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{{Short description|1935–1960 American aircraft manufacturer}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Bell Aircraft Corporation
| logo = Bellaircraftlogo.png
| image = 
| image_caption = 
| former_name = 
| type = 
| industry = {{Unbulleted list|[[Aerospace manufacturer|Aerospace]]|[[Arms industry|Defense]]}}
| fate = Acquired by [[Textron|Textron Inc.]]
| predecessor = <!-- or: | predecessors = -->
| successor = [[Bell Helicopter]]
| founded = {{Start date and age|1935|07|10}}
| founders = [[Lawrence Dale Bell]]
| hq_location_city = [[Buffalo, New York]]
| hq_location_country = United States
| area_served = <!-- or: | areas_served = -->
| key_people = {{Unbulleted list|[[Alvin M. Johnston|Tex Johnston]]|[[Robert Stanley (aviator)|Robert Stanley]]|[[Jack Woolams]]|[[Arthur M. Young]]}}
| products = 
| owner = <!-- or: | owners = -->
| divisions = 
| num_employees = 28,000 during [[World War II]] 
| num_employees_year = <!-- Year of num_employees data (if known) -->
| parent = 
| website = <!-- {{URL|example.com}} -->
| footnotes = <ref name="museum46">{{cite web|title=Bell Aircraft Corporation|date=May 20, 2014|publisher=Lawrence D. Bell Aircraft Museum|url=http://www.bellaircraftmuseum.org/?q=node/46|access-date=October 1, 2020|website=www.bellaircraftmuseum.org}}</ref><ref name=pwencycl>{{cite work|title=Bell Aircraft Company|last=Budge|first=Kent G.|date=2007|url=http://pwencycl.kgbudge.com/B/e/Bell_Aircraft_Corporation.htm|work=The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia|access-date=October 1, 2020}}</ref><ref name=LCNAF>{{cite work|author=Library of Congress|author-link=Library of Congress|title=Bell Aircraft Corporation|url=http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n93041448|work=[[Library of Congress Linked Data Service|Library of Congress Name Authority File]]|access-date=October 1, 2020|quote=Bell Aircraft Corporation was legally founded 10 July 1935.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/government-politics/bell-bomber/ |title=Bell Bomber - New Georgia Encyclopedia |author=Thomas A. Scott}}</ref>}}

The '''Bell Aircraft Corporation''' was an American [[aircraft manufacturer]], a builder of several types of [[fighter aircraft]] for [[World War II]] but most famous for the [[Bell X-1]], the first [[supersonic]] aircraft, and for the development and production of many important civilian and military [[helicopter]]s. Bell also developed the Reaction Control System for the [[Project Mercury|Mercury]] Spacecraft, [[North American X-15]], and [[Bell Rocket Belt]]. The company was purchased in 1960 by [[Textron]], and lives on as [[Bell Textron]].

==History==
As a pilot, [[Lawrence Dale Bell|Larry Bell]] saw his first plane at an air show, starting a lifelong fascination with aviation. Bell dropped out of high school in 1912 to join his brother in the burgeoning aircraft industry at the [[Glenn L. Martin Company]], where by 1914 he had become shop superintendent. By 1920, Bell was vice president and general manager of Martin, then based in [[Cleveland]]. Feeling that he deserved part ownership, in late 1924, he presented Martin with an ultimatum. Mr. Martin refused, and Bell quit.

Bell spent several years out of the aviation industry, but in 1928 was hired by [[Reuben H. Fleet]] at [[Consolidated Aircraft]], in [[Buffalo, New York]], where he was guaranteed an interest in the company. Before long, Bell became general manager and business was booming, but he still wanted to run his own company.  Although he could raise local capital, he knew he would not be able to compete with either [[Consolidated Aircraft|Consolidated]] or [[Curtiss-Wright]], the two major aircraft builders also based in Buffalo. Fortunately, in 1935 Fleet decided to move Consolidated Aircraft to [[San Diego, CA|San Diego]], and Bell stayed behind to establish his own company, the Bell Aircraft Company, on 10 July 1935, headquartered in the former Consolidated plant at 2050 Elmwood Avenue in North Buffalo.

Bell was the third major aircraft builder to occupy the site. The factory complex was originally built in 1916 for the [[Curtiss Aeroplane & Motor Company]],<ref>John Percy, "Aviation History on the Niagara Frontier" pub. in Summer 2000 edition of "[[Western New York Heritage]]" magazine</ref> and during World War I had been considered the largest airplane factory in the world.

