Bell 30

The Bell Model 30 was an experimental helicopter manufacturer Bell Aircraft Corporation of the 1940s.

History

Development and construction of the Bell 30 were conducted in the years 1941/42, after Larry Bell had seen a helicopter flight model of the American inventor and helicopter pioneer Arthur M. Young. Constructed within six months and then built Young, who joined in November 1941 Bell, the Ship 1 called Bell 30 helicopters, many problems could be solved only by trial and error. Young is also considered the inventor of the characteristic for many subsequent Bell pattern arranged below the two-bladed main rotor stabilizer bar (also known as Flybar referred ) to reduce by stabilizing the rotor plane, the sensitivity to cross winds, and hence the workload of the pilot.

The first of three prototypes ( Ship 1 ) with the approval NX- 41867 flew for the first time on 29 December 1942. Until July 1943 speeds over 100 km / h ( 70 mph ) have been achieved. Shortly thereafter, the machine was badly damaged during a landing and then set up as Ship 1A with a higher -mounted tail rotor and improved chassis again. The second prototype (Ship 2, NX- 41868 ) was a two-seat enclosed cockpit. 1944, the first public showing in a newspaper ( Buffalo Sunday News ) was announced and carried out in July 1944 in Buffalo Stadium. In early 1945, work began on the Ship 3, which received a four- wheel chassis, a modified hull shape and initially an open cockpit with better visibility vertically downwards. Later, a fully glazed cockpit was also first used. Ship 3 first flew on 20 April 1945 and was the direct ancestor of the Bell 47, which had its first flight on 8 December 1945.

Construction

The hull was constructed in two parts, the front part consisted of two plywood stringers who wore the cabin and the engine. The rear was a magnesium alloy semi- monocoque structure. In Ship 1 and 2, the suspension of two was simply tired obliquely forward -facing arms and an attached in the rear of each wheel to a strut. The blades were made ​​of glued spruce and balsa wood (according to other sources, it was solid wood) made ​​with a metal insert in the leading edge of the profile. The six-cylinder boxer engine Franklin used as the drive was installed vertically, driving the rotor via a 1:9 planetary gear squat on. The motor is forcedly cooled by a blower, the ansaugte the cooling air in the nose and blew back via openings on both sides of the fuselage.

Whereabouts

The rebuilt first prototype (Ship 1A) is issued at a late stage of construction at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.

Specifications

113990
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