Subject: Number Sixty-Three in the Series--Bell P-63 Kingcobra (4 of 8)

From: [email-masked]
Date: 20 Apr 93 16:37:24 GMT

>From [email-masked]

The next production version of the Kingcobra was the P-63C.  The 
P-63C-1 differed from the P-63A by being powered by the uprated 
Allison V-1710-117 engine with a war emergency rating of 1500 hp at 
sea level and 1800 hp with water injection.  Apart from the more 
powerful engine, the P-63C-1 was basically similar to the P-63A-10.  

The next production block was the P-63C-5.  The most noticeable change 
introduced by the P-63C-5 was the addition of a ventral fin underneath 
the aft fuselage.  Total weight of armor rose to 201 pounds.  

The maximum speed of the P-63C was 410 mph at 25,000 feet.  An 
altitude of 25,000 feet could be reached in 8.6 minutes.  Service 
ceiling was 38,600 feet.  Weights were 6800 pounds empty, 8800 pounds 
gross, and 10,700 pounds maximum takeoff.  Dimensions were wingspan 38 
feet 4 inches, length 32 feet 8 inches, height 12 feet 7 inches, and 
wing area 248 square feet.  Armament consisted of a single 37-mm 
cannon in the propeller hub, plus four 0.50-inch machine guns, two in 
the fuselage and two in underwing gondolas.  

The first P-63C deliveries took place in December 1944, with the total 
production being 1227 aircraft.  Most of these aircraft were delivered 
to the Soviet Union, although 300 were delivered to the Armee de 
l'Air.  The Armee de l'Air Kingcobras were used against the Japanese 
in French colonies in Southeast Asia towards the end of the war in the 
Pacific.  These planes remained in Southeast Asia after the war, and 
eventually saw action against the Viet Minh insurgents in Vietnam 
until the French were finally forced out of Indo-China in 1954.  

There were enough Lend-Lease supplied Kingcobras remaining in service 
in the Soviet Union after the war in Europe ended that they were 
assigned the NATO code name *Fred* when the Cold War got underway.  

Two hundred examples of the P-63C-1 were modified on the production 
line as armored target aircraft ("Pinballs").  These were redesignated 
RP-63C-2, and were more or less similar to their RP-63A predecessors.  
Like the RP-63A, the RP-63C-2 had all combat equipment removed and was 
fitted with a 1488-pound armor skin against which frangible bullets 
fired by gunnery students shattered.  However, the RP-63C-2 differed 
from the RP-63A in reverting to the normal dorsal air intake of the 
standard P-63C.  

Many RP-63Cs were used as target tugs rather than as targets In 1948, 
surviving RP-63Cs were redesignated QF-63C, although they were never 
used as pilotless drones.  

A single P-63C was modified as a two-seat trainer with dual controls.  
It was redesignated TP-63C.  The second cockpit was cut into the rear 
fuselage, behind the wing.  The drawing that I have of the TP-63C 
seems to indicate that the ventral air scoop was flush, since the 
conventional ventral scoop would have blocked the view of the 
instructor in the rear seat.  

The P-63 participated in postwar swept-wing aerodynamic research.  
With the surrender of the Third Reich, the results of wartime German 
aerodynamic research became accessible to American military officials.  
This research indicated that the swept-back wing showed the most 
promise in making it possible for aircraft to achieve significantly 
higher speeds.  Postwar research in the USA carried these ideas still 
further.  The Navy was given the responsibility of investigating the 
low-speed stability behavior and stalling characteristics of the swept 
wing.  The Navy contracted with Bell for the modification of two 
P-63C-5s which would be fitted with a pair of wings swept back at 35 
degrees.  The wings carried leading edge slots and trailing-edge 
flaps.  All armament was deleted and the rear canopy was blacked out.  
These two planes were redesignated L-39-1 and L-39-2 respectively.  
Strings were attached to the sweptback wings in order to ascertain the 
airflow pattern, and a pair of movie cameras were mounted externally 
behind the cockpit canopy to film the airflow pattern while in flight.  
Early flight tests indicated that the center of gravity was too far 
forward, and the four-bladed propellers were replaced by lighter 
three-bladed units taken from a pair of surplus P-39Q-10s.  

Serials of the P-63C series were as follows: 

42-70686/70860 	Bell P-63C-1 Kingcobra 
43-10893/10932 	Bell P-63C-1 Kingcobra 
43-10933/11132 	Bell RP-63C-2 Kingcobra 
44-4001/4427 	Bell P-63C-5 Kingcobra 
43-11133/11717 	Bell P-63C-5 Kingcobra 

Sources:

  The American Fighter, Enzo Angelucci and Peter Bowers, Orion, 1987.  

  War Planes of the Second World War, William Green, Doubleday, 1964.  

  United States Military Aircraft Since 1909, Gordon Swanborough and 
  Peter M. Bowers, Smithsonian, 1989.  

  P-39 Airacobra In Action, Ernie McDowell, Squadron/Signal 
  Publications, 1980.  

Joe Baugher		AT&T Bell Laboratories   	
2000 North Naperville Road      Naperville, Illinois 60566-7033