Bell Helicopter’s Early History on Display at largest WWII event

Before we were Bell Helicopter, we were known originally as Bell Aircraft Corporation headquartered in Buffalo, New York. Back in those days, the men and women who made up Bell Aircraft were focused on creating fighter aircraft to supply to the various wars during that time period.

One of these fighter aircraft, the Bell P-63 Kingcobra, was developed during the WWII time period. The Bell P-63 was the successor of the Bell P-39 Airacobra and stayed in production throughout the war. 

As you can imagine like most aircraft during that time that eventually halted production, the remaining ones still in a good condition, let alone flying became few and far between. However, the memory of the Bell P-63A was brought back to life after a 16-year restoration by the Commemorative Air Force (CAF) Dixie Wing. The CAF Dixie Wing is one of the largest units of the Commemorative Air Force that maintains and flies seven WWII aircraft now including the P-63A.  

The restored aircraft experienced its first flight after 40 years of being in pieces just a couple months ago and the made its public debut at the CAF Dixie Wing’s WWII Heritage Days event.