P-63 Kingcobra
The P-63 Kingcobra fighter of World War II was developed from the P-39 Airacobra, which it closely resembled. Similar in appearance to the P-39 Airacobra, with its "car-door" entry and mid-mounted engine, the P-63 was a larger, heavier aircraft. The P-63 incorporated a turbocharged engine, of the sort initially slated for the P-39. The Kingcobra was a relatively fast climbing point interceptor, cramped, expensive to build, with an engine supercharger that wasn’t overly reliable.The U.S. Army Air Forces never used the P-63 in combat, although some were used for fighter training.
Bell produced 3,305 P-63s, 13 of which were P-63Es. The most unusual P-63 variations were the RP-63A and RP-63C "pinball" versions developed late in WWII. Aerial gunnery students fired at these manned target aircraft using .30-cal. lead and plastic frangible machine gun bullets which disintegrated harmlessly against the target's external armor plating. Special instruments sent impulses to red lights in the nose of the "pinball" aircraft, causing them to blink when bullets struck the plane.
The Bell P-63A Kingcobra did not gain much appreciation in American hands, but when operated by Soviet pilots on the Eastern Front against Axis forces, it was highly praised. Many P-63s were exported as lend-lease aircraft; the Soviet Union received 2,456 and Free French forces obtained 300. Since the P-63's low-level performance was adequate, it was widely used by the Soviets for such missions as "tank busting."
On 11 April 1941 USAAC (U.S. Army Air Corps) ordered two prototypes of the new version of the P-39 Airacobra, designated XP-39E. The aircraft was developed with a more powerful engine, the Continental V-1430-1. The main difference between the XP-39E from the standard "Airacobra" was the wing, which had laminar profile. And though such a profile was a little worse for load-bearing properties, but provide less drag than conventional type profiles.
Development of a laminar profile was at the time a great achievement aerodynamics. At that time the P-51 "Mustang" had already flown with a wing which was also laminar. However, it should be recalled that the "Mustang" only became famous in the late war, when it used a powerful high-altitude engine V-1650 (English version of "Merlin"). In 1941, the P-51 was still an ordinary plane, which is usually used as a scout and light bomber. At low altitude and relatively low speed all the positive properties of the laminar wing came to naught.
The laminar profile shows its advantages not only at high speed and altitude of the aircraft, but in the event that its shape is kept very strictly. No dents, rivets, hatches and the like trifles should not spoil the wing contours. All this required a completely new wing design with a thick skin, which had no reinforcement stringers (longitudinal strength members). Moreover, the designers tried to install another new wing and four heavy machine guns. While trying to cure a major illness "Airacobra" - a tendency to hit into a tailspin, they added almost half a meter length to the rear fuselage. In connection with the increased flight weight (about 670 kg, compared with P-39D) had to be reinforced and landing gear.
It became apparent that the XP-39E did not represent progress compared with the base model, as increased weight almost completely negated the improved performance of the machine. Furthermore, rate of climb and ceiling were even less than P-39D. Maneuverability was poor. Landing speed is increased by 16 km / h, the takeoff distance is increased by 50%. XP-39E fighter ahead of "ancestor" only speed but accelerated slightly better than the P-39D. The modernization program for the "Airacobra" was doomed.
In July 1941, the company started to develop an alternative project, the designation XP-63. Its main difference from the XP-39E was that the entire fuselage was significantly shifted forward relative to the wing (also having a laminar profile and new rounded tip) to save the "Kingcobra" from the flat spin. The first prototype, first flew from the airport in Buffalo December 7, 1942, exactly one year after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The first impression of the aircraft was excellent, begs comparison with fighter Supermarine "Spitfire".
In total, from October 1943 to December 1944 "Bell", with a little help of the company Republic, built 1725 of the P-63A, after which they were replaced by a modification of the "C", with a more powerful V-1710-117 engine, increased volume of internal fuel tanks (405 liters instead of 378 liters), modified air intake blower and additional ventral fins (like the same ridges retroactively began to mount on the previously released P-63A recent series that several "slowed down" delivery "Kingcobra" to combat units).
