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The US Navy obtained 2 surplus P-63 Kingcobras and had Bell installing on them swept wings for research on low-speed and stall characteristics of high-speed wing designs. The USN designated them L-39.

per wiki - "Two war surplus P-63Cs were modified by Bell under Navy contract for flight testing of low-speed and stall characteristics of high-speed wing designs. The aircraft received new wings with adjustable leading edge slats, trailing edge flaps and a pronounced sweep of 35 degrees. The wings had no wheel wells; only the nose gear was retractable. L-39-1 first flew 23 April 1946, demonstrating a need for extra tail surface and rear fuselage length to balance the aircraft in flight—the wing repositioning reduced empennage effectiveness and moved the center of lift aft. A lighter three-bladed propeller from a P-39Q-10 was mounted and the necessary changes to the empennage were made. L-39-2 incorporated these adjustments from the start. L-39-1 later went to NACA at Langley for wind tunnel testing, where much valuable data were gathered. L-39-2 also served as a testbed for the Bell X-2 40-degree wing design."

 
B-17F Bomber 42-3489 Crashed Into Aircraft Tractor on airfield 1943

Delivered Denver 11/7/43; Grenier 18/8/43; force landed base with George Michie 21/8/43; Assigned 482BG; transferred 1 EEL Bedford (TB-17-G) 20/7/44; 4148 BU Bedford 4/12/44; 4100 Patterson 8/3/45; Reconstruction Finance Corporation (sold for scrap metal in USA) Walnut Ridge 12/7/45.

 
The nose-mounted Mickey unit shows up in a few other photos; Roger Freeman even had one in Mighty Eighth back in the early '70s.

I didn't check the serial either, but it ddoesn't really matter. Several Fs were delivered with chin turrets before an AAF order redesignating all Fortresses with chin turrets as B-17Gs.

Cheers,



Dana
 
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