Bell's first military contract followed in 1937 with the development of the ill-fated [[Bell YFM-1 Airacuda|YFM-1 Airacuda]], an unconventional bomber-destroyer powered by two [[Allison Engine Company|Allison]]-powered [[pusher configuration|pusher]] [[Propeller (aircraft)|propeller]]s. The YFM-1 incorporated groundbreaking technology for the time, with gyro stabilized weapons sighting and a thermionic fire control system. Including the prototype, just 13 Airacudas were produced, and these saw only limited service with the USAAC before being scrapped in 1942.

[[File:Airacobra P39 Assembly LOC 02902u.jpg|thumb|left|Bell Aircraft Corporation's main factory in Wheatfield, NY (Buffalo / Niagara Falls) during the 1940s. This unit primarily produced the [[Bell P-39 Airacobra]] and [[P-63 Kingcobra]].]]

Bell enjoyed much success the following year with the development of the single engine [[Bell P-39 Airacobra|P-39 Airacobra]], which 9,588 were built. Putting their previous experience with Allison engines to good use, the P-39 placed the engine in the center of the aircraft, with the propeller driven by a long shaft through which a 37mm cannon was also mounted, firing through the propeller's spinner. Due to persistent development and production problems, the original turbosupercharger was deleted from production models, instead using a single-stage, single-speed supercharger, as was standard on all other Allison-powered products, with the exception of the P-38.

The P-39 performed poorly at high altitudes compared to newer, late-war designs. Most Allied forces thought the Airacobra effective only for ground attack roles, as demonstrated by a few [[U.S. Army Air Forces]] units that flew P-39s, such as the so-called ''[[Cactus Air Force]]'' on [[Guadalcanal]] in 1942–43. However, the [[Soviet Air Force]] used their [[Lend Lease Act|Lend-Lease]] P-39s primarily in the air-to-air role, where they found it to excel as a front-line fighter against some of the best pilots and aircraft of the [[Luftwaffe]].<ref>[http://www.chuckhawks.com/airacobra_iron_dog.htm Airacobra or Iron Dog? The Obscure Career of Bell's P-39 in the Soviet Union, by Patrick Masell] at chuckhawks.com, Accessed 8 March 2018</ref> The Soviet-flown P-39s were the main reason that the aircraft is credited with highest number of individual kills attributed to any U.S. fighter type.{{#tag:ref| The P-39 has the highest total number of individual victories attributed to any U.S. fighter type, not kill ratio; Finnish modified [[Brewster F2A Buffalo|Brewster Buffalos]] had the highest kill ratio.}}{{citation needed|date=September 2018}}

A somewhat larger and more powerful version of the P-39 was produced shortly before the end of [[World War II]]. Called the [[P-63 Kingcobra]], this warplane addressed many of the shortcomings of the P-39, though it was produced too late in the war to make any significant contribution. 2,971 P-63s were built between 1943 and 1945, many delivered to the Soviet Union. Also, by that time, the Army Air Forces already had the superior [[P-47 Thunderbolt]] and [[P-38 Lightning]] [[fighter-bomber]]s.

In October 1942, The Bell-built twin-jet [[P-59 Airacomet]] was the first American jet aircraft to fly. Unfortunately, performance was below expectations, roughly on par with contemporaneous propeller-driven aircraft, an outcome generally attributed to the extremely short development timeframe required by the USAAF, as well as the intense secrecy imposed on the project. Design had begun in September 1941, during which time the Bell team was guided mostly by theory, as [[General Electric]] would not finish and begin testing the first engine until March 1942. Also, [[Henry H. Arnold|General Henry "Hap" Arnold]] had forbidden use of wind tunnels to test and optimize the design, but later relented somewhat, only allowing the group to use the low-speed tunnel at [[Wright Field]], [[Ohio]]. Bell engineers could only guess at the performance characteristics. Originally intended initially as a production aircraft, the P-59 nevertheless became an important experimental testbed for jet technology, providing invaluable data for development of later jet airplanes.<ref>[http://airandspace.si.edu/collections/artifact.cfm?id=A19450016000 Bell XP-59A Airacomet, at airandspace.si.edu] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120821092451/http://airandspace.si.edu/collections/artifact.cfm?id=A19450016000 |date=August 21, 2012 }}, Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum, retrieved June 6, 2012</ref>