The P-63A was followed by modification of the "C", because a scheduled option "B" had not received proper customer support. The P-63B was planned to equip high-altitude engine V-1650-5 - a licensed version of the English "Merlin." Such engines equipped the P-51 "Mustang". The refusal of the project, apparently, was due to two reasons. First, the same engines were required in a growing number for the "Mustangs" - the best fighters of the U.S. Air Force, and secondly, "Kingcobra" (as well as their predecessors "Airacobra"), were intended primarily for supplies to the USSR. Experience fighting on the Eastern Front showed that there were dogfights, usually at medium and low altitudes, and hence the need for a high-altitude engine seemed not so acute.
In early 1945 Bell tried to carry out a fundamental modification of his plane. Primarily facilitated fuselage structure by setting a teardrop-shaped lantern cockpit, eliminating the massive "car" door. Also, set a new engine V-1710-109, increased to 245 mm wingspan. In general, the machine was quite successful. At an altitude of 9150 m fighter received the designation P-63D, has a top speed 703 km / h - nearly 50 km / h more than the standard F-63A. However, P-63D came too late. The war was coming to an end, the sky was dominated by Europe and Japan no less speed "Mustangs" and "Thunderbolt", and breaking debugged production "Kingcobra" no longer made sense.
Instead of P-63D in the series was launched fighter F-63E from the old cabin, but differed from the A and C type short inlet P-63D. However, before the end of the war managed to produce only 13 copies. In connection with the surrender of Japan, September 1, 1945 production of the P-63 at the Bell factory of was discontinued. By this time they had managed to build yet only 2 copies of P-63F, the engine features an advanced V-1710-135 and vertical tail larger area.
The main "consumer" aircraft Kingcobra became the Soviet Air Force. USSR during the war received more than two-thirds of the 3303 series P-63 (2397 aircraft). All fighters went its course along the famous route ALSIB (Alaska - Siberia). It began in the factories of the company in Buffalo and Niagara Falls, where "Kingcobra" took the pilots of the 3rd Air Group ferry departing then to Great Falls (Montana items). Here planes checked, modified, prepared for use in cold climates. Before transmitting the Soviets held last inspection and necessary repairs. There were a variety of problems: in the oil cooler, in the fuel pump, the fuel supply and so on.
The range of the "Kingcobra" was relatively small, so the route, the length of which only from Fairbanks to Krasnoyarsk was 6500 kilometers, had to be divided into five stages. American pilots flew airplanes through Canada to Alaska in Fairbanks, where the Soviet military took over the "Kingcobra" mission. After that the fighters fell into the hands of the first ferry Regiment (1st PAP). Their task was 1560 km haul aircraft across the Bering Strait to Uelkal - airfield on the shores of the Gulf of Anadyr. In Uelkal, the 2nd PAP flew the aircraft on a complex 1450-km section of the Kolyma and Chukotka uninhabited ridge to Seimchan. There were aircraft pilots of the third PAP flew from Yakutsk to Kirenska (1340 km), and then from Kirenska to Krasnoyarsk (920 km), which took place over a solid Siberian taiga, served respectively 4th and 5th PAP. The north road lived and worked. On 10 September 1944 a P-63A fighter became the 5,000th American aircraft flown to the USSR via the northern route, and by the end of 1944 the "Kingcobra" had been on the track longer than the P-39.
The p63kingcobra.com website reports that "few details have been published about the P-63’s combat role in the Soviet Union. It is believed by some sources that an unknown number of the P-63’s supplied by the U.S. were secretly transferred to the Russian front contravening the Lend-Lease agreement and thus seeing combat with the German’s, however no evidence has yet come forward to support this claim. What is known is the P-63 did see combat in the Far East during the brief but fierce fighting that took place when Russia declared war on Japan... Kingcobras continued to operate with the French forces until about 1951, seeing their last combat in Indochina. "
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