Bell Aerospace in the town of Wheatfield in Niagara County was a huge manufacturing and aero research operation which helped this area prosper. The name, Lawrence Bell, well known in Niagara County, has become synonymous worldwide with helicopters, rocket belts, Mercury Space Craft, lunar modules and everything in between. Bell started his fledgling aircraft industry in 1935 with plants in Buffalo and Wheatfield. Bell’s plants and ambition grew exponentially as the nation viewed the success of fixed and rotary wing aircraft and then set their sights on the stars. Fifty years ago, the Soviets launched Sputnik and kicked the space race into high gear. Bell Aircraft gave way to Bell Aerospace as President John Kennedy announced his plans to place men on the moon within a decade.

In 1947, legendary test pilot, Chuck Yeager was flying a rocket-powered Bell X-1 supersonic aircraft when he broke the sound barrier. That jet now hangs in the main hall of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. The James Bond movie, Thunderball, thrust another piece of Bell technology into the foreground in 1965 with the now famous Bell Rocketbelt. Bell engineers also designed the engine that lifted the lunar ascent module off the moon's surface and back to the command module during the Apollo missions. Through companies like Bell Aerospace, America gained a significant edge in the space race and a generation of youths inspired during the moon shot era have gone on to create most of the world’s biggest technology-driven companies.

Douglas Farley, Director
Erie Canal Discover Center
24 Church St.
Lockport NY 14094
716.439.0431
CanalDiscovery@aol.com
www.NiagaraHistory.org