Bell 30

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title: "Bell 30" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1940s-united-states-helicopters", "1940s-united-states-experimental-aircraft", "bell-aircraft", "single-engined-piston-helicopters", "aircraft-first-flown-in-1943", "single-rotor-helicopters", "aircraft-with-fixed-conventional-landing-gear"] description: "Experimental helicopter" topic_path: "geography/united-states" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_30" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Experimental helicopter ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox aircraft"]

Field	Value
name	Bell 30
image	File:Bell 30 - Sm.edu.jpg
caption	Bell 30 flight testing
aircraft_type	Experimental helicopter
national_origin	United States
manufacturer	Bell Aircraft
designer	Arthur M. Young
status	Preserved
number_built	3
introduction	1943
retired	1944
first_flight	26 June 1943
developed_into	Bell 47
::

| name = Bell 30 | logo = | logo_size = | image = File:Bell 30 - Sm.edu.jpg | alt = | caption = Bell 30 flight testing | long_caption = | other_names = | aircraft_type = Experimental helicopter | aim = | outcome = | related = | national_origin = United States | manufacturer = Bell Aircraft | design_group = | designer = Arthur M. Young | builder = | issuer = | status = Preserved | owners = | primary_user = | more_users = | service = | major_applications = | proposals = | prototypes = | number_built = 3 | construction_number = | civil_registration = | military_serial = | radio_code = | requirement = | aircraft_carried = | flights = | total_hours = | total_distance = | construction_date = | introduction = 1943 | retired = 1944 | first_flight = 26 June 1943 | initiated = | in_service = | last_flight = | expected = | developed_from = | variants = | developed_into = Bell 47 | preservation = | fate = | predecessors = | successors = | concluded =

The Bell 30 is the prototype for the first commercial helicopter, and the first helicopter built by the Bell Aircraft Company. Designed by Arthur M. Young, the type served as a demonstration testbed for the successful Bell 47.

Development

Young had experimented alone with helicopter designs using scale models, and in 1941 he approached the Bell Aircraft Corporation in Buffalo, 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 of Gardenville (West Seneca). The Ship 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 a seat 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. The first free flight of Ship 1 was carried out on June 26, 1943, only the third American helicopter to fly.{{cite web | title=American airplanes:Bell | url=http://www.aerofiles.com/_bell.html| date=20 April 2009| publisher=www.aerofiles.com |access-date=2009-12-23| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100102011047/http://aerofiles.com/_bell.html| archive-date= 2 January 2010 | url-status= live}}

The Ship 1 prototype registration NX41860 had an open cockpit, an enclosed fuselage for the Franklin piston engine, and fixed three-wheel landing gear. 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. With all the lessons learned, the third prototype became the basis for the production model, the Bell Model 47. The Model 30 Ship 1A, Genevieve, is now on display at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.

Variants

*Data from:*Bell Aircraft since 1935 ;Ship No.1: (c/n 1) The original Bell 30, built with an open-frame tubular steel framework with an open cockpit and four widely splayed undercarriage legs with skids at the ends, made from 3 in Aluminium alloy tubing. First flown on 29 December 1942, test flying continued until a serious crash in September 1943. ;Ship No.1A: (c/n 1A) Ship No.1, rebuilt after the crash with a strutted tricycle undercarriage with nosewheel, and semi-enclosed cockpit, rejoined the test programme by March 1944. ;Ship No.2: (c/n 2) The second aircraft was built with a new three wheeled undercarriage, semi-monocoque fuselage, new tail rotor mounting and fully enclosed cockpit for pilot and passenger. ;Ship No.3: (c/n 3) The third aircraft was built with a triangular-section welded tubular steel tailboom, four-wheeled undercarriage, full set of instruments, but a completely open cockpit. Performance and handling of this aircraft were found to be much better than its predecessors but the open cockpit was viewed as a major handicap. Young described flying the aircraft as being "like sitting in a chair and flying through space." However, Bell company officials who flew in it found the experience to be thoroughly frightening. The solution to the open cockpit was the plexiglas bubble that was to become iconic on Bell 47/H-13 production aircraft. ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/Bell_Model_30_Ship_1A_Genevieve.jpg" caption="''Ship 1A'' on display at the National Air and Space Museum, 2012"] ::