During World War II, Bell also built [[heavy bomber]]s under license from other aircraft companies at a factory near [[Marietta, Georgia]], just northwest of [[Atlanta]]. Online by mid-1943, the new plant produced hundreds of [[Consolidated B-24 Liberator]]s and [[Boeing B-29 Superfortress]] bombers. In mid-1944, the production of the B-24 was consolidated from several different companies (including some in Texas) to two large factories: [[Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation|Consolidated Vultee]] in [[San Diego, CA|San Diego]] and [[Ford Motor Company]]'s [[Willow Run]] factory near [[Detroit|Detroit, Michigan]], which had been specially designed to produce B-24s. For the rest of the war, [[United States Air Force Plant 6|Bell's Marietta plant]], under the management of [[Carl Cover]] and [[James V. Carmichael]] concentrated on producing B-29s, producing 668 of them by the time contract expired in the fall of 1945. Bell ranked 25th among United States corporations in the value of wartime production contracts.<ref>[[Whiz Kids (Department of Defense)|Peck, Merton J.]] & [[Frederic M. Scherer|Scherer, Frederic M.]] ''The Weapons Acquisition Process: An Economic Analysis'' (1962) [[Harvard Business School]] p.619</ref>

=== After World War II ===

As the postwar defense industry downsized, Bell consolidated its operations at the Wheatfield plant, near Buffalo. The aircraft factory in Marietta later became the property of the [[Lockheed Corporation]], which has used it for producing [[C-130 Hercules]], [[C-141 Starlifter]], and [[C-5 Galaxy]] [[transport plane]]s. Although Bell designed several more fighter plane designs during and after WW II, none of these ever entered mass-production.

The [[Bell XP-77|XP-77]] was a small fighter using non-[[strategic material]]s; it was not successful. The [[Bell XP-83|XP-83]] was a jet escort fighter similar in layout to the P-59 that was cancelled. The [[Bell XF-109]] was a supersonic vertical takeoff fighter that was cancelled in 1961.

Perhaps Bell Aircraft's most important contribution to the history of fixed-wing aircraft development would be the design and building of the [[experimental aircraft|experimental]] [[Bell X-1]] [[rocket plane]], the world's first airplane to break the [[sound barrier]], and its follow-on, the [[Bell X-2]]. Unlike the usual designations for American aircraft, the X-1 models were successive (mostly identical) units of the X-1 program: the X-1, X-1A, X-1B, X-1C, X-1D, and X-1E.

Bell went on to design and produce several different [[experimental aircraft]] during the 1950s. These helped the [[U.S. Air Force]] and the [[National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics]] (NACA) explore the boundaries of aircraft design, and paved the way for the founding of [[NASA]] and the [[space exploration|exploration of outer space]]. The [[Bell X-2|X-2]] Starbuster achieved Mach 3 (2,100&nbsp;mph) and a height of 126,000&nbsp;ft in 1955, blazing a technological trail for the development of spacecraft.

Bell played a crucial role in the development of rocket propulsion after WWII, spearheaded by the likes of some of the most brilliant minds in rocket science like [[Walter Dornberger]] (ex-commander of Nazi Germany [[Peenemünde Army Research Center]]) and Wendell Moore. Bell developed and fielded the world's first nuclear-tipped Air-to-Surface cruise missile, the [[GAM-63 RASCAL]] in 1957. Wendell Moore developed the [[Bell rocket belt]], utilizing peroxide monopropellant rocket engines. While the rocket belt failed to be commercially developed, the rocket technology proved invaluable in future Bell programs. Bell's crowning achievement in the realm of rocketry was the [[Agena (rocket)|Agena]] rocket engine. The Agena was a 12,000&nbsp;lbf bi-propellant rocket that is considered to this day to be one of the most reliable rockets ever built. 360 units were produced starting in the late 1950s and it was responsible for inserting into orbit most of the satellites launched by the United States in the 1960s.

Helicopter development began at Bell Aircraft in 1941 with the [[Bell Model 30]] first flying in 1943. Bell Helicopter became the only part of Bell Aircraft still producing aircraft when Bell was purchased by the [[Textron Corporation]]. That part of Textron is now known today as [[Bell Helicopter]]. After a series of successful helicopter designs, the [[UH-1 Iroquois]] became the most famous helicopter of the [[War in Vietnam]], and Bell Helicopter still designs and manufactures helicopters today.

Lawrence Bell died in 1956, and for several years afterwards the company was in financial difficulty.

