Bell 207 Sioux Scout

The Bell 207 Sioux Scout was a modified Bell 47 helicopter that Bell Helicopter built under contract from the United States Army as a proof-of-concept demonstrator for the Bell D-255 helicopter gunship design. It combined a tandem two-seat cockpit, stub wings and a chin-mounted gun turret. Bell had shown a mockup of the D-255, called the Iroquois Warrior, to Army officials in June 1962 hoping to win funding, and the Sioux Scout first flew on 27 June 1963 with a 260 horsepower Lycoming piston engine. It demonstrated better manoeuvrability than the Bell 47 and OH-13 thanks to its stub wings. After evaluating it in early 1964 the Army was impressed but judged it undersized and underpowered, and Bell's later D-262 proposal lost the gunship competition to the Lockheed AH-56 Cheyenne.