Bell Textron
Aerospace manufacturer in the United States From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Aerospace manufacturer in the United States From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bell Textron Inc. is an American aerospace manufacturer headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. A subsidiary of Textron, Bell manufactures military rotorcraft at facilities in Fort Worth, and Amarillo, Texas, United States as well as commercial helicopters in Mirabel, Quebec, Canada.
Logo as of 2018 | |
| Formerly |
|
|---|---|
| Company type | Subsidiary |
| Industry | Aerospace Defense |
| Predecessor | Bell Aircraft |
| Founded | 1960 |
| Headquarters | , US |
Key people | Lisa Atherton [1] (president & CEO) |
| Parent | Textron |
| Website | www |
| Footnotes / references [2] | |
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.[3]
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.[3] Due to its burgeoning success, the helicopter division relocated as a separate unit to Hurst, Texas in 1951.
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.[4]
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]
In July 2024, at the Farnborough International Airshow, Bell Textron commemorated a significant milestone with the delivery of the 500th Bell 429 helicopter. This notable aircraft was received by the Mendes Group, a prominent operator headquartered in Latin America, intended for corporate transportation purposes within Brazil.[9]
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.[10]
| 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 GlobalRanger | 2009 | current | 7,000 | 3.2 | lengthened 427 |
| Bell 430 | 1995 | 2008 | 9,300 | 4.22 | 222/230 stretch |
| Bell 525 Relentless | 2018 | current | 20,500 | 9.3 | in development |
| Bell 505 Jet Ranger X | 2017 | current | 3,680 | 1.67 | 206 development |
| Bell Nexus | 2020 | current | [to be determined] | [to be determined] | pre-production hybrid-electric propulsion system with six tilting ducted fans[11][12][13] |
Bell manufacturing and support facilities are:
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