Jabberwocky
Staff Sergeant
Smokey said:Of course the P 39 was replaced with the P 63 Kingcobra.
The specs of the Bell P 63 D Kingcobra are quite impressive:
Specification of Bell P-63D Kingcobra:
Powerplant: One Allison V-1710-109 (E22) water-cooled engine rated at 1425 hp for take off. Performance: Maximum speed was 437 mph at 30,000 feet (same as a North American P51 D Mustang), service ceiling was 39,000 feet, and an altitude of 28,000 feet could be reached in 11.2 minutes. Normal range was 950 miles, and maximum ferry range was 2000 miles. Dimensions: wingspan 39 feet 2 inches, length 32 feet 8 inches, height 11 feet 2 inches, and wing area 255 square feet. Weights: 7076 pounds empty, 8740 pounds gross, and 11,100 pounds maximum loaded. Armament: One 37-mm M9E1 cannon in the propeller hub with 48 rounds, a pair of 0.50-inch machine guns in the forward fuselage synchronized to fire through the propeller arc, plus a single 0.50-inch machine gun in each of two underwing gondolas
Performance is impressive, but remember that there was only 1 P-3D produced as a test bed for a bubble canopy and new Allison engine. Performance was as good as a P-51D, a plane that had already been in service for 12 months.
The first major production run was the P-63A (~1800 produced) and the heavier and more powerful, low altitude enhanced P-63C (around 1200 produced). Max speed for the P-63A and C was about 410 mph, not that impressive for a fighter introduced in late 1943/ early 1944. The P-38 amd P-51 both out-ranged it and the P-47 was far more suitable for G/A missions.