Textron purchased the Bell Aerospace division on 5 July 1960. Bell Aerospace was composed of three divisions of Bell Aircraft, including the helicopter division. Bell Aerospace Textron continued to play a significant role in NASA's mission to land men on the Moon in the 1960s. Bell designed and built the Reaction Control system for [[Project Mercury]]'s Redstone command module and a similar system was incorporated into the North American [[X-15]] spaceplane. NASA selected Bell to develop and built the [[Lunar Landing Research Vehicle|Lunar Landing Research Vehicle (LLRV)]], three of which were built in the early 1960s to train the Apollo astronauts to land on the Moon. Bell also designed the rocket engine used in the [[Apollo Lunar Module|Apollo Lunar Excursion Module (LEM)]] [[Ascent Propulsion System]], which was responsible for getting NASA's astronauts off the Moon.

==Products==

===Aircraft===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Model name
! First flight
! Number built
! Type

|-
|align=left| [[Bell YFM-1 Airacuda]]
|align=center| 1937
|align=center| 13
|align=left| Twin piston engine heavy fighter
|-
|align=left| [[Bell P-39 Airacobra]]
|align=center| 1938
|align=center| 9,588
|align=left| Single piston engine fighter
|-
|align=left| [[Bell XFL Airabonita]]
|align=center| 1940
|align=center| 1
|align=left| Prototype single piston engine naval fighter
|-
|align=left| [[Bell P-63 Kingcobra]]
|align=center| 1942
|align=center| 3,303
|align=left| Single piston engine fighter
|--
|align=left| [[Bell P-76]]
|align=center| 1942
|align=center| 3
|align=left| Prototype single piston engine fighter
|-
|align=left| [[Bell P-59 Airacomet]]
|align=center| 1942
|align=center| 66
|align=left| twin turbojet engine fighter
|-
|align=left| [[Boeing B-29 Superfortress|Bell B-29 Superfortress]]
|align=center| 1943
|align=center| 668
|align=left| Four piston engine strategic bomber
|-
|align=left| [[Bell 30]]
|align=center| 1943
|align=center| 3
|align=left| Prototype single piston engine helicopter
|-
|align=left| [[Bell XP-77]]
|align=center| 1944
|align=center| 2
|align=left| Prototype single piston engine fighter
|-
|align=left| [[Bell XP-83]]
|align=center| 1945
|align=center| 2
|align=left| Prototype twin jet engine escort fighter
|-
|align=left| [[Bell 47]]
|align=center| 1945
|align=center| 5,600
|align=left| Single piston engine helicopter
|-
|align=left| [[Bell D-35]]
|align=center| 1945
|align=center| 0
|align=left| Twin engine flying wing fighter with reaction jet for aircraft control
|-
|align=left| [[Bell X-1]]
|align=center| 1946
|align=center| 7
|align=left| Experimental single rocket engine airplane
|-
|align=left| [[Bell XH-15]]
|align=center| 1948
|align=center| 3
|align=left| Prototype single piston engine utility helicopter
|-
|align=left| [[Bell X-5]]
|align=center| 1951
|align=center| 2
|align=left| Experimental single jet engine airplane
|-
|align=left| [[Bell X-2]]
|align=center| 1952/1955
|align=center| 2
|align=left| Experimental single rocket engine airplane
|-
|align=left| [[Bell HSL]]
|align=center| 1953
|align=center| 53
|align=left| Single piston engine anti-submarine helicopter
|-
|align=left| [[Bell Model 65]]
|align=center| 1954
|align=center| 1
|align=left| Experimental twin jet engine VTOL aircraft
|-
|align=left| [[Bell 201]]
|align=center| 1954
|align=center| 1
|align=left| Experimental single turboshaft engine helicopter
|-
|align=left| [[Bell XV-3]]
|align=center| 1955
|align=center| 2
|align=left| Experimental single piston engine VTOL aircraft
|-
|align=left| [[Bell 204/205]]
|align=center| 1956
|align=center| 
|align=left| Single turboshaft engine utility helicopter
|-
|align=left| [[Bell X-14]]
|align=center| 1957
|align=center| 1
|align=left| Experimental twin jet engine VTOL aircraft
|-
|align=left| [[Lunar Landing Research Vehicle]]
|align=center| 1964
|align=center| 5
|align=left| Experimental jet/rocket VTOL aircraft
|-
|align=left| [[Bell X-22]]
|align=center| 1966
|align=center| 2
|align=left| Experimental four turboshaft engine V/STOL aircraft
|-
|align=left| [[Bell XP-52]]
|align=center| N/A
|align=center| 0
|align=left| Unbuilt single piston engine fighter
|-
|align=left| [[Bell X-16]]
|align=center| N/A
|align=center| 0
|align=left| Unbuilt twin jet engine reconnaissance airplane
|-
|align=left| [[Bell D-188A]]
|align=center| N/A
|align=center| 0
|align=left| Unbuilt eight jet engine VTOL fighter
|-
|align=left| [[Bell Model 50]]
|align=center| N/A
|align=center| 0
|align=left| Unbuilt convertiplane
|-
|align=left| [[Bell Model 49]]
|align=center| 
|align=center| 1
|align=left| Experimental single piston engine helicopter
|-
|align=left| [[Bell Rocket Belt]]
|align=center| 
|align=center| 
|align=left| Rocket pack
|-
|align=left| [[Bell 47J Ranger]]
|align=center| 1956
|align=center| 361
|align=left| Single piston engine utility helicopter
|-
|}

