopters, manufactured by Bell Helicopter at its Mirabel, Quebec, plant. Originally developed as the Bell YOH-4 for the United States Army's Light Observation Helicopter progr ...

) and as a sublicence via Agusta with Westland ( Bell 47). When the two European firms merged, the partnerships were retained, with the exception of the AB139, which is now known as the AW139. Bell and AW cooperated also on the AW609

tiltrotor A tiltrotor is an aircraft which generates lift and propulsion by way of one or more powered rotors (sometimes called ''proprotors'') mounted on rotating shafts or nacelles usually at the ends of a fixed wing. Almost all tiltrotors use a t ...

.Oliver Johnson & Elan Head.
Bell CEO outlines European growth plan
''Vertical'', October 15, 2014. Accessed: October 21, 2014. Bell planned to reduce employment by 760 in 2014 as fewer V-22s were made. A

rapid prototyping Rapid prototyping is a group of techniques used to quickly fabricate a scale model of a physical part or assembly using three-dimensional computer aided design ( CAD) data. Construction of the part or assembly is usually done using 3D print ...

center called XworX assists Bell's other divisions in reducing development time. The company was rebranded as "Bell" on February 22, 2018.

Product list

Bell 412EP Griffin HT1 of the RAF at RIAT 2010 arp

Commercial helicopters

Established in 1986, its

facility assembles and delivers most Bell's commercial helicopters and delivered its 5,000th helicopter on December 12, 2017.

Military helicopters

* Bell H-12 *

Bell H-13 Sioux The Bell H-13 Sioux is an American single-engine light helicopter built by Bell Helicopter and manufactured by Westland Aircraft under license for the British military as the Sioux AH.1 and HT.2. Development In 1947, the United States Army ...

** Bell XH-13F * Bell XH-15 *

Bell HSL The Bell HSL (Model 61) was an American 1950s anti-submarine warfare (ASW) helicopter built by the Bell Helicopter company, the only tandem rotor type designed by Bell. Design and development The prototype Bell Model 61 first flew on 3 March 1953 ...

Bell UH-1 Iroquois The Bell UH-1 Iroquois (nicknamed "Huey") is a utility military helicopter designed and produced by the American aerospace company Bell Helicopter. It is the first member of the prolific Huey family, as well as the first turbine-powered hel ...

(or Huey) ** Bell Huey family ** Bell UH-1 Iroquois variants * Bell UH-1N Twin Huey * Bell YHO-4 *

Bell 207 Sioux Scout The Bell 207 Sioux Scout is a modified Bell 47 helicopter, developed by Bell Helicopter under contract from the United States Army, as a proof-of-concept demonstrator for the Bell D-255 helicopter gunship design, featuring a tandem cockpit, stu ...

– experimental attack helicopter * Bell 533 – experimental Huey variant with increased performance * Bell AH-1 Cobra * Bell AH-1 SeaCobra/SuperCobra * Bell 309 KingCobra - experimental attack helicopter * YAH-63/Model 409 – competitor with the YAH-64 for Advanced Attack Helicopter program *

Bell OH-58 Kiowa The Bell OH-58 Kiowa is a family of single-engine single- rotor military helicopters used for observation, utility, and direct fire support. It was produced by the American manufacturer Bell Helicopter and is closely related to the Model 206 ...

* H-1 upgrade program ** Bell UH-1Y Venom **

Bell AH-1Z Viper The Bell AH-1Z Viper is a twin-engine attack helicopter, based on the AH-1W SuperCobra, designed and produced by the American aerospace manufacturer Bell Helicopter. Being one of the latest members of the prolific Bell Huey family, it is also ...

* Bell CH-146 Griffon * Bell ARH-70 Arapaho - cancelled armed reconnaissance helicopter * Bell 360 Invictus - proposed armed reconnaissance helicopter

Tiltrotors

* Bell XV-3 *

Bell XV-15 The Bell XV-15 is an American tiltrotor VTOL aircraft. It was the second successful experimental tiltrotor aircraft and the first to demonstrate the concept's high speed performance relative to conventional helicopters. Development Early VTOL ...

Bell Pointer A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an inte ...

* Bell V-247 Vigilant – currently in development * Bell V-280 Valor – currently in development, first flown 2017 *

V-22 Osprey The Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey is an American multi-mission, tiltrotor military aircraft with both vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) and short takeoff and landing (STOL) capabilities. It is designed to combine the functionality of a convention ...

– with Boeing BDS * TR918 Eagle Eye UAV * Quad TiltRotor – with Boeing BDS * Bell BAT (1984 tiltrotor project for LHX programme – not built) * Bell CTR-1900 (Tilt-rotor project only – not built) *

Bell CTR-22 A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an inter ...

(Tilt-rotor project only – not built) *

Bell CTR-750 A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an intern ...

(Tilt-rotor project only – not built) *

Bell CTR-800 A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an inter ...

(Tilt-rotor project only – not built) *

Bell D-326 A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an inte ...

(Clipper 1980 commercial tilt-rotor project – not built)

Projects produced by other companies

AgustaWestland AW139 The AgustaWestland AW139 is a medium-lift twin-engined helicopter developed and produced by the Anglo-Italian helicopter manufacturer AgustaWestland, later wholly owned by Leonardo S.p.A. It is marketed at several different roles, including ...

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

Unproduced designs

* Bell 280 (project only, twin-engined wide-body variant of the Cobra) *

Bell D-218 A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an intern ...

Bell D-230 A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an intern ...

(Flying Jeep project – not built) *

Bell D-245 A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an inter ...

Bell D-246 A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an intern ...

* Bell 400 TwinRanger (1984), cancelled 206-derived light twin * Bell D-292 (1985), Light Helicopter Experimental (LHX) prototype * Bell 417 (2006) cancelled Bell 407 growth variant * Bell FCX-001, March 2017 concept

Facilities

Bell manufacturing and support facilities are: ;Military *

- located at six manufacturing facilities throughout the DFW area; of these six the Manufacturing Technology Center (MTC) in Fort Worth, Texas serves as the primary manufacturing development facility of the Bell V-280 Valor, Bell 360 Invictus *

: located near Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport; assembly plant for H1, V-22 and 525 ;Commercial *

: opened in 1983 and located next to Montreal-Mirabel International Airport; it produces components for Bell 429, 505 and 525; assembly plant for 505 and finally assembly for current commercial products for Canadian market

References

External links

*
Bell timeline at the Helicopter History SiteVideo history of Bell Helicopter
* {{Authority control Helicopter manufacturers of the United States Defense companies of the United States Helicopter manufacturers of Canada Manufacturing companies based in Fort Worth, Texas Textron Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1935 1935 establishments in New York (state) 1960 mergers and acquisitions

History

Bell Aircraft

Bell Helicopter

Product list

Commercial helicopters

Military helicopters

Tiltrotors

Projects produced by other companies

Unproduced designs

Facilities

See also

References

External links