The Bell 207 Sioux Scout is a modified

Bell 47 The Bell 47 is a single-rotor single-engine light helicopter manufactured by Bell Helicopter. It was based on the third Bell 30 prototype, which was the company's first helicopter designed by Arthur M. Young. The 47 became the first he ...

helicopter, developed by

Bell Helicopter Bell Textron Inc. is an American aerospace manufacturer headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. A subsidiary of Textron, Bell manufactures military rotorcraft at facilities in Fort Worth, and Amarillo, Texas, as well as commercial helicopters in M ...

under contract from the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

, as a proof-of-concept demonstrator for the Bell D-255 helicopter gunship design, featuring a tandem

cockpit A cockpit or flight deck is the area, usually near the front of an aircraft or spacecraft, from which a Pilot in command, pilot controls the aircraft. The cockpit of an aircraft contains flight instruments on an instrument panel, and the ...

, stub

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...

s, and a chin-mounted

gun turret A gun turret (or simply turret) is a mounting platform from which weapons can be fired that affords protection, visibility and ability to turn and aim. A modern gun turret is generally a rotatable weapon mount that houses the crew or mechani ...

Design and development

After several years of development, Bell displayed the mockup of its D-255 "Iroquois Warrior" to Army officials in June 1962, hoping to solicit funding for further development.Goebel, Greg
Cobra Origins
. Vectorsite.net, 1 December 2008. The D-255 was planned to be a purpose-built attack helicopter based on the UH-1B airframe and dynamic components with a new, slender airframe and a two-seat, tandem cockpit, featuring a grenade launcher in a ball turret on the nose, a 20 mm belly-mounted gun pod, and stub wings for mounting rockets or SS.10

anti-tank missile An anti-tank guided missile (ATGM), anti-tank missile, anti-tank guided weapon (ATGW) or anti-armor guided weapon is a Missile guidance, guided missile primarily designed to hit and destroy Armoured fighting vehicle, heavily armored military v ...

s.Verier, Mike. ''Bell AH-1 Cobra'', pp. 12–17. Osprey Publishing, 1990. . A proof-of-concept contract was awarded to Bell in December 1962 for the Model 207 Sioux Scout, which was, in essence, a new forward fuselage and Bell 47G-3 dynamic parts fitted to a Bell 47J center and rear fuselage.Donald, David and Daniel March. "AH-1 Cobra". ''Modern Battlefield Warplanes''. AIRtime Publishing Inc, 2004. .Spenser, Jay P. "Bell Helicopter". ''Whirlybirds, A History of the U.S. Helicopter Pioneers'', pp. 268–269. University of Washington Press, 1998. .Apostolo, Giorgio. "Bell 207 Sioux Scout". ''The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Helicopters'', p. 50. New York: Bonanza Books. 1984. . The Sioux Scout included all the key features of a modern helicopter gunship – a tandem

, stub wings for weapons, and a chin-mounted

. The tandem cockpit placed the gunner in the lower front seat with the pilot in the rear, with both crew positions featuring flight controls. The gunner's position featured a gunsight and turret controls located in the center, so the flying controls were moved to the side of the front cockpit. The gunner controlled a chin-mounted gun turret with twin 7.62 mm (.308 in) M60 machine guns. The stub wings held external fuel tanks. Bell Model 207 Sioux Scout

First flown on 27 June 1963, the Bell 207 demonstrated improved manoeuvrability over the Bell 47/OH-13, derived from the stub wings. A variety of different wings, cowlings and tail surfaces were tested on the 207 before it was turned over to the Army pilots at

Fort Benning Fort Benning is a United States Army post near Columbus, Georgia, adjacent to the Alabama–Georgia border. Fort Benning supports more than 120,000 active-duty military, family members, reserve component soldiers, retirees and civilian employees ...

, Georgia for further testing at the end of 1963.Pelletier, Alain J. ''Bell Aircraft Since 1935''. US Naval Institute Press, 1992. .First flight date is listed as late June 1963 in some sources (Pelletier: 27 June, Spenser: late June). After evaluating the Sioux Scout in early 1964, the Army was impressed, but also felt the Sioux Scout was undersized, underpowered, and generally not suited for practical use. Later in 1964, the Army requested proposals for its Advanced Aerial Fire Support System (AAFSS). Bell proposed the D-262, a smaller version of the D-255, making better use of the T53 engine from the UH-1. However, the Bell D-262 was not selected as a finalist in the competition, which was won by the abortive

Lockheed AH-56 Cheyenne The Lockheed AH-56 Cheyenne was an attack helicopter developed by Lockheed for the United States Army. It rose from the Army's Advanced Aerial Fire Support System (AAFSS) program to field the service's first dedicated attack helicopter. Lock ...

Specifications

Bell 207 Sioux Scout 'N73927' - 10876788306

Bell 207 Sioux Scout 'N73927' - 10876793546

References

* Verier, Mike. ''Bell AH-1 Cobra''. Osprey Publishing, 1990. .

External links

* ''Bulban, Erwin J.'
Bell Demonstrates New Design for Tactical Helicopter
''

Aviation Week & Space Technology ''Aviation Week & Space Technology'', often abbreviated ''Aviation Week'' or ''AW&ST'', is the flagship magazine of the Aviation Week Network. The weekly magazine is available in print and online, reporting on the aerospace, defense and aviati ...

'', September 23, 1963, v. 79, no. 13, pp. 30–32. {{Bell Aircraft 207 Sioux Scout United States military helicopters 1960s United States attack aircraft 1960s United States experimental aircraft 1960s United States helicopters Single-engined piston helicopters Aircraft first flown in 1963

Design and development

Specifications

See also

References

External links