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P-59 Airacomet
Bell P-59B Airacomet at the National Museum of the United States Air Force, Dayton, Ohio.
Type	Fighter
Manufacturer	Bell Aircraft Corporation
Designed by	Harland M. Poyer
Maiden flight	1 October 1942
Primary users	United States Army Air Force United States Navy Royal Air Force
Number built	95

The Bell P-59A was a fighter aircraft built in the United States during World War II. The prototype XP-59A became the first jet-powered aircraft to fly in the US on 1 October 1942.

The USAAF 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 US turbojet-powered aircraft and was the first turbojet fighter to have its turbojet engine and inlet nacelles integrated within the main fuselage.

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, which he took back to the US. On 4 September, he offered General Electric a contract to produce an American version of the engine. On the following day, he approached Lawrence Bell 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 cancelled. The design was finalized on 9 January 1942, and construction began. In March, long before the prototypes were completed, an order for 13 YP-59 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 arrived at Muroc Army Air Field (today, Edwards Air Force Base) in California for testing. While being handled on the ground, the aircraft was fitted with a dummy propeller to disguise its true nature. 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. 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) and performance that was far below expectations. Nevertheless, even before delivery of the YP-59As in June 1943, the USAAF ordered 80 production machines, designated P-59A Airacomet.

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, third YP-59A (S/n: 42-22611) was supplied to the RAF in exchange for a Gloster Meteor. British pilots found that the aircraft compared very unfavourably with the jets that they were already flying. (The YP-59A also compared unfavorably to the P-51 Mustang.) Two YP-59A Airacomets (42-108778 and 42-100779) were also delivered to the US 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 and 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.^[1] 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.^[2]

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 from XP-52, none built.

XP-59A

Prototype of the jet engine powered version, 3 built.

YP-59A

Series of test aircraft, 13 built.

YF2L-1

Two YP-59A delivered to the US Navy for carrier evaluation.

P-59A

First production version, 20 built.

P-59B

Improved P-59A. 80 aircraft ordered but only 30 built, 50 cancelled.

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

 United Kingdom

• Royal Air Force received one in exchange for a Gloster Meteor I.

 United States

• United States Army Air Force
  • 412th Fighter Group
• United States Navy

XP-59A

• The original prototype is preserved in the Milestones of Flight Gallery of the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC, along with the Wright Flyer and the Apollo 11 command module Columbia.

P-59A

• One of the P-59A resides in the March Field Air Museum in Riverside, California
• In 1991, the Planes of Fame Museum located in Chino, California acquired a P-59A and has been in the process of slowly restoring it to flying condition.

P-59B

• A P-59B is on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio.

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.

General characteristics

• Crew: 1
• Length: 38 ft 2 in (11.63 m)
• Wingspan: 45 ft 6 in (13.87 m)
• Height: 12 ft 4 in (3.76 m)
• Wing area: 386 ft² (35.9 m²)
• Empty weight: 7,940 lb (3,600 kg)
• Max takeoff weight: 12,700 lb (5,760 kg)
• Powerplant: 2× General Electric I-A turbojets, 2,000 lbf (8.9 kN) each

Performance

• Maximum speed: 413 mph (664 km/h)
• Range: 240 mi (386 km)
• Service ceiling: 46,200 ft (14,080 m)
• Rate of climb: 3,200 ft/min (16,26 m/s)

Armament

• 1x 37 mm cannon
• 3x .50 cal (12.7 mm) machine guns

Notes

Bibliography

• P-59 Airacomet Pictures
• An article on the P-59 Airacomet
• P-59 Airacomet specifications
• Photographs of various P-59s
• A few photographs of surviving P-59s
• Original XP-59A prototype at National Air and Space Museum
• The P-59A at March Field Air Museum
• The P-59B at the National Museum of the USAF

Comparable aircraft

• de Havilland Vampire
• Gloster Meteor
• P-80 Shooting Star
• Messerschmitt Me 262
• Nakajima J9Y Kikka
• Sukhoi Su-9

Designation sequence

• XP-56 - XP-57 - XP-58 - P-59 - P-60 - P-61 - XP-62

Related lists

• List of military aircraft of the United States
• List of fighter aircraft
• List of World War II jet aircraft

See also

• Heinkel He 178
• Heinkel He 280