Bell P-59

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• Amid strict secrecy, the USAAF contracts with General Electric to build jet engines based on the Whittle design, and with Bell to produce an aircraft to use it. For disinformation purposes, it will be assigned the designation XP-59, which was a cancelled propeller pusher aircraft similar to the Saab-21. The aircraft will be constructed in a closed building requiring taking out a wall to remove it, and fitted with a false propeller for further disinformation.

- Deliveries of Y-59 pre-