Bell 47/H-13 Sioux Helicopter: Military and Civilian Use, 1946 to the Present

Famously pictured in the opening credits of the popular television series M.A.S.H., Bell’s Model 47 helicopter was the first helicopter certified for civilian use in March 1946 and went on to serve a wide variety of military and civilian applications.

With its signature bubble canopy, the Model 47, and particularly its H—13 Sioux military variant, served in both Korea and Vietnam.

It became a stalwart in civilian aviation with a variety of uses: agricultural aerial sprayer, aerial firefig...