Lawrence D. Bell devoted forty-four years to pioneering the aircraft
industry. From a barefoot boy in Mentone, Indiana, the town of his birth,
he became chairman of the board of one of the nation's foremost, and most
innovative aircraft firms, the Bell Aircraft Corporation. This firm produced
such significant aviation contributions as America's first jet propelled
airplane, the world's first commercial helicopter, the first aircraft to
break the sound barrier, the first aircraft with variable geometry wing,
and the first jet propelled vertical take-off and landing airplane.