Bell 47: The World’s First Civilian Helicopter!

Today, Bell is one of the world’s major helicopter manufacturers. Although they did not invent the first helicopter (that would be Igor Sikorsky) their first design, the Bell 47, would revolutionize the helicopter manufacturing industry as we know it!

Produced between 1946 and 1974, Bell would produce over 5,600 Bell 47s, making it one of the most produced helicopters in recent years.

The introduction of the Bell 47 would allow Bell Aircraft to establish itself as one of the world’s largest aircraft manufacturers – focusing on helicopters, but also having a fixed-wing aircraft division too (which would be closed in 1966).

Pre-Bell 47

In 1938, Russian-American aerospace engineer, Igor Sikorsky, set out to create the world’s first helicopter – an aircraft that could fly like a plane, but took off vertically, rather than like a conventional fixed-wing aircraft.

By September 1939, Sikorsky would not only have designed a helicopter that worked in theory, but had actually built it (with the help of pilot, turned industrialist, Chance Vought, then-head of Chance Vought Corporation).

On September 14 1939, Sikorsky would personally fly his design, the Vought-Sikorsky VS-300. Although the flight was short, it would mark the first flight of a helicopter as we know them today.

Founding his own company, Sikorsky Aircraft, Igor Sikorsky would develop the VS-300 into the Sikorsky R-4, which would soon prove to be one of the most important aircraft of WWII, serving with the RAF, USAAF and US Navy during the war.

Seeing the success of the R-4 as a military helicopter, amateur aircraft designer, Arthur M. Young (who’d long been making scaled-down prototype helicopters) would wonder if he could produce a helicopter for commercial use.

This thought led him to design and build a series of full-scale prototypes, which he’d use to gather performance specs, and to work out the cost per unit if he could mass-produce his helicopters.

Development

Armed with this information, Young would move to Buffalo, New York in 1941, after having convinced the board of Bell Aircraft (one of the world’s major wartime aircraft manufacturers) to finance development of his helicopters.

With the help of a small team, Young would develop the Bell Model 30, with the prototype, designated as Ship 1, being finished in early December 1942. Ship 1 would have its maiden flight on December 29 1942.

After suffering several initial setbacks (namely a crash in September 1943), Ship 1, later redesignated Ship 1A, would finish being rebuilt in March 1944, with a second prototype, Ship 2, being finished the same year.

Having the flight and control systems for the Bell 30 down, Young would order his engineers to build a third Bell 30, one that was designed to look like the one he hoped would eventually go on sale, which would be designated as the Ship 3.

Building it to have a somewhat comfy interior (by 1940’s standards anyway), a four-wheel undercarriage, a tubular steel tailboom and a Plexiglas bubble cockpit, whilst being easier to operate than any helicopter before it, Young would show this to Bell higher-ups in 1945.

Whilst excited by the potential for profit, many Bell higher-ups would describe flying on the Bell 30 as being extremely frightening. Despite this, Bell higher-ups liked the Ship 3 and began official flight tests in late 1945.

Bell would redesignate the Ship 3 as the Bell 47 (internally designated as the Bell Model 47), owing to the fact that it was vastly different to the Ship 1 prototype.

Operational History

Following all of this, Bell would first fly the Model 47 on December 8 1945, before becoming the first helicopter to receive certification for civilian use on March 8 1946 and entering service with the US Army in late 1946.

From here, the Model 47 would go on to have a rather interesting service history!

Military

Introduced into US Army in late 1946, the Bell 47 would receive the military designation of the Bell H-13 (with “H” standing for “helicopter”), with the Army giving their H-13s the nickname of Sioux (after the Native American tribe).

Having been introduced in the years following WWII, the Sioux would initially serve in a number of transport roles, most often transporting high-ranking Army officers to and from Army air bases.

In June 1950, North Korean leader, Kim Il-Sung, would lead an invasion of South Korea, prompting the beginning of the Korean War. With the onset of a new war, hundreds of H-13s would be transported to Korea.

To begin with, these H-13s were used as light observation and reconnaissance helicopters, as they could easily slip past the Soviet-made air defense systems employed by the North Koreans, without being detected.

