| Bell 30 | |
|---|---|
 Bell 30 flight testing | |
| General information | |
| Type | Experimentalhelicopter |
| National origin | United States |
| Manufacturer | Bell Aircraft |
| Designer | |
| Status | Preserved |
| Number built | 3 |
| History | |
| Introduction date | 1943 |
| First flight | 26 June 1943[1] |
| Retired | 1944 |
| Developed into | Bell 47 |
TheBell 30 is the prototype for the first commercialhelicopter, and the first helicopter built by theBell Aircraft Company.[2] Designed byArthur M. Young, the type served as a demonstration testbed for the successfulBell 47.[2]
Young had experimented alone with helicopter designs using scale models, and in 1941 he approached theBell Aircraft Corporation inBuffalo, New York. The company agreed to build a number of full-scale prototypes, and Young moved to Buffalo. With the main Bell factories immersed in war production, and to ensure a research and development program that was sufficiently private and free of distractions, Young and his team moved to the Buffalo suburb ofGardenville (West Seneca). TheShip 1 prototype's first serious mishap occurred near the very end of 1942 in captive testing, when a Bell corporate pilot asked to try the Ship 1, while not using aseat belt and hanging onto the controls instead to stay in the open cockpit - this captive flight attempt resulted in the rotor system "going through resonance" as designer Arthur Young had warned about, resulting in a "bucking" instability and accident which cracked the rotor blades loose and sent the pilot up into the disc of the rotor blades, luckily only breaking an arm.[3] The first free flight ofShip 1 was carried out on June 26, 1943,[4] only the thirdAmerican helicopter to fly.[5]
TheShip 1 prototyperegistrationNX41860 had an open cockpit, an enclosed fuselage for the Franklin piston engine, and fixed three-wheel landing gear.[2] The engine drove a two-bladed main rotor and a two-bladed anti-torque tail rotor. The prototype crashed in September 1943 and was subsequently modified with several improvements, including an enclosed cabin for the pilot and passenger, who sat side by side in the cockpit.[5] With all the lessons learned, the third prototype became the basis for the production model, theBell Model 47.[2] The Model 30 Ship 1A,Genevieve, is now on display at theSteven F. Udvar-Hazy Center of theSmithsonian Air and Space Museum.[6]
Data from:Bell Aircraft since 1935[7]
Ship No.1A is on display at theNational Air and Space Museum[citation needed]
Data from[2]
General characteristics
Performance
Related development
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era
