Bell Textron

Bell Textron Inc. is an American aerospace manufacturer

headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. A subsidiary of Textron, Bell
Bell Textron Inc.
manufactures military rotorcraft at facilities in Fort Worth, and
Amarillo, Texas, USA as well as commercial helicopters in
Mirabel, Quebec, Canada.

History

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 Logo as of 2018
successor to the P-39, and the Bell X-1 were also Bell products.[3] Formerly Bell Helicopter
Company
In 1941, Bell hired Arthur M. Young, a talented inventor, to Bell Helicopter
provide expertise for helicopter research and development. It was Textron
the foundation for what Bell hoped would be a broader economic
Bell Helicopter
base for his company that was not dependent on government
contracts. The Bell 30 was their first full-size helicopter (first flight Company Subsidiary
December 29, 1942) and the Bell 47 became the first helicopter in type
the world rated by a civil aviation authority, becoming a civilian Industry Aerospace
and military success.[3] Due to its burgeoning success, the Defense
helicopter division relocated as a separate unit to Hurst, Texas in
Predecessor Bell Aircraft
1951.
Founded 1960
Headquarters Fort Worth, Texas,
Bell Helicopter US

Textron purchased Bell Aerospace in 1960. Bell Aerospace was Key people Lisa Atherton [1]
composed of three divisions of Bell Aircraft Corporation, including (President & CEO)
its helicopter division, which had become its only division still Parent Textron
producing complete aircraft. The helicopter division was renamed Website www.bellflight.com
Bell Helicopter Company and in a few years, with the success of (http://www.bellfligh
the UH-1 Huey during the Vietnam War, it had established itself as t.com)
the largest division of Textron. In January 1976, Textron changed
Footnotes / references
the division's name to Bell Helicopter Textron.[4] [2]

Bell Helicopter had a close association with AgustaWestland. The

partnership dated back to separate manufacturing and technology agreements with Agusta (Bell 47 and Bell
206) and as a sublicence via Agusta with Westland (Bell 47).[5] 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.[6]

Bell planned to reduce employment by 760 in 2014 as fewer V-22s

were made.[6] A rapid prototyping center called XworX assists
Bell's other divisions in reducing development time.[7]

The company was rebranded as "Bell" on February 22, 2018.[8]

Product list

The Bell 47 is displayed at the

MoMA

Previous Bell logo

Established in 1986, its Mirabel, Quebec facility assembles and delivers most Bell's commercial helicopters
and delivered its 5,000th helicopter on December 12, 2017.[9]

Commercial helicopters

Model Intro. Until MTOW (lb/t) Notes

Bell 47 1946 1974 2,950 1.34 based on the Bell 30 prototype, piston engine
Bell 47J Ranger 1956 1967 2,950 1.34 Bell 47 executive variant

Bell 204/205 1959 1980s 9,500 4.31 Huey family civil variant, single turboshaft

Bell 206 1967 2017 3,200 1.45 light single or twin turboshaft
Bell 210 ? ? 11,200 5.08 205B

Bell 212 1968 1998 11,200 5.08 Civilian UH-1N Twin Huey

Bell 214 1972 1981 15,000 6.8 larger Huey

Bell 214ST 1982 1993 17,500 7.94 medium twin derived from the 214

Bell 222/230 1979 1995 8,400 3.81 light twin

Bell 407 1995 current 6,000 2.72 four-blade single derived from the 206L-4
Bell 412 1981 current 11,900 5.4 four-blade 212

Bell 427 2000 2010 6,550 2.97 407 derived light twin

Bell 429
2009 current 7,000 3.2 lengthened 427
GlobalRanger
Bell 430 1995 2008 9,300 4.22 222/230 stretch

Bell 525
2018 current 20,500 9.3 in development
Relentless

Bell 505 Jet

2017 current 3,680 1.67 206 development
Ranger X
pre-production hybrid-electric propulsion system with six
Bell Nexus 2020 current
tilting ducted fans[10][11][12]

Gallery

Bell 206B JetRanger III 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
 Bell Nexus ‘Air Taxi’ at Bell Nexus ‘Air Taxi’ at
Smithsonian in 2022 Smithsonian in 2022

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 - experimental attack helicopter
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 - cancelled armed reconnaissance helicopter
Bell 360 Invictus - proposed armed reconnaissance helicopter

Tiltrotors
Bell XV-3
Bell XV-15
Bell Pointer
Bell V-247 Vigilant – currently in development
Bell V-280 Valor – currently in development, first flown 2017
V-22 Osprey – 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 (Tilt-rotor project only – not built)
Bell CTR-750 (Tilt-rotor project only – not built)
Bell CTR-800 (Tilt-rotor project only – not built)
Bell D-326 (Clipper 1980 commercial tilt-rotor project – V-22 in flight
not built)

Projects produced by other companies

AgustaWestland AW139 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
V-280 in flight

Unproduced designs
Bell 280 (project only, twin-engined wide-body variant of the Cobra)
Bell D-218
Bell D-230 (Flying Jeep project – not built)
Bell D-245
Bell D-246
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

Fort Worth, Texas - 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[13]
Amarillo, Texas: located near Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport; assembly plant for
H1, V-22[14] and 525

Commercial
 Mirabel, Quebec, Canada: opened in 1983[15] and located next to Montreal-Mirabel
International Airport; it produces components for Bell 407, 412, 429, 505 and 525; assembly
plant and finally assembly for current commercial products (407, 412, 429, 505).

