Bell Aircraft History
Michael Wright
History of Technology in Western NY
12/8/11
Final Research Paper
Bell Aircraft During the early nineteen hundreds, the industrial revolution and technological boom was in full effect; every engineer, inventor, and large company wanted to produce the next world changing piece of technology. On December 17, 1903 when the Wright brothers made the first successful airplane, it opened up a new industry where the small manufacturers had just as much a chance to succeed as the large corporations. Companies like Boeing, Glenn Martin, Thomas Brothers, Consolidated Aircraft, Burgess, Lockheed, and several others were established and began competing to either find or create a consumer base for their product (13). With the skills learned at Glenn Martin and Consolidated Aircraft, a young man named Lawrence Bell decided to take a risk and create his own aircraft company that would be able to compete with the companies that had already found success in the newly created aircraft market. Throughout history, Bell Aircraft has successfully adapted to the changing market and succeeded in the aircraft industry not just by “reinventing the wheel” but by creating completely original aircrafts. Lawrence “Larry” Dale Bell was born on April 5th, 1894 in Mentone, Indiana, a town of less than one square mile that today contains less than a thousand people (14). Life in Mentone was particularly uneventful and in 1907 the family moved to Santa Monica, California so his father could find work (10). In January, 1910, and his older brother, Grover, attended the first major U.S. Air Show at Dominguez Field near Los Angeles. Inspired, they built a model plane of their own which actually flew. Larry was still in school but Grover went off and learned to fly and eventually teamed up with stunt pilot Lincoln Beachey. In 1912 the two asked Larry if he would like to be their mechanic, an offer that he accepted. Unfortunately in 1913 Grover was killed in a stunt accident and
History of Technology in Western NY
12/8/11
Final Research Paper
Bell Aircraft During the early nineteen hundreds, the industrial revolution and technological boom was in full effect; every engineer, inventor, and large company wanted to produce the next world changing piece of technology. On December 17, 1903 when the Wright brothers made the first successful airplane, it opened up a new industry where the small manufacturers had just as much a chance to succeed as the large corporations. Companies like Boeing, Glenn Martin, Thomas Brothers, Consolidated Aircraft, Burgess, Lockheed, and several others were established and began competing to either find or create a consumer base for their product (13). With the skills learned at Glenn Martin and Consolidated Aircraft, a young man named Lawrence Bell decided to take a risk and create his own aircraft company that would be able to compete with the companies that had already found success in the newly created aircraft market. Throughout history, Bell Aircraft has successfully adapted to the changing market and succeeded in the aircraft industry not just by “reinventing the wheel” but by creating completely original aircrafts. Lawrence “Larry” Dale Bell was born on April 5th, 1894 in Mentone, Indiana, a town of less than one square mile that today contains less than a thousand people (14). Life in Mentone was particularly uneventful and in 1907 the family moved to Santa Monica, California so his father could find work (10). In January, 1910, and his older brother, Grover, attended the first major U.S. Air Show at Dominguez Field near Los Angeles. Inspired, they built a model plane of their own which actually flew. Larry was still in school but Grover went off and learned to fly and eventually teamed up with stunt pilot Lincoln Beachey. In 1912 the two asked Larry if he would like to be their mechanic, an offer that he accepted. Unfortunately in 1913 Grover was killed in a stunt accident and
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