Bell 207 Sioux Scout

Bell 207 Sioux Scout
Bell 207 Sioux Scout
	Bell 207 prototype during flight testing
General information
Type	Experimental attack helicopter
National origin	United States
Manufacturer	Bell Helicopter
Number built	1
History
First flight	27 June 1963
Developed from	Bell 47

The Bell 207 Sioux Scout is a modified Bell 47 helicopter, developed by Bell Helicopter under contract from the United States Army, as a proof-of-concept demonstrator for the Bell D-255 helicopter gunship design, featuring a tandem cockpit, stub wings, and a chin-mounted gun turret.

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.^[1] 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 missiles.^[2]

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.^[3]^[4]^[5] The Sioux Scout included all the key features of a modern helicopter gunship – a tandem cockpit, stub wings for weapons, and a chin-mounted gun turret.^[3] 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.^[2] 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.^[6]

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, Georgia for further testing at the end of 1963.^[2]^[6]^[7] 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.^[3]

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.^[4]

Specifications

Data from ^{[citation needed]}

General characteristics

Crew: Two in tandem cockpits
Powerplant: 1 × Lycoming TVO-435-A1A 6-cyl. air-cooled horizontally-opposed piston engine, 260 hp (190 kW)

Performance Armament

Guns: Two 7.62 mm (.308 in) machine guns in Emerson Electric TAT-101 chin-turret

References

^ Goebel, Greg. Cobra Origins Archived August 7, 2007, at the Wayback Machine. Vectorsite.net, 1 December 2008.
^ ^a ^b ^c Verier, Mike. Bell AH-1 Cobra, pp. 12–17. Osprey Publishing, 1990. ISBN 0-85045-934-6.
^ ^a ^b ^c Donald, David and Daniel March. "AH-1 Cobra". Modern Battlefield Warplanes. AIRtime Publishing Inc, 2004. ISBN 1-880588-76-5.
^ ^a ^b Spenser, Jay P. "Bell Helicopter". Whirlybirds, A History of the U.S. Helicopter Pioneers, pp. 268–269. University of Washington Press, 1998. ISBN 0-295-97699-3.
^ Apostolo, Giorgio. "Bell 207 Sioux Scout". The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Helicopters, p. 50. New York: Bonanza Books. 1984. ISBN 978-0-517-43935-7.
^ ^a ^b Pelletier, Alain J. Bell Aircraft Since 1935. US Naval Institute Press, 1992. ISBN 1-55750-056-8.
^ First flight date is listed as late June 1963 in some sources (Pelletier: 27 June, Spenser: late June).

Verier, Mike. Bell AH-1 Cobra. Osprey Publishing, 1990. ISBN 0-85045-934-6.

External links

Bulban, Erwin J. Bell Demonstrates New Design for Tactical Helicopter, Aviation Week & Space Technology, September 23, 1963, v. 79, no. 13, pp. 30–32.

[Vectorsite_Bell_207-1] Goebel, Greg. Cobra Origins Archived August 7, 2007, at the Wayback Machine. Vectorsite.net, 1 December 2008.

[Verier-2] Verier, Mike. Bell AH-1 Cobra, pp. 12–17. Osprey Publishing, 1990. ISBN 0-85045-934-6.

[Donald_March-3] Donald, David and Daniel March. "AH-1 Cobra". Modern Battlefield Warplanes. AIRtime Publishing Inc, 2004. ISBN 1-880588-76-5.

[Spenser-4] Spenser, Jay P. "Bell Helicopter". Whirlybirds, A History of the U.S. Helicopter Pioneers, pp. 268–269. University of Washington Press, 1998. ISBN 0-295-97699-3.

[Apostolo-5] Apostolo, Giorgio. "Bell 207 Sioux Scout". The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Helicopters, p. 50. New York: Bonanza Books. 1984. ISBN 978-0-517-43935-7.

[Pelletier-6] Pelletier, Alain J. Bell Aircraft Since 1935. US Naval Institute Press, 1992. ISBN 1-55750-056-8.

[7] First flight date is listed as late June 1963 in some sources (Pelletier: 27 June, Spenser: late June).

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v t e Bell Aircraft and Bell Helicopter/Bell Textron aircraft
Manufacturer designations	1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31¹ 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 (I) 39 (II) 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 J 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70–100¹ 101 102 103 104 105 106 107¹ 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131–199¹ 200 201 202¹ 203¹ 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213¹ 214 214ST 215¹ 216 217¹ 218¹ 219¹ 220¹ 221¹ 222 223–229¹ 230 231–248¹ 249 250–300¹ 301 302–308¹ 309 310–359¹ 360 361–399¹ 400 401–405¹ 406 407 408¹ 409 410¹ 411¹ 412 413¹ 414¹ 415¹ 416¹ 417 418–426¹ 427 428¹ 429 430 431–439¹ 440 441¹ 442¹ 443¹ 444¹ 445 446¹ 447¹ 448¹ 449 550–504¹ 505 506–524¹ 525 526–532¹ 533 534–539¹ 540 541–547¹ 548 549–575¹ 576 577–582¹ 583 846–598¹ 599 600–608¹ 609 610–645¹ 646 647–679¹ 680 681–910¹ 911 912–917¹ 918 D-188 D-255 D-292
Fighter aircraft	YFM-1 P-39 XFL P-59 P-63 P-76 XP-77 XP-83
Target drones	PQM-56
Attack helicopters	207 Bell AH-1 Singles Twins AH-1Z 309 YAH-63 360
Observation and utility helicopters	H-13 H-13J UH-1 UH-1N UH-1Y TH-57 OH-58 TH-67 ARH-70
Commercial helicopters	47 47J 204 205 206 210 212 214 214ST 222 230 407 412 427 429 430 505 525
Tiltrotors	V-22 V-247 V-280 AW609 TR918 QTR
UAVs	MQ-8C
Non-production helicopters	400 417 440
Experimental aircraft	ATV 201 533 D-188 D-255 D-292 FCX-001 L-39 LLRV/LLTV X-1 X-2 X-5 X-14 X-16 X-22 XF-109 XP-52 XV-3 XV-15
Names	Airabonita Airacobra Airacomet Airacuda Arapaho BigLifter Cobra Creek Eagle Eye Fire Scout GlobalRanger Huey HueyCobra Invictus Iroquois JetRanger Jet Ranger X Kingcobra KingCobra Kiowa LongRanger Osprey Quad TiltRotor Ranger Sea Cobra Sea Ranger Sioux Sioux Scout SuperCobra Super Huey Super Transporter Twin Huey TwinRanger Valor Venom Vigilant Viper Zulu Cobra
¹ Unknown/not assigned

Bell 207 Sioux Scout

Design and development

Specifications

See also

References

External links