Bell P-63A Kingcobra
Of the nine new fighter designs tested by the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) in 1942-43, only one was produced in quantity - the Bell P-63. This aircraft was designed to address the shortcomings of the P-39 Airacobra. Although similar in appearance to the P-39, the P-63 was in fact a completely redesigned airplane and only a few parts are interchangeable between the two aircraft. The picture to the right is an early photo of the very P-63 the Dixie Wing is restoring, taken shortly after its delivery to the USAAF in early 1944. Our P-63 is currently undergoing a complete restoration and should be flying in a few years.
The P-63 was a fast airplane - its performance approaching that of the P-51 - but since the P-51 and P-47 were in full production, about 2,400 of the 3,303 P-63s produced were sent to the Soviet Union under the Lend-Lease act. France used some in Indo-China after the end of World War II. The U.S. used it as a test plane and, in a unique version, as live gunnery target training for bomber crews. These variants, called RP-63s or "Pinballs," had much more armor to withstand the impact of the special frangible bullets used by the crews on these training missions.
While similar in appearance, the P-63 (left) was a complete redesign of the P-39 Airacobra (right)