Bell Helicopter

Bell Aircraft

The company was founded on July 10, 1935 as Bell Aircraft Corporation by Lawrence Dale Bell in Buffalo, New York. 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 P-59 Airacomet, the first American jet fighter, the P-63 Kingcobra, the successor to the P-39, and the Bell X-1 were also Bell products.

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 in the world rated by a civil aviation authority, becoming a civilian and military success.

Bell Helicopter

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 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.

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). 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.

Bell intends to reduce employment by 760 in 2014 as fewer V-22s are made. A rapid prototyping center called XworX assists Bell's other divisions in improving development speed.

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 – certified and in production.

Military helicopters

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-247 Vigilant - currently in development

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

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