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Bell Aircraft
After losing his job with Consolidated Aircraft in the wake of the
fragmenting of the United States, Lawrence Bell founded Bell Aircraft
Corporation in 1931. Originally located in the Empire State, Bell
relocated his headquarters to Marietta, Georgia (following the death
of Lawrence Bell and nineteen workers in a terrorist attack on the
Buffalo factory in early 1933).
In 1934, Bell entered a partnership with the Rolls-Royce Company;
the British manufacturer’s advanced engine technology has allowed
Bell to design high-performance aircraft far beyond expectations.
In October of 1936, Bell entered a similar partnership with
Montreal-based Canadian Car and Foundry Company (CCF) and constructed
a new manufacturing plant in Burlington, Vermont (in the Maritime Provinces).
This plant has so far only carried out assembly work, but is expected to
begin full-scale manufacturing by the autumn of 1938.
Shortly after forming the second partnership, Bell obtained a captured
Hughes Aviation Bloodhawk, which he promptly tore apart and studied,
learning what he could about the fighter’s design. This has led to a
complex legal action which has kept the Bell corporation in court to
this day. These legal troubles prompted Bell to make contacts with the
General Motors/Messerschmitt partnership in the Industrial States of America.
What new innovations occur as a result of this latest corporate contact remains to be seen.
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