===Spacecraft===
*[[Bell Pogo]]
*[[Lunar Escape Systems]]

===Missiles===
* [[AAM-N-5 Meteor]]
* [[ASM-A-1 Tarzon]]
* [[GAM-63 RASCAL]]
* [[Nord CT.41|Nord CT.41/Bell PQM-56]] aerial target
* [[Bell X-9 Shrike]]

===Hovercraft===
* [[LACV-30]] military hovercraft
* [[SR.N5|SK-5]] military hovercraft built under licence

====Société d'Étude et de Développement des Aéroglisseurs Marins====

Société d'Étude et de Développement des Aéroglisseurs Marins (SEDAM) was a French-based unit of Bell founded in 1965 and builder of [[N500 Naviplane]] hovercraft,<ref>[http://gil-sun.skyrock.com/2177400177-technologie-La-SEDAM-Societe-d-Etude-et-de-Developpement-des.html technologie La SEDAM (Société d'Etude et de Développement des Aéroglisseurs Marins) (est une filiale de la Société BERTIN au même titre que la Société de l'Aérotrain. elle était basée à Marignane.../ ''SEDAM ...is a subsidiary of BERTIN as also was Société de l'Aérotrain. It was based in Marignane...'')] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201031104604/https://gil-sun.skyrock.com/2177400177-technologie-La-SEDAM-Societe-d-Etude-et-de-Developpement-des.html |date=2020-10-31 }} (see [[Aérotrain]], [[Jean Bertin]]) at gil-sun.skyrock.com, accessed 8 March 2018</ref> as well as [[N.300 Naviplane]] and [[Naviplane N102]]. SEDAM ceased operations in 1982 and factory site re-developed for non-aviation usage.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://aernav.free.fr/Naviplane/Histo_Navi.html|title = Aérotrain et Naviplanes - l'Histoire de la SEDAM et des Naviplanes}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

===Bibliography===
*{{cite book|last=Pelletier|first=Alan J.|title=Bell Aircraft Since 1935|url=http://n2t.net/ark:/13960/t9k37rd73|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|date=1992|lccn=91066350|isbn=978-1-55-750056-4|oclc=25625769|ol=1571584M|language=en-GB}}{{Dead link|date=August 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
*August A. Cenkner Jr.: ''Aerospace Technologies of Bell Aircraft Company : A Pictorial History (1935–1985)''

==External links==
{{commons category}}
*{{cite archive|collection=Bell Aircraft Corporation Photographs, 1942-1945|collection-url=https://soar.kennesaw.edu/handle/11360/3|repository=Special Collections, Scholarly Online Access Repository|institution=[[Bentley Rare Book Gallery#Department of Museums, Archives & Rare Books|Kennesaw State University Archives]]|location=Kennesaw, Georgia}}
*{{cite archive|author=Lockheed Aircraft Corporation|author-link=Lockheed Corporation|collection=Bell Aircraft Corporation photographs, 1942-1952|collection-url=https://album.atlantahistorycenter.com/digital/collection/BLL|repository=Album, Kenan Research Center|institution=[[Atlanta History Center]]|location=Atlanta, Georgia|oclc=59717619|accession=VIS 92}}

{{Bell Aircraft}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Bell aircraft| ]]
[[Category:1935 establishments in New York (state)]]
[[Category:1960 disestablishments in New York (state)]]
[[Category:Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1935]]
[[Category:Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1960]]
[[Category:Defunct companies based in Buffalo, New York]]
[[Category:Defunct aircraft manufacturers of the United States]]
[[Category:Defunct helicopter manufacturers of the United States]]
[[Category:Manufacturing companies based in New York (state)]]
[[Category:Rocket engine manufacturers of the United States]]