Bell Textron

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 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. Due to its burgeoning success, the helicopter division relocated as a separate unit to Hurst, Texas in 1951.

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 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 (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. Bell and AW cooperated also on the AW609 tiltrotor.

Bell planned to reduce employment by 760 in 2014 as fewer V-22s were made. A rapid prototyping center called XworX assists Bell's other divisions in reducing development time.

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

Product list

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

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 - cancelled 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 – 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

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

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

Commercial

Mirabel, Quebec, Canada: opened in 1983 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).