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The Bell Aircraft Corporation was an Aircraft Manufacturer of the United States , a builder of several types of Fighter Aircraft for World War II but most famous for the Bell X-1 , the first Supersonic aircraft, and for many types of Helicopter s. Bell also developed the Reaction Control System for the Project Mercury Spacecraft and the Bell Rocket Belt . The company was purchased in 1960 by Textron , and lives on today as Bell Helicopter Textron . The company was founded by Lawrence Bell , who was an early employee and later general manager of the Glenn L. Martin Company , then a manager of the Consolidated Aircraft Corporation . When Consolidated moved to San Diego in 1935, Bell stayed behind and formed the "Bell Aircraft Corporation" on 10 July 1935 , headquartered in Buffalo, New York . Helicopter development began in 1941 , with the company's first, the Bell Model 30 seeing its maiden flight in 1943 , and eventually became the most successful part of the company. Lawrence Bell died in 1956 , and for several years afterwards the company was in financial difficulty. After the Textron purchase, the company was organized as a subsidiary Bell Aerospace Corporation with three divisions. See Bell Helicopter Textron for further history. Fixed-wing aircraft, in order of development: See Bell Helicopter for helicopters. REFERENCE
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