Bell Aircraft Corporation

Bell Aircraft Corporation was an American aircraft manufacturer that built several types of fighter aircraft for the Second World War but is most famous for the Bell X-1, the first supersonic aircraft, and for developing and producing many important civilian and military helicopters. Bell also developed the reaction control system for the Mercury spacecraft, parts of the North American X-15 and the Bell Rocket Belt. The company was bought by Textron in 1960 and lives on as Bell Textron, builder of the Bell 47 and the UH-1 Iroquois.