I retired in 2012 after flying helicopters since 1969. Went Army, then oil companies, then EMS, then DEA, then private airlines flying over 16,000 hours worldwide with over 54,000 documented landings. Loved the darn things and always will!

Back in the mid 90s, I worked with Bart Kelly's son and he used to tell me all kinds of stories that his father had told him about helicopter development, including the part where the test pilot got thrown through the blades. It was very fulfilling to see footage of the stories he told me.

What a fabulous gift to aviation history. The path from model to Model 3 bubble canopy was covered so well with classic methods of weights and balance. Well edited video with a great audio track. Masterpiece of Bell helicopters researchers activity.

I know nothing about aviation, but am glad to be able to say I did traffic reports for a radio station in a Bell 47 above the Indianapolis 500 track on race day in 1978. The engine blew a valve and we had to land in a vacant spot of scruffy land behind an apartment complex. That machine was really fun to be in, as the pilot and I were 500 feet above the track, where those race cars looked like model slot cars that were so popular in those long ago days. Thanks for sharing this beautifully done report on Bell's beginning. Those men were truly brave and determined. Fun to watch!🙂

Bart Kelly made many important contributions to the aircraft. The stabilizer bar was his invention. He doesn't mention his efforts, but for many years he was the head of the engineering department. An engineer at Bell Helicopter did not need a engineering degree, all you had to do was be able to engineer. I remember one in particular had never been to college at all. This man was one of the best engineers I ever worked with. The Franklin engines were made for the Franklin air cooled automobile. I have heard that the plant they rented had crates of these old engines stacked at one end, so they used them. Later helicopters used Continental engines. When I first started working as an aircraft mechanic (not at Bell Aircraft), many of the military 47 models had balsa blades with aluminum skins. Then another blade made like a conventional aircraft wing, aluminum skin with internal wing struts. Inspectors sat with long borescopes, checking the insides of these blades for cracks. The composite blade was a great improvement in blade design. In all my 40 years of working in the aircraft industry, mostly on helicopters, I never heard anyone in the industry refer to the helicopter as a "chopper," including Korean war vets. Except for TV news people. They seem to think that calling a helicopter a chopper gives them an "in the know" aura or something. Stupid news. May be one of the reasons I haven't watched TV news for the last 20 years or so. Ok, sorry for the rant. It's time for my meds, anyway. Hope you enjoyed the bit of history at first. Oh, I think the guy who was thrown through the blades name was Mashman. A distinction really, I think he is the only person to have ever survived that bit of learning curve.

Such a cool video! My late Father was fortunate to be chosen as one of the pilots for the Genesee County Sheriffs Dept. here in Flint, Mi back in the mid 1970’s. They purchased a Bell 47 G 5-a. Dad remarked that those years were the best part of his Law Enforcement career!! Great video!!

I was in an aviation unit in the army back in the 70s. This is a great historical video. And I love that a dog was the first passenger on the first flight

They sure did come up with some elegant solutions for the various problems they ran into - there's a 47 being rebuilt at Wings over the Rockies Air and Space Museum in Denver and I always thought the way it was put together was genius especially the rotor mast, that one has the ball ended stabilizer bar (like M.A.S.H.). Loved this Video! : D

What a wonderful film! Such clever minds and workmanship. That pilot was lucky to get away with just a broken arm.

I feel like standing up and applauding after watching that!

This is amazing. I was an avionics crew chief (yes, they existed back then) for the Bell UH-1N (Huey) many years ago while serving in the USMC. It's important to remember the resources they had back then. There was no such thing as the internet. They didn't use computers to help design this. They used drafting boards, T Squares, pencils, and erasers. They didn't have calculators. Instead, they used slide rules. Many of these engineers and technicians were self-taught - no college degrees. This is the very definition of innovation. Thanks to people like these, we can watch horrific helicopters crashes on KZfaq while we're sitting in our underwear eating cereal. You're goddamn right, 'Murica.

I loved flying the Bell 47 in which I got my Rotor Wing License. This was. A good video about the Bell.

That is a brilliant short documentary. Truly one of the best things this aviation mad guy has ever watched on youtube.

