P-63 Kingcobra
Bell P-63 Kingcobra
Description
Role	Fighter
Crew	One
First Flight	December 7, 1942
Entered Service
Manufacturer	Bell Aircraft Corporation
Dimensions
Length	32 ft 8 in	m
Wingspan	38 ft 4 in	m
Height	12 ft 7 in	m
Wing area	248 ft²	m²
Weights
Empty	6,800 lb	kg
Loaded	8,800 lb	kg
Maximum takeoff	10,700 lb	kg
Powerplant
Engine	Allison V-1710-117
Power	1,800 hp	kW
Performance
Maximum speed	410 mph	km/h
Combat range	miles	km
Ferry range	miles	km
Service ceiling	38,600 ft	m
Rate of climb	ft/min	m/min
Wing loading	lb/ft²	kg/m²
Power/Mass	hp/lb	kW/kg
Armament
Guns	1 × 37 mm cannon (in propeller hub) 4 × 0.50 in machine-guns (2 in nose, 2 in wings)
Bombs

The Bell P-63 Kingcobra was developed from the P-39 Airacobra in an attempt to correct that aircraft's deficiencies. Although superficially very similar to the Airacobra, in fact it was a completely new aircraft with no interchangeable parts. It had better high-altitude performance than the P-39, thanks to the fitting of a supplemental turbocharger and a laminar flow wing, but it was still considered inferior to the P-51 Mustang at altitude, and the aircraft was not adopted for combat use by the USAAF.

American allies, particularly the Soviet Union, had a great need for fighter aircraft, however, and the Soviets were already the largest users of the Airacobra. Therefore, the Kingcobra was ordered into production to be delivered under Lend-Lease. Russian ferry pilots, many of them women, would take delivery of the aircraft at Selfridge Field, Michigan and fly them through Canada, over Alaska and to the Soviet Union over the Bering Strait. 2,397 such aircraft were delivered.

114 later models were delivered to the Free French, but they arrived too late to see service in the war. They were, however, kept on in the postwar Armée de l'Air and saw service in French Indochina before being replaced in 1951.

Official Soviet histories downplayed the role of Lend-Lease supplied aircraft in favor of local designs, but it is known that the P-63 was a successful ground-attack and tank-busting aircraft in Soviet service. Sufficient aircraft continued in use after the war for them to be given the NATO reporting name of Fred.

Its main use in American service was the unusual one of a manned flying target for gunnery practice. All armament and the regular armor was removed from these RP-63 aircraft, and over a ton of armored sheet metal was applied to the aircraft. This was fitted with sensors that would detect hits, and these hits were signalled by illuminating a light in the propeller hub where the cannon would have been. This earned the aircraft the unofficial nickname of Pinball. Special frangible rounds made of a lead/graphite combination were developed that would disintegrate upon impact.