Surviving aircraft

Ship No.1A is on display at the National Air and Space Museum

Specifications

|ref= |prime units?=imp General characteristics

|genhide= |crew=one |capacity=two passengers |length m= |length ft= |length in= |length note= |span m= |span ft= |span in= |span note= |upper span m= |upper span ft= |upper span in= |upper span note= |mid span m= |mid span ft= |mid span in= |mid span note= |lower span m= |lower span ft= |lower span in= |lower span note= |swept m= |swept ft= |swept in= |swept note= |dia m= |dia ft= |dia in= |dia note= |width m= |width ft= |width in= |width note= |height m= |height ft= |height in= |height note= |wing area sqm= |wing area sqft= |wing area note= |swept area sqm= |swept area sqft= |swept area note= |volume m3= |volume ft3= |volume note= |aspect ratio= |airfoil= |empty weight kg= |empty weight lb= |empty weight note= |gross weight kg= |gross weight lb= |gross weight note= |max takeoff weight kg= |max takeoff weight lb= |max takeoff weight note= |lift kg= |lift lb= |lift note= |more general= Powerplant

|eng1 number=1 |eng1 name=Franklin 6V4 |eng1 type=flat-six piston engine |eng1 kw= |eng1 hp=160 |eng1 kn= |eng1 lbf= |eng1 note= |power original= |thrust original= |eng1 kn-ab= |eng1 lbf-ab= |eng2 number= |eng2 name= |eng2 type= |eng2 kw= |eng2 hp= |eng2 kn= |eng2 lbf= |eng2 note= |eng2 kn-ab= |eng2 lbf-ab= |eng3 number= |eng3 name= |eng3 type= |eng3 kw= |eng3 hp= |eng3 kn= |eng3 lbf= |eng3 note= |eng3 kn-ab= |eng3 lbf-ab= |more power= |prop blade number= |prop name= |prop dia m= |prop dia ft= |prop dia in= |prop note= |rot number=1 |rot dia m= |rot dia ft=33 |rot dia in=0 |rot area sqm= |rot area sqft=855.3 |rot area note= Performance

|perfhide= |max speed kmh= |max speed mph= |max speed kts= |max speed note= |max speed mach= |cruise speed kmh= |cruise speed mph= |cruise speed kts= |cruise speed note= |stall speed kmh= |stall speed mph= |stall speed kts= |stall speed note= |never exceed speed kmh= |never exceed speed mph= |never exceed speed kts= |never exceed speed note= |minimum control speed kmh= |minimum control speed mph= |minimum control speed kts= |minimum control speed note= |range km= |range miles= |range nmi= |range note= |combat range km= |combat range miles= |combat range nmi= |combat range note= |ferry range km= |ferry range miles= |ferry range nmi= |ferry range note= |endurance= |ceiling m= |ceiling ft= |ceiling note= |g limits= |roll rate= |glide ratio= |climb rate ms= |climb rate ftmin= |climb rate note= |sink rate ms= |sink rate ftmin= |sink rate note= |lift to drag= |wing loading kg/m2= |wing loading lb/sqft= |wing loading note= |disk loading kg/m2= |disk loading lb/sqft= |disk loading note= |power/mass met= |power/mass imp= |power/mass note= |thrust/weight= |thrust/weight note= |more performance=

References

Notes

Bibliography

• {{cite web | title=American airplanes:Bell | url=http://www.aerofiles.com/_bell.html| date=20 April 2009| publisher=www.aerofiles.com |access-date=2009-12-23| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100102011047/http://aerofiles.com/_bell.html| archive-date= 2 January 2010 | url-status= live}}

References

1. Note:Aerofiles has the date as the 29 December 1942
2. "The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985)". Orbis Publishing.
3. (1943). "Helicopter Pioneers- first Bell Flight Testing". burgesco1.
4. "Bell 30". kamov.net.
5. "Bell Model 30 Ship 1A Genevieve - Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum".
6. Pelletier, Alain J.. (1992). "Bell Aircraft since 1935". Naval Institute Press for Putnam Aeronautical Books Limited.
7. Gobel, Greg. "The Bell Model 47".

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