So incredibly fascinating. How on earth the gentleman at 11:05 survived is beyond my comprehension

I had the honor of flying in a US Army helicopter with Blair Carlson, Floyd Carlson's son. Blair often talked about his dad and those first Bell machines. The Carlsons were an incredible family and many US Army Aviators can thank Blair for their introduction to Primary Flight Training at Fort Rucker in 1978. Gold Hat Class 78-22. Rest in Peace Blair, you are teaching angels to fly now, my friend.

As with all other comments, thank you for digitizing this gem of a set of reels and sharing it. This kind of dispersion of real history and real knowledge and lessons is super rare, and should be archived for all future generations. Thanks so much 🙏

The following story was related to me by a fellow inspector. Bart Kelly went into the rotor blade production department and asked this inspector where a certain supervisor was . The inspector told Mr. Kelly that the supervisor had left the department, but would return shortly. The inspector was inspecting a rotor blade, (a composite blade made of aluminum honeycomb and various bonded layers, a very advanced blade) so Mr. Kelly stayed and chatted with the inspector. The supervisor showed up and Mr. Kelly soon left. The inspector said to the supervisor, "Who was that old guy, he talked like he knew everything there was to know about rotor blades." The supervisors' comment was priceless, "He does." Bart Kelly was legendary in his own right.

What a fantastic video, the narrator is very nice to listen to and the footage timeless. Thank you for sharing this.

It's amazing how humble were the beginnings of these machines.

VERY interesting & superbly narriated. THANK YOU so much for this historical posting.

Thanks for posting this incredibly cool historical look at early Bell heli development. My father worked for Hamilton Standard right out of engineering (actually physics college) and did electrical analog "computer" simulations of heli blades. Great stuff. Thumbed up!

Both my grandparents worked for Bell Aero, grew up close by in Sanborn. Miss my grandparents, great hard working people.

Thank you Bartram Kelly for doing this video for history.

I have the pleasure of flying a Eurocopter AS350B3 and and Agusta Koala A119 but it is easy to forget how lucky I am and how I got so lucky to fly these amazing aircraft. This video was a fantastic reminder of how and who made it possible for helicopter flight no matter what make or model! Thanks so much for the video!

One of the Best Documentaries on YT.

I grew up in the Fort Worth, Texas area and was privileged to know Mr. Carlson (Floyd) and his family. I remember as a teenager sitting in his living room with his son, Blair, and paging through photo albums of his early test flights. I also had the opportunity to meet Bart Kelly at Floyd's home. In high school, Blair and flew with Mr. Carlson several times in a Bonanza chase plane when the predecessor to the tilt rotor Osprey, the "Convert-a-Plane", was being test flown out of the old Globe Aircraft plant in Saginaw, Texas. His son Blair followed in Mr. Carlson's footsteps and became a helicopter pilot. He and I flew many hours in the model 47 G. Great video and treasured memories.

Awesome video to see the development process over time! These guys were geniuses. Thanks for sharing this vintage video!

Almost 66 My mother worked for Bell Aerospace during the 70's In Niagara Falls They made great strides in creating different craft that could both be used in not only military, but civilian use as well

What a great historic piece of video. Gotta love the narrator.

My generation needs this. Thanks for inspiring some of us.

This reminds me of my favorite TV show when I was a kid, late 50s or early 60s. Chuck and PT were the pilots, police as I recall. They were my hero’s then. I used to draw countless helicopters, Bell 47s I think in class, daydreaming of flying a helicopter.

Mystery of flight just unfolded Infront my eyes. Brilliant piece of documentary. Thank you so much for posting🙏

Astonishing that this footage exists. I'm literally watching a man create something that would eventually change air travel forever. I start my helicopter training in a week.

This is a fantastic look back. Gotta love the wingtips used in test flights. Thanks for posting this

Fabulous record of historical technological /engineering by practical men without any hype. Arthur Young's account of his work and overall philosophy "the reflexive universe' is well worth a read.

Wow! what a truly amazing piece of history! I loved every minute of it. Thank You very much for posting this!!

Amazing, brilliant documentary ! one of the best youtube suggestions ever! thanks a lot for uploading, I can't believe it has been around for such a long time.

Thanks, Paul, for posting this !

