Bell P-59 Airacomet

P-59 Airacomet
Bell P-59B Airacomet at the National Museum of the United States Air Force, Dayton, Ohio.
Role	Fighter
Manufacturer	Bell Aircraft
Designed by	Harland M. Poyer
First flight	1 October 1942
Primary users	United States Army Air Forces United States Navy Royal Air Force
Number built	66

The Bell P-59 Airacomet was the first American jet fighter aircraft, designed and built during World War II. The United States Army Air Forces was not impressed by its performance and cancelled the contract when fewer than half of the aircraft ordered had been produced. Although no P-59s went into combat, it paved the way for another design generation of U.S. turbojet-powered aircraft and was the first turbojet fighter to have its turbojet engine and inlet nacelles integrated within the main fuselage.

Contents 1 Design and development 2 Operational service 3 Variants 4 Operators 5 Survivors 6 Specifications (P-59B)

Design and development

Major General Henry H. Arnold became aware of the United Kingdom's jet program when he attended a demonstration of the Gloster E.28/39 in April 1941. The subject had been mentioned, but not in depth, as part of the Tizard Mission the previous year. He requested, and was given, the plans for the aircraft's powerplant, the Power Jets W.1, which he took back to the U.S. On 4 September, he offered the U.S. company General Electric a contract to produce an American version of the engine. On the following day, he approached Lawrence Dale Bell, head of Bell Aircraft Corporation, to build a fighter to utilize it. Bell agreed and set to work on producing three prototypes. As a disinformation tactic, the USAAF gave the project the designation P-59A, to suggest it was a development of a completely unrelated Bell XP-59 fighter project that had been canceled. The design was finalized on 9 January 1942, and construction began. In March, long before the prototypes were completed, an order for 13 YP-59A pre-production machines was added to the contract.

Bell XP-59 wind tunnel model. Original pusher-propeller design.

On 12 September 1942, the first XP-59A was sent to Muroc Army Air Field (today, Edwards Air Force Base) in California by train for testing, taking seven days to reach Muroc.^[1] While being handled on the ground, the aircraft was fitted with a dummy propeller to disguise its true nature.^[2] The aircraft first became airborne during high-speed taxiing tests on 1 October with Bell test pilot Robert Stanley at the controls, although the first official flight was made by Col Laurence Craigie the next day.^[1] Over the following months, tests on the three XP-59As revealed a multitude of problems including poor engine response and reliability (common shortcomings of all early turbojets), insufficient lateral stability, i.e., in the roll axis,^[3] and performance that was far below expectations. Chuck Yeager flew the aircraft and was dissatisfied with the speed, but was amazed at the smooth flying. Nevertheless, even before delivery of the YP-59As in June 1943, the USAAF ordered 80 production machines, designated P-59A Airacomet.

Operational service

P-59A (S/N 44-22609, first production -A model) and P-63 (S/N 42-69417) in flight.

The 13 service test YP-59As had a more powerful engine than its predecessor, but the improvement in performance was negligible with only a five mph increase in top speed. One of these aircraft, the third YP-59A (S/n: 42-22611) was supplied to the RAF, becoming RG362/G, in exchange for the first production Gloster Meteor I, EE210/G.^[4] British pilots found that the aircraft compared very unfavorably with the jets that they were already flying. (The YP-59A also compared unfavorably to the propeller-driven P-51 Mustang.) Two YP-59A Airacomets (42-108778 and 42-100779) were also delivered to the U.S. Navy where they were evaluated as the YF2L-1 but quickly found completely unsuitable for carrier operations.
Faced with their own ongoing difficulties, eventually, Bell completed 50 production Airacomets, 20 P-59As and 30 P-59Bs. Each was armed with one 37 mm M4 cannon and 44 rounds of ammunition and three .50 cal. machine guns with 200 rounds per gun. The P-59Bs were assigned to the 412th Fighter Group to familiarize AAF pilots with the handling and performance characteristics of jet aircraft.^[5] While the P-59 was not a great success, the type did give the USAAF experience with the operation of jet aircraft in preparation for the more advanced types that would shortly become available.^[6]

Variants

P-59A Airacomet with the short-lived red outlined National markings (June 1943 to September 1943).

XP-59

Unrelated piston engine powered pusher propeller design developed from the Bell XP-52. Not built.

XP-59A

Prototype of the jet engine powered version, 3 built, serial numbers 42-108784/108786.

YP-59A

Series of test aircraft, 13 built, serial numbers 42-108771/108783.

YF2L-1

Two YP-59A (42-108778/108779) delivered to the US Navy for carrier evaluation as Bu63960/63961.

P-59A

First production version, 20 built, serial numbers 44-22609/22628.

P-59B

Improved P-59A. 80 aircraft ordered but only 30 built, serial numbers 44-22629/22658, further 50 (44-2659/22708) canceled.

Operators

Bell P-59B Airacomet 3/4 front view of Reluctant Robot.

 United Kingdom

• Royal Air Force received one aircraft, becoming RG362/G, in exchange for a Gloster Meteor I EE210/G.

 United States

• United States Army Air Forces
  • 412th Fighter Group
    • 445th Fighter Squadron
• United States Navy

Survivors

Six P-59s are known to survive today.

• YP-59A Airacomet, s/n 42-108777 is undergoing restoration to flying condition Planes of Fame Museum in Chino, California.^[7]
• XP-59A Airacomet, s/n 42-108784 is on display at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC.^[8]
• P-59A Airacomet, s/n 44-22614 is on display at the March Field Air Museum in Riverside, California.^[9]
• P-59B Airacomet, s/n 44-22633 is on display at Edwards Air Force Base.^[10]
• P-59B Airacomet, s/n 44-22656 is on display at the Pioneer Village (Nebraska) in Minden, Nebraska.^[11]
• P-59B Airacomet, s/n 44-22650 is on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio.^[12]

Specifications (P-59B)

Bell YP-59A in flight. X and Y aircraft had rounded vertical stabilizers and wingtips while the production A and B models had squared surfaces. The YP-59A can be distinguished from the XP-59A because Ys had nose armament.

Data from The American Fighter^[13]

General characteristics

• Crew: 1
• Length: 38 ft 10 in (11.84 m)
• Wingspan: 45 ft 6 in (13.87 m)
• Height: 12 ft 4 in (3.76 m)
• Wing area: 386 sq ft (35.86 m²)
• Empty weight: 8,165 lb (3,704 kg)
• Loaded weight: 11,040 lb (5,008 kg)
• Max takeoff weight: 13,700 lb (6,214 kg)
• Powerplant: 2× General Electric J31-GE-5 turbojets, 2,000 lbf (8.9 kN) each

Performance

• Maximum speed: 413 mph (359 knots, 665 km/h) at 30,000 ft (9,140 m)
• Cruise speed: 375 mph (326 knots, 604 km/h)
• Range: 375 mi (326 knots, 604 km)
• Service ceiling: 46,200 ft (14,080 m)
• Climb to 30,000 ft (9,140 m): 15 min 30 s

Armament

• Guns:
  
  • 1x 37 mm cannon
  • 3x .50 cal (12.7 mm) machine guns
• Rockets: 8× 60 lb (30 kg) rockets
• Bombs: 2,000 lb (910 kg) bombs