Bell Helicopter Textron
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bell Helicopter Textron is an American helicopter and tiltrotor manufacturer headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. A division of Textron, Bell manufactures military helicopter and tiltrotor products in the United States (primarily in and around Fort Worth as well as in Amarillo, Texas) and commercial rotorcraft products in Mirabel, Quebec, Canada.
Contents |
[edit] History
Bell formerly produced airplanes as Bell Aircraft Corporation, including the famous Bell X-1. Piloted by Chuck Yeager, it was the first aircraft to fly faster than the speed of sound in level flight. Textron purchased Bell Aerospace in 1960. Bell Aerospace was comprised of three divisions of Bell Aircraft Corporation, including its helicopter division. The helicopter divison was renamed to 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.<ref>Our History. Bell Training Academy.</ref>
[edit] Today
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) [1]. When the two European firms merged, the partnerships were retained, with the exception of the AB139, which is now known as the AW139.
Bell Helicopter also sponsors the Armed Forces Bowl, a college football postseason game.
[edit] Product list
[edit] Helicopters
[edit] Commercial
- 47
- 204 - Civilian version of UH-1
- 205 - Civilian version of UH-1
- 206 (Currently in production)
- 210 - Remanufactured, civilian version of UH-1H
- 212
- 214B
- 214ST
- 222
- 230
- 407 (Currently in production)
- 412 (Currently in production)
- 417 (Currently in flight test)
- 427
- 429 (Announced February 2005)
- 430 (Currently in production)
[edit] Military
- UH-1 Iroquois (or Huey)
- UH-1F, Air Force variant of UH-1
- 533 - turbojet powered experimental Huey variant
- AH-1 Cobra (or HueyCobra)
- YAH-63/Model 409 - Cobra-based competitor to the YAH-64
- OH-58 Kiowa
- AgustaWestland AW139 (formerly 50/50 as the Bell/Agusta AB139, now 100% AgustaWestland)
- ARH-70
[edit] Tiltrotors
- V-22 Osprey (with Boeing IDS)
- Bell/Agusta BA609 (with AgustaWestland)
- TR918 Eagle Eye UAV
[edit] References
<references />
[edit] External links
- Official site.
- Bell Timeline at the Helicopter History Site
- Photos and videos of Bell helicopters
- Patents owned by Bell Helicopter Textron. US Patent & Trademark Office. Retrieved on December 5, 2005.
fr:Bell Helicopter it:Bell Helicopter Textron nl:Bell Helicopter Textron no:Bell Helicopter Textron pl:Bell Helicopter Textron sv:Bell Helicopter Textron zh:贝尔直升机公司
