GregP
Major
About the P-59 Airacomet, let's give Bell their due.
1) When they asked Bell to design it, they didn't give Bell an engine. They gave them a big block of wood that was sort of the correct shape and said, "It won't be any bigger than that. Use two of them."
2) They didn't give them much information at all, including the thrust it would make, so Bell added a LOT of wing area. It's almost a sailplane.
3) They didn't tell Bell how much fuel it used. An F-86D in loiter mode at 30,000 feet will use about 170 U.S. gallons per hour. Average cruise is around 300 gph. The YP-59A, on the other hand, used earlier I-16 engines and would use 570 U.S. gallons per hour on takeoff! Internal fuel was 280 gallons, so you weren't going to fly very long!
4) They didn't tell Bell how much air it used, so the intakes are oversize and draggy. Too much air goes in, the engine uses what it needs, and the rest mulls around in the intake and then comes back out, creating a lot of drag. By the time Bell actually got engines and figured that out, the airframe was completed, and there wasn't any money for redesign.
They built 3 XP-59, 13 YP-59A, 20 P-59A, and 30 P-59B for a grand total of only 66 airplanes. They weren't very good, but the DID serve to teach our WWII pilots how to fly jet aircraft. That came back to benefit us in spades in Korea. When the WWII / Korean War era pilots finally retired, we lost our expertise and didn't get it back until Top Gun / Red Flag were created to restore the expertise to aerial hunters.
The YP-59A at the Planes of Fame is SN 42-108777. We have had the pleasure of having two or three pilots who actually flew our tail number give talks at the museum. Their stories are very entertaining and offer glimpses into early jet operations that are almost shocking. Seems like a good subject for a new post.
Oh, and the Zero is my favorite WWII fighter, too.
1) When they asked Bell to design it, they didn't give Bell an engine. They gave them a big block of wood that was sort of the correct shape and said, "It won't be any bigger than that. Use two of them."
2) They didn't give them much information at all, including the thrust it would make, so Bell added a LOT of wing area. It's almost a sailplane.
3) They didn't tell Bell how much fuel it used. An F-86D in loiter mode at 30,000 feet will use about 170 U.S. gallons per hour. Average cruise is around 300 gph. The YP-59A, on the other hand, used earlier I-16 engines and would use 570 U.S. gallons per hour on takeoff! Internal fuel was 280 gallons, so you weren't going to fly very long!
4) They didn't tell Bell how much air it used, so the intakes are oversize and draggy. Too much air goes in, the engine uses what it needs, and the rest mulls around in the intake and then comes back out, creating a lot of drag. By the time Bell actually got engines and figured that out, the airframe was completed, and there wasn't any money for redesign.
They built 3 XP-59, 13 YP-59A, 20 P-59A, and 30 P-59B for a grand total of only 66 airplanes. They weren't very good, but the DID serve to teach our WWII pilots how to fly jet aircraft. That came back to benefit us in spades in Korea. When the WWII / Korean War era pilots finally retired, we lost our expertise and didn't get it back until Top Gun / Red Flag were created to restore the expertise to aerial hunters.
The YP-59A at the Planes of Fame is SN 42-108777. We have had the pleasure of having two or three pilots who actually flew our tail number give talks at the museum. Their stories are very entertaining and offer glimpses into early jet operations that are almost shocking. Seems like a good subject for a new post.
Oh, and the Zero is my favorite WWII fighter, too.
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