As the war progressed, however, the H-13s would soon begin to be used as search and rescue aircraft (especially to find downed F-86 and MiG-15 fighters) and even being used as a medevac helicopter on several occasions too…

Whilst the US military was by far the largest operator the H-13 Sioux, 54 different military branches across 39 different countries would operate some variant of the H-13, with many continuing to operate many later variants today!

Although never used by the US military in this way, many of these foreign operators (namely Britain’s Royal Air Force) would use the Sioux as a basic helicopter trainer, mostly owing to the Sioux’s relative simplicity (which made it a great progression trainer).

Civilian

Shortly after the military took possession of their first H-13s, Bell would deliver the first civilian Model 47s to Helicopter Air Transport – the world’s first helicopter airline – on December 31 1946.

Initially delivered to several early helicopter airlines, the Model 47 would soon catch the eye of wealthy corporate flyers, who’d begin to acquire the helicopter so they could fly from their home to the office without getting stuck in traffic.

As time progressed, the low operating costs and relative simplicity of the Model 47 would convince many wealthy, former military helicopter pilots to begin operating it as a general aviation helicopter, much like they’d operate a Cessna 152 or 172.

Owing to its rather interesting (and varied!) service history, the Bell 47 has also become a popular prop in films and TV shows, with the helicopter being featured in films like X-Men: First Class and TV shows like M*A*S*H (among others).

A heavily modified variant of the Model 47, known as the Continental Copters El Tomcat, would also be used as an agricultural spraying helicopter, beginning in February 1959.

Whilst aerial agricultural spraying would soon be banned in the US, and many other western countries for environmental reasons, the El Tomcat is still in service as an agricultural spraying aircraft in countries like Israel.

News Helicopter

Ever since the introduction of the first airships and fixed-wing aircraft, people have used them for photography and filming purposes, which eventually led to the first aviation-themed movies like Hell’s Angels.

The introduction of the Model 47 would be no different, with many people trying to use helicopters for filming and photography purposes as they were cheaper and slower than fixed-wing aircraft, making them far better for this role.

Although people had tried before him, the first successful attempt doing this, would be John D. Silva’s attempt.

You see, in mid 1958, Los Angeles-based TV station, KTLA (where John D. Silva worked at the time), would acquire a Bell 47. Doing this, they’d task John D. Silva to attach a news camera to the bottom of the helicopter.

After months of making modifications, Silva had completed his task. On its maiden, Silva, and KTLA’s first news helicopter pilot would fly over Los Angeles to cover a breaking story, recording the entire time.

However, KTLA staff informed Silva that they couldn’t actual receive the feed. Ordering the pilot to hover at 1,500 feet (460 meters), Silva would climb out of the helicopter to inspect the wiring and the camera.

Discovering that the blazing Los Angeles heat and immense vibrations caused by the helicopter (remember, this was in a time before vibration control) had caused an electron tube to become damaged, and thus not send the feed.

Landing the helicopter back at KTLA’s base, Silva would fix the issue quickly, allowing the helicopter to cover Los Angeles’s July 4th celebrations by air.

The Bell 47 would serve in KTLA’s fleet for several years, before it was replaced with newer helicopters. The success of KTLA’s Model 47 would cause many more TV stations to acquire the helicopter for the same purposes, some of whom are still flying today!

NASA

In 1957, the Soviet Union would launch Sputnik – the world’s first artificial satellite.

Whilst designed to show the engineering might of the Soviet Union (and thus the superiority of communism over capitalism), the launch of Sputnik soon launched what we now call the Space Race.

To begin with, the US hoped to do one better than the USSR, by putting a man in space. However, the Soviets would beat them to it, sending Yuri Gagarin to space on April 12 1961.

Seeing this, President John F. Kennedy would announce that the US would put a man on the moon by the end of the decade. This would instigate one of the largest public spending programs of the twentieth century.

Designing the rocket that would take the first people to the moon, engineers realized that it would be much easier to have a “lunar launcher” as they called it, which would be separate from the lunar module, being the thing they used to land on the moon.

In order to teach the first astronauts how to operate the lunar launcher, its controls would be modeled off those of helicopters, more specifically, the Bell 47.

NASA would then acquire several Bell 47s that it modified slightly (to simulate how the lunar launcher would handle), which it would use to train the Apollo astronauts on.

Government

Yet, NASA wasn’t the only government agency to take notice of the Bell 47.

