Story ID: 
Bell Backlog To Double by Year-End
By: Jennifer Harrington
Caption: Bell Helicopter expects its commercial product backlog to reach $2 billion by the end of the year.
Word Count: 74
Bell Helicopter expects its commercial product backlog to reach $2 billion by the end of the year. The backlog stood at $1 billion on January 1, but the company expects this figure to double once the first production Bell 429 flies late this year, enabling existing customer purchase agreements to move officially into backlog. Additionally, another $400 million is expected to be added once the company receives deposits for the 84 purchase agreements signed at the Singapore Airshow and Heli-Expo.