What a great film. Thank you for making it available after all these years

i m a RC model hobbyist and i worked early in 2008 on the home made radio controlled TREX helicopters and this Arthur Young / bell works with stabilization fly bars and swashplates speaks to me volumes

Wonderful documentary ! I have never taken these incredible flying machines for granted

Terrific historical film clips! Thanks for sharing!

fascinating...this shows the persistence and engineering talent needed to “crack this nut”....and the brilliance of Arthur M Young!

Excellent film footage and perfect narration.

Had a fascination w/ heli- and gyro-copters, as a kid. Built an RC, but never got any more than a few minutes stick time in a Bell Kiowa and a Hughes UH-1, while in the military (totally off the books, but a real blast), after making friends w/ a Marine Corp pilot. He was a car guy, so I repaid his generosity by rebuilding the carburetor for his '67 Olds 442, tuning it for proper jet size and adjusting the progressive linkage operation. Win win!!

This was back during a time when engineers and designers had fun being creative as a automotive designer.

Absolutely fabulous documentation and narrator explained evolution perfectly.

Astonishing how helicopter technologies had such humble roots.

Fascinating. These gentlemen risked life and limb to pursue what their dreams. Absolutely amazing. The current Bell Helicopters still use similar system.

Thanks for preserving and publishing this. The birth of the MASH helicopter. A comparison between Arthur Young's helicopter and the early Sikorsky helicopters would be interesting.

Thank you very much for making this important narrative available. So, so valuable!

When you see .mpg, you know its going to be a well made classic

Incredible footage ! Thank you!!

Mankind's creative ability never ceases to amaze me. Brilliant video.

So well put together. Excellent documentary. I had no idea; I thought it was all Igor Sikorsky. The stabilizer bar made it controllable.

very very good documentary

That was a refreshing nitty gritty hands on history lesson!

Fascinating. I've never seen this video and I flew helicopters my whole life !

This was a great video. Thanks I have over 14000 hrs in helicopter and 38 yrs. First time I saw this. thanks again for the history. Great job.

Thank you,I had the privilage to flyght the Bell 47 in agriculture and I loved it

Great Machines, proud Inventors! Greetings from Thuringia, Germany

Amazing pioneering genius. Those guys never quit and were determined to succeed.

What a wonderful story! Thanks very much for posting this video!

Great video. I worked and flew on a 47 in the 90's. Still a great flying helicopter.

Absolutely fascinating, from both a technical and historic perspective. Thanks for posting the video.

I love the string and sticky tape approach to performance measurement. I also learned for the first time how the rotor is controlled with counetrweagts.

Brilliant documentary. Thanks for posting

Thanks for sharing this film. Amazing how quickly the development went with just a small group of motivated people.

Thanks for posting, it was a pleasure to watch this.

Bravo and we helicopter lovers thank you for the hard effort you put in larry

Ultra awesome Film thank you for posting !!

WOW incredible story and amazing narration.I often wondered where the Bell helicopter came from and now I know.

A fine contribution to the evolution of the helicopter. Thanks for posting.

Absolutely fascinating and inspiring how one man with a dream and some tools in his barn created the first helicopter.

a bloody good watch thanks for saving this footage

What a fantastic piece of history. All I can say is WOW... Very awesome.

I’m a huge fan of the Bell helicopter company. Huge fan! Can’t wait for the Bell V-280 Valor and Bell 360 Invictus to be mass produced. Amazing company! Amazing aircrafts!

Really fascinating video. As an RC helicopter enthusiast it's very interesting to be able to see a first-hand account of the devlopment of the Bell rotor system.

Wonderful piece of oral history with clips likely not available elsewhere.

Great documentary! Thanks for sharing it!

Great little doco this, thanks for the upload.

excellent Excellent EXCELLENT 27 minuets, gonna watch it a few more times too......... The vary first helicopter I saw was either a 47 landing on the beach in Waianae HI or lashed to the deck of my dad LST 1110 on it's way to bring supplys up to Alaska from West Loch in Pearl Harbor in the mid 1950s in order to construct the DEW line. My first stick time was in a 47 in the early 1990s in Blairstown NJ. And now that I think of it, perhaps my last stick tick time was in a 47 at Homer Bell's (no relation) in a corn field in southern Ohio in the late 1990s.