Indeed, shortly after the Model 47’s introduction to military service, both the LAPD and NYPD began trying to acquire the Model 47 for their own use.

You see, both Los Angeles and New York are some of the most congested cities in the US. Unlike squad cars, helicopters don’t (really) get stuck in traffic, and can thus follow potential suspects from the air, especially when cars can’t.

Whilst this is their primary mission – to be the eyes in the sky (so to speak) for the police on the ground, the role of the Model 47 in police use soon expanded, to include aerial photography and eventually, number plate recognition (using specialist equipment).

Beyond just being used by the LAPD and NYPD, the Model 47 was also used by Italy’s Carabinieri for the same reasons.

On top of police departments acquiring the helicopter, fire departments such as the LA Fire Department and Italy’s Vigili del Fuoco also acquired the aircraft for a mixture of aerial firefighting and medevac duties, which the Model 47 is supremely suited to.

Due to its nimbleness, the Model 47 has also been used by coast guards and white-collar crime agencies to prevent drug smuggling, as the Model 47 can cover a rather large area in a few minutes, that would take a ship several hours to do.

Sadly, due to the Model 47’s advanced age, most government-operated Model 47s have been retired in favor of newer helicopters like the Bell 206 or Raven R-66.

Museum

Owing to the Model 47’s success as a civilian, military and NASA aircraft, many aviation museums has set about to acquire the Model 47 for their collections, especially if that particular helicopter is quite famous!

As of the time of writing, there are 28 Bell 47s currently on display aviation museums all across the world, with a further 39 H-13s also being on display, mostly in the United States.

Generally speaking, these Model 47s have done something noteworthy since rolling off the assembly lines at Bell Aircraft. However, a few have been acquired only so the museum has a Bell Model 47 on display.

Currently, there is only one Bell Model 47 that isn’t in a aviation-specific museum. This Model 47 is currently on display at the ABBA museum in Sweden, with that particular Bell 47 having been used by the band on the cover of their 1976 album, Arrival.

Whilst most of these Bell Model 47s on display are static displays, a few are actually airworthy. To date, there are only four airworthy Model 47s on display at the minute, three in the United States, and one in Austria.

For the most part, these airworthy Model 47s aren’t flown that often, so the museums can preserve them. On rare occasion, however, such as an airshow, the Model 47 is featured quite prominently as a flying display.

Specifications

As one of the first helicopters ever built, the Model 47 has some of the worst technical specs of any helicopter ever built. But then again, it was designed in an age when aircraft like the Spitfire and P-51 were considered “high tech”.

Serving as the basis for several more helicopters, the Bell 47 naturally shares many of its technical specs with these other helicopters too…

Specifications	Bell 47G
Length	31 ft 7 in (9.63 m)
Rotor Diameter	37 ft 2 in (11.33 m)
Height	9 ft 3 in (2.82 m)
Crew	1 – 2 (if one crew member, you can have one passenger too)
Max Speed	169 km/h (105 mph; 91 kn)
Cruise Speed	135 km/h (84 mph; 73 kn)
Range	396 km (246 mi; 214 nmi)
Rate of Climb	860 ft/min (4.4 m/s)
MTOW	2,950 lb (1,338 kg)

Why Was The Bell 47 so Successful?

Over an 18-year period (1946-1974), Bell Aircraft, and later Bell Helicopters, would build a total of 5,600 Bell 47s, making it by far the bestselling helicopter to have ever been produced!

This begs the question: why was it so successful?

Unlike other helicopters or fixed-wing aircraft, the Model 47’s success isn’t down specifically to one factor, but rather a few…

For starters, the Model 47 was the first helicopter certified for civilian use.

Naturally, this gave it an edge over its competition, as civilian Model 47s had been produced for years before their competition entered the market, thus synonymizing the word “Bell” with “helicopter” in the eye’s of the public.

Secondly, Arthur Young designed it specifically with corporate buyers in mind. To that end, it was given a cruising speed and range that outclassed any car of the mid-twentieth century, thus ensuring that many in the 1% would buy the Bell.

Despite being aimed primarily at corporate buyers, Young designed it be easy to handle, so it could be used by the military too (as when he was designing it for Bell, the world was still in the midst of WWII, with no end point being in sight).

