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Bell P-63 Kingcobra

The Bell P-63 Kingcobra was an all-metal monoplane Pursuit aircraft with an inline engine mounted aft of the cockpit.  It also had side opening doors into the cockpit, tricycle landing gear, a cannon firing through the propellor hub, with additional machiine guns, mounted in the nose and wing, similar to the P-39 Airacobra, and in general appeared similar to an enlarged version of that aircraft.  Although not used operationally by the USAAC as a fighter, it was exported to the USSR  and two airframes were provied to the UK for testing.  It was also used by the France and Honduras after the war.  Per reference [8] it took its first flight on 7 December 1942, and entered service in October 1943.  The P-63 was built in a handful of variants, with the primary variants analyzed at this website being:
Per reference [8] a total of 3,303 of this type aircraft of all variants were procured.  

As shown in the images below distinguishing features of this aircraft including;
P-63
[Image Sources: Public Domain via Ref [8] - as annotated by this site]

P-63A_3-view
[Source: Ref [8] - Public Domain]

The table below summarizes the current data collected on this type aircraft, identifying sources for the data


    XP-63A P-63A-10 P-63C Source Notes
Primary Source   1 1 1 3,5
No of Crew   1 1 1
Engine:    
   Qty   1 1 1
   Model   V-1710-93 V-1710-93 V-1710-117
   Displacement  (cu in) 1710 1710 1710
   Power    
     Military (HP) 1150 1150 1100
     War Emergency (HP) 1825 1825 1800
    Normal (HP)  
    Take Off (HP) 1325 1325 1325
   Eng Dims    
     Length (ft)  
     Width/Dia (ft)  
     Height (ft)  
   Base Engine Wt (lb) 1613 1613 1660
Propeller    
   # Blades   4 4 4
   Dia (ft) 11 12.17 12.67
   Manufacturer    
   Type     Const Speed Const Speed
Wing        
   Span (ft)  
   Root Thickness (%)  
  (in)  
   Total Area  (sq ft) 248 248 248
     Wing (less Ailerons & Flaps) (sq ft)  
     Ailerons (sq ft)  
     Flaps (sq ft)  
Tail Area (sq ft) 69.49 69.49 70.26
   V Tail Area (sq ft) 25.48 25.48 23.73
     Fin (sq ft)      
     Rudder (sq ft)      
   H Tail Area (sq ft) 44.01 44.01 46.53
     Stabilizer (sq ft)      
     Elevator (sq ft)      
Total Control Surf Area (sq ft)  
Length    
   Overall (ft) 31.33 31.33 31.33
   Fuselage (ft)  
   Body  (ft) 31.6 31.6 31.6
     Body Depth (ft)  
    Body Width (ft)  
Fuel Tank Volume (gal)  
   Wing Tanks (gal)  
    FuselageTanks (gal)  
Oil Tank Volume (gal)  
Water Injection Fluid Tank Volume (gal)  
Wetted Area (sqf) (sq ft)  
Pwr Ldng (lb/HP)  
Wing Ldng (lb/sq ft)  
Struct. Des. GW  (lb)  
Ultimate Load Factor (G's)  
Design Speed (mph)  
Not to Exceed Speed (mph)  
         
Total Struct Weight   2411 2547.4 2613
   Total Wing   1027 1139.6 1152
     Wing        
     Ailerons        
     Flaps        
     Fuselage Carry-Through        
   Tail   141 159.9 178
     H Tail        
       Stabilizer        
       Elevator        
     V Tail        
       Fin        
       Rudder        
   Body + Eng Section + LG    
   Body + LG   1243 1247.9 1283
   Body   602 628.7 676
     Fuselage   598 628.7 676
     Engine Section   4    
   Landing Gear   641 619.2 607
     Mn Landing Gr        
     Tail/Nose Aux LG        
   Tail Hook    
   Booms    
   Nacelles    
Total Propulsion Weight   3038 3158.6 3207
   Engine w/ Accessories   1681 1725.3 1824
   Engine(s) as Installed     1620 1710
     Accessories     105.3 114
    Turbocharger(s)    
   Controls   40 40.7 41
   Propeller(s)   475 460 460
     2-Blade        
     3-Blade        
     4-Blade   475 460 460
   Starting System   58 57.6 58
   Water Injection System   - 50 -
     Tanks        
     Piping Etc        
   Cooling System   349 347.4 346
   Lube System   137 134.9 135
     Tanks        
     Piping Etc        
   Fuel System   298 342.7 343
     Tanks        
     Piping Etc        
Total Sys. & Eqpmt.   739 987.7 1036
   Instruments   46 46.5 46
   Surface Controls    116 140.8 141
   Hydraulics    
   Electrical Equip   170 200.1 202
Electronics (Purple means incl in Furn/Gray in Useful Ld)   124 144.4 146
   Arm Prov/Equipment & Armor   206 333.5 378
    Furnishings   62 86.5 93
   Anti-Ice (If not in Furn)   5.9  
   Other /Misc   15 30 30
     Hoisting Gear    
     Floatation Gear    
     Armor Plate        
     
Empty Wt   6188 6693.7 6856
Basic Mission Useful Load        
   Crew    
   Equipment    
   Oil    
   Fuel    
   Fuel & Oil Trapped in Systems    
   Water Solution for Engine Injection    
   Bombs/Torp Etc    
   Radio (if Not Included in Empty Wt)    
   Nav Equipment    
   Oxygen System    
   Armament   - -
     Guns & Ammo        
       Guns   -    
       Ammo        
     Pyrotechnics        
     Camera        
     Other        
   Other Useful Load    
Basic Mission GW        

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Rev 3-13-25

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