Brilliant. Thanks for uploading.

I met Arthur at age 71, when Barry Rosenberg invited him to visit our radio show on WXPN, "Relax for Survival." I was a young producer, and Arthur was an interesting guest. He talked about the development of the helicopter at length, and this film is a wonderful postscript to that experience.

Great video. Absolute genius at work.

Molte grazie per questo storico Documentario=Thank you very much for this historical documentary and the explanations and of course to the protagonists of this invention. Paul

What a great piece of history!

This was an awesome video. Without things like this the historical backstory would not be known. One thing struck me though - how little attention was paid to safety.

The minds of these men. Great men, who changed the world. To encounter a problem, use training and intellect to slowly arrive at an answer is impressive.

Paul, just found this and love it. Good collection of videos you have. Prior crew chief on Huey's, and love this how it began type video.

Very cool video. I was a Huey crew chief in the US Army so this video was quite interesting. Years rolled by and eventually I was employed at an Cessna Aircraft repair facility in Newburgh NY, and worked as a parts puke for the Citation corporate jet line . Ahhhhh. Many memories of the many flights over Germany and Holland .....

I need a part two! Excellent film.

I always surprised when I watch the early flight films of the complete lack of any safety clothing or equipment. Fantastic story and very well narrated.

its incredible that pilot survived going into the rotor, i thought he was dead for sure

Thanks Paul. These are great videos and worth the subscription.

just pure history ,,, so understated , what a fantastic privilege to be able to watch this.

Amazing progress through the early years.

It was my priveledge in September 1991 to meet Bart Kelly at his home, along with Tony Searle, a freind who paid for the research trip. I'm looking at my copy of Vertical Flight - The Age of the Helicopter, signed by the man himself 'remembering our pleasant meeting'. He was a gentleman of the highest order and gifted engineer who shared with us some of the untold story of the development and design considerations of a practical helicopter, and was also a gifted English Horn player in an orchestra there in Dallas. He was indeed expecting a new instrument very shortly that he'd ordered and proceeded to enlighten us on the differences between a French Horn and an English Horn. Bart, he insisted we call him Bart, was also kind enough to put us in touch with Joe Mashman, test pilot from Bell Textron during the Korean war period, responsible for new types documentation and testing, and it was he, Joe Mashman, who was responsible, it being his idea, for mounting a bazooka on each skid of the model 47, at that time used solely for Casevac and unarmed. Joe reckoned that a couple of bazooka rounds might keep the heads of hostiles down whilst on a job, the bazooka itself being very light, and the ammunition itself the 'heavy' part, it would not impair performance in the 47's primary role of Casevac. See the long running TV series MASH for action shots of Bell 47's in role of casualty evacuation (CASEVAC) during the Korean campaign. Joe expalined to us during our meeting, sponsored by Bart, that after expalining the project to the Armoury commander, whom he knew, he'd borrowed a couple of bazookas, made brackets to attach them to the skids of the '47, and then bore sighted them to a target at approximately 100 yards back at base. So far so good, now for a 'live fire' test. Unfortunately, the base in question was in Texas, and too far for the Army officials to be bothered so Joe arranged a demonstration firing, shipped the machine up by rail, obtained two live rounds for the bazooka and proceeded to board a local scheduled flight to DC to demo the rig. He packed the two cased rounds under his seat. Try doing that in 2019. The test was a success and the arms-carrying Bell 47 was born. RIP all you heroes. Arthur Middleton Young. Your Arc of Process continues to develop towards it's destined point of departure.

An excellent documentary, both footage and commentary.How dull childhood Would have been PerchanceWithout Whirlybirds.!

I love such documentaries. Very valuable. Documentary clearly explaining everything without any unnecessary prolonging of document. Today would television make 3 series from this... 😃 That must be days full of excitment. People must go lucky to work every day... 🙂 Interesting how stabilisation has been done. Flybar for horizontal stabilisation and mechanical gyroscope for heading/turning stability of tail rotor. Today are both stabilisations controlled by electronics including tiny gyroscopes. Great piece of history... 🙂