One of the best ways he did this was through the Model 47’s low operating costs. Whilst $500 per hour is incredibly expensive by today’s standards, it was extremely cheap for a helicopter of the 1940’s and 1950’s!

How Safe is The Bell 47?

Looking at the safest and most dangerous fixed-wing aircraft to have ever been produced, you’ll notice that most of the aircraft that are considered “safe” have been produced in the last 30 years, whilst the “dangerous” ones were produced before then.

Naturally, as the Bell 47 is similarly quite old, this makes you wonder how safe, or indeed dangerous, Bell’s Model 47 truly is.

During the 1940’s and 1950’s, the Model 47 was hailed as one of the safest helicopters you could fly in, with it being safer than its competitors (most of whom were expressly military helicopters with a few used by civilians).

Since the 1950’s, however, the Model 47, whilst a true icon, has often been seen as a one of the most dangerous helicopters in the world…

Whilst 5,600 were produced, there have been 1,327 aviation-related incidents involving the Model 47, resulting in hundreds of deaths. In other words, 23.7% of all the Model 47s produced, have been involved in an incident of some kind.

Looking at the accident reports, it doesn’t seem to be anything to do with the Model 47 itself. Instead, it seems to be a combination of old helicopters and poor maintenance, resulting in potentially fatal crashes.

However, it must be said that the aforementioned number of 1,327 incidents does also include those military-related incidents too (involving the Model 47-derived H-13 Sioux).

Naturally, due to the environment that they fly in, they are much more likely to be involved in an accident (eg. get shot down) and thus make the Model 47 look more dangerous than it really is.

Legacy

As one of the most produced helicopters in history, its reasonable to assume that the Model 47 left a rather large impact on the aviation industry as a whole – one that’s actually still unfolding as we speak!

Bell

When Bell Aircraft introduced the Model 47 in 1946, the company was on the up and up. Not only had they released the first civil helicopter, but they’d also release the Bell X-1, the first aircraft to break the sound barrier.

Although the company had enjoyed unparalleled growth during the war, the post-war years would see the Allied militaries cancel many of their wartime contracts.

This, combined with the death of Lawrence Bell in 1956, would see the company have major financial difficulties.

During this period, the only thing that kept Bell Aircraft afloat was its helicopter division – which the Bell 47 was the crown jewel of.

It was this helicopter that attracted the attention of industrial conglomerate, Textron, who soon acquired Bell Aircraft, selling off or closing down its unprofitable divisions and reorganizing it as Bell Helicopters (which survives to this day!)

Bell 47

Today, aviation historians remember the Bell Model 47 for being the first of firsts for commercial helicopters.

Not only was it the first commercial helicopter, it was also the first helicopter used by a non-military government department (in an official capacity anyway) and the first news helicopter.

Beyond this, it is also the most popular helicopter in human history, with most experts believing that no helicopter produced in our lifetime being expected to reach the same level of success as the Model 47 did.

At least, not without something major happening anyway…

Despite the first Bell Model 47s rolling off the factory floors when Adolf Hitler was still in power, official estimates claim that there are as many as 1,000 still being used today – most of whom are in the US!

Future Helicopters

Due to the success of the Model 47, Bell would capitalize on its success, with 19 civilian and 27 military variants of the helicopter being developed by Bell and other companies (mostly doing so under license).

In 1956, Bell would release an updated version of its famed Model 47, which it called the Bell 47J Ranger, which, whilst still successful, would never live up to the Model 47’s insane level of success!

Under license from Bell, the now-defunct aviation manufacturing division of Kawasaki would develop a variant of the Model 47 with a larger cockpit (having the ability to carry four people rather than two) known as the Kawasaki KH-4.

The introduction of the Bell 30 and 47 would also convince many other aircraft manufacturers that helicopters were not just a fad, but were, in fact, going to become a staple of the aircraft manufacturing industry…

Inadvertently, the introduction of the Bell 30 and 47 would lead to the development of the Hiller OH-23 Raven and the Hughes TH-55 Osage in the US, as well as the Aérospatiale Alouette II in France and the Saunders-Roe Skeeter in the UK.

What do you think of the Bell 47? Have you ever flown on it? Tell me in the comments!

Featured image courtesy of Airwolfhound via Flickr.