Warplanes of the USA: Ohio, Dayton, National Museum of the USAF: Bell aircraft and helicopters

National Museum of the USAF: Bell

(NMUSAF Photos)

Bell P-39Q Airacobra (Serial No. 44-3887), 31, painted as (Serial No. 41-7073).  The NMUSAF's P-39Q is painted as a P-39D flown by Lt. Leslie Spoonts of the 57th Fighter Squadron on Adak Island during the Aleutians Campaign.  The P-39Q on display was obtained by the Air Force Museum Foundation from Hardwick Aircraft Co., El Monte, California, in 1966.

(Goshimini Photo)

(NMUSAF Photos)

(Clemens Vasters Photo)

Bell P-63E Kingcobra (Serial No. 43-11728), 1L76, painted to represent an RP-63A.  The P-63E on display in the NMUSAF was donated by Bell Aircraft Corp. in 1958.  Although it lacks the armour plate and other "pinball" features, it is marked and painted in the unusual color scheme of an RP-63A.

Bell XP-59A, one of three prototypes.  The first prototype XP-59A flew in the fall of 1942 at Muroc Dry Lake (now Edwards Air Force Base), California.  (USAF Photo)

(NMUSAF Photo)

(Ken LaRock, USAF Photos)

(Valder137 Photo)

(Clemens Vasters Photo)

Bell P-59B Airacomet (Serial No. 44-74936), painted as (Serial No. 44-22650), C/N 27-58.  Bell built 50 P-59A and P-59B production aircraft, some of which were flown by the 412th Fighter Group, the USAF’s first jet fighter unit.  The P-59B on display in the NMUSAF was obtained from Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, in February 1956.

(USAF Photo)

Bell UH-13J Sioux (Serial No. 57-2728), C/N 1575.

(NMUSAF Photos)

Bell UH-1P Iroquois (Serial No. 64-15476), C/N 7026.  The UH-1P nicknamed the "Huey" on display in the NMUSAF, served in South Vietnam with the 20th Special Operations Squadron flying dangerous, highly-classified missions inserting special operations personnel into Laos and Cambodia.  In June 1969, it was converted into a UH-1P gunship equipped with two rocket pods and two miniguns.  The museum's UH-1P is configured and painted to appear as the UH-1F flown by Captain Jim Fleming on 26 Nov 1968.  On this day, he braved intense enemy fire to rescue a small reconnaissance team that was about to be overrun by a much larger enemy force.  For his bravery, Fleming was awarded the Medal of Honor.

Bell TAH-1P Cobra (Serial No. 76-22599), C/N 24033).

(Jaydec Photo)

(Clemens Vasters Photo)

(USAF Photos)

(Don Popp, USAF Photos)

(NMUSAF Photos)

Bell X-1B (Serial No. 48-1385).  The X-1B was one of a series of rocket-powered experimental airplanes designed to investigate supersonic flight problems.  The X-1B’s flight research primarily related to aerodynamic heating and the use of small “reaction” rockets for directional control.  The X-1B made its first powered flight in October 1954.  A few months later, the U.S. Air Force transferred the X-1B to the NACA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics), predecessor to NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), which conducted the heating and control tests.  The X-1B tests played an important role in developing the control systems for the later X-15.  On test missions, the X-1B was carried under a "mother" airplane and released between 25,000-35,000 feet.  After release, the rocket engine fired under full throttle for less than five minutes.  After all fuel (an alcohol-water mixture) and liquid oxygen had been consumed, the pilot glided the airplane to earth for a landing.  The X-1B made its last flight in January 1958, and it was transferred to the NMUSAF a year later.

(NMUSAF Photos)

(Valder137 Photos)

Bell X-5 (Serial No. 50-1838).  The X-5 was the world's first high-performance airplane to vary the sweepback of its wings in flight . It investigated the characteristics of variable sweep aircraft in flight and the feasibility of producing aircraft with this feature . The X-5 was based upon the design of a Messerschmitt P. 1101 airplane discovered in Germany at the end of the Second World War (and which could vary its sweep only on the ground).  Two X-5s were built, and the first flight occurred in June 1951 . One of the X-5s was destroyed in October 1953, when it failed to recover from a spin at 60 degrees sweepback.  The other was delivered to the NMUSAF in March 1958.

(NASA Photo)

(Bell Helicopter Textron Photo)

(Ken LaRock, USAF Photos)

(Valder137 Photos)

(Alvintrusty Photo)

Bell 200 (XV-3) (Serial No. 54-0148).  The Bell XV-3 became the world's first successful Vertical Short Take Off and Landing (VSTOL) tilt-rotor aircraft.  By combining the takeoff and hovering capabilities of a helicopter with the speed and range of a fixed-wing aircraft, the XV-3 offered great military potential.  Bell completed two XV-3s and began hover tests in 1955.  The first XV-3 was damaged beyond repair, but testing continued with the second aircraft.  The first complete conversion from takeoff to horizontal flight and back,  the first ever for a tilt-rotor aircraft, took place in December 1958.  The XV-3 did not go into production, but it paved the way for the modern tilt-rotor CV-22 Osprey.  After testing ended in 1965, the surviving XV-3 went on display at Fort Rucker, Alabama, and later into storage . In 2004, the XV-3 was moved to the Bell Helicopter Textron facility at Arlington, Texas, where a group of current and retired Bell engineers restored the aircraft.  It arrived at the NMUSAF in 2007.

(NMUSAF Photos)

Bell-Boeing CV-22B Osprey, ex-USN (BuNo. 165839), USAF (Serial No. 99-0021).  The CV-22 Osprey is a tiltrotor aircraft that combines the vertical takeoff, hover and vertical landing qualities of a helicopter with the long range, fuel efficiency and speed characteristics of a turboprop aircraft.  Its mission is to conduct long-range infiltration, exfiltration and resupply missions for special operations forces.  Built by Bell Helicopter Textron Inc. and the Boeing Co., the CV-22 is a Special Operation Forces variant of the U.S. Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey.  Equipped with integrated threat countermeasures, terrain-following radar, forward-looking infrared sensor (FLIR) and other advanced avionics systems, the CV-22 can operate at low altitude, in bad weather and high-threat environments.  The first operational CV-22 was delivered to Air Force Special Operations Command's 8th Special Operations Squadron at Hurlburt Field, Florida, in November 2006.  The Osprey at the NMUSAF was originally built as a pre-production aircraft for the U.S. Navy.  In 2005 this aircraft was modified into a CV-22B and was designated an Additional Test Asset (ATA).  At Edwards AFB, California, it flew more than 200 developmental test missions.  It was transferred to the USAF in 2007, and was assigned to the 413th Flight Test Squadron, at Hurlburt Field.  Completing over 400 additional test missions, it was flown to the museum in December 2013.

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