See also
Aviation portal

Leonardo Helicopters
Airbus Helicopters
Sikorsky Aircraft

References
1. "Lisa Atherton Named President and CEO of Bell" (https://news.bellflight.com/en-US/224779
-lisa-atherton-named-president-and-ceo-of-bell). April 10, 2023.
2. "About Textron: Our Businesses" (http://www.textron.com/about/our-businesses/). October
21, 2015.
3. History of Bell Helicopter (http://www.bellhelicopter.com/en/company/history.cfm) Archived (h
ttps://web.archive.org/web/20070603084523/http://www.bellhelicopter.com/en/company/histo
ry.cfm) June 3, 2007, at the Wayback Machine. bellhelicopter.com
4. "Our History" (https://web.archive.org/web/20070927222718/http://www.bellhelicopter.com/e
n/training/index.cfm?content=about%2Fhistory.cfm&g_folder=header_4). Bell Training
Academy. Archived from the original (http://www.bellhelicopter.com/en/training/index.cfm?co
ntent=about/history.cfm&g_folder=header_4) on September 27, 2007.
5. "Westland History – Part 4" (http://www.helis.com/timeline/westland4.php).
6. Oliver Johnson & Elan Head. "Bell CEO outlines European growth plan (http://www.vertical
mag.com/news/article/BellCEOoutlinesEuropeangrowthplan)" Vertical, October 15, 2014.
Accessed: October 21, 2014.
7. "Bell's XworX studying improved rotor blades" (http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/aviat
ion-international-news/2009-12-29/bells-xworx-studying-improved-rotor-blades). Aviation
International News.
8. "Bell Drops 'Helicopter,' Unveils New Dragonfly Logo" (https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/busine
ss/Bell-Drops-Helicopter-Rebrands-Company-as-Tech-Company-Redefining-Flight-474868
643.html).
9. Mark Huber (December 13, 2017). "Bell Canada Delivers 5,000th Civil Helicopter" (https://w
ww.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2017-12-13/bell-canada-delivers-5000th-
civil-helicopter). AIN.
10. "StackPath" (https://www.intelligent-aerospace.com/commercial/article/16543447/bell-helico
pter-unveils-nexus-air-taxi-at-ces). www.intelligent-aerospace.com. Retrieved December 9,
2020.
11. Goldstein, Michael. "Bell Nexus VTOL Air Taxi Makes A Splash At 2019 Consumer
Electronics Show" (https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelgoldstein/2019/01/14/bell-nexus-vto
l-air-taxi-makes-a-splash-at-2019-consumer-electronics-show/). Forbes. Retrieved
February 2, 2019.
12. "Smithsonian To Reveal the Bell Nexus 'Air Taxi' at "FUTURES" " (https://www.si.edu/newsd
esk/releases/smithsonian-reveal-bell-nexus-air-taxi-futures). Smithsonian Institution.
Retrieved November 29, 2021.
13. "Bell Helicopter Expands Amarillo Manufacturing" (https://news.bellflight.com/en-US/190850
-bell-unveils-new-manufacturing-technology-center). news.bellflight.com/en-US/190850-bell-
unveils-new-manufacturing-technology-center. August 10, 2020. Retrieved November 20,
2022.
14. "Bell Helicopter Expands Amarillo Manufacturing" (https://www.newschannel10.com/story/88
23171/bell-helicopter-expands-amarillo-manufacturing). www.newschannel10.com. August
12, 2008. Retrieved December 9, 2020.
15. Canada, Employment and Social Development (May 19, 2016). "Bell Helicopter Textron
Canada relocates assembly program to Quebec" (https://www.canada.ca/en/innovation-scie
nce-economic-development/news/2016/05/bell-helicopter-textron-canada-relocates-assembl
y-program-to-quebec.html). gcnws. Retrieved December 9, 2020.

External links
Official website (http://www.bellflight.com)
Bell timeline at the Helicopter History Site (http://www.helis.com/timeline/bell.php)
Video history of Bell Helicopter (http://www.educatedearth.net/video.php?id=5148)
"Patents owned by Bell Helicopter Textron" (https://web.archive.org/web/20161220070610/ht
tp://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=%2Fnetahtml%2Fs
earch-adv.htm&r=0&p=1&f=S&l=50&Query=an%2F%22Bell+Helicopter+Textron%22&d=ptx
t). US Patent and Trademark Office. Archived from the original (http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/n
ph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=%2Fnetahtml%2Fsearch-adv.htm&r=0&p=1&f=
S&l=50&Query=an%2F%22Bell+Helicopter+Textron%22&d=ptxt) on December 20, 2016.
Retrieved December 5, 2005.

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