what is it?
The Bell R-12 (later redesignated H-12; company Model 48) was an American 1940s military utility helicopter built by the Bell Helicopter company. The design did not go into full production, but over a dozen prototypes were used for various tests and projects.
How to recognise it: 1 piston engine · 14.5 m main rotor
base stats
Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).
fun facts
- First flew 80 years ago, in 1946.
- Rotor of 14.5 m: about 3 cars parked nose to tail.
piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.
spec sheet
- first flight
- 1946
- number built
- 13
- role
- military utility helicopter
- makers
- Bell Aircraft Corporation
- engines
- 1× Pratt & Whitney R-1340-55 Wasp
- length
- 17.3 m
- rotor diameter
- 14.5 m
- height
- 3.4 m
- max take-off weight
- 2,851 kg
- top speed
- 169 km/h
- cruise speed
- 145 km/h
- range
- —
- ceiling
- 3,901 m
Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q4883175, Wikipedia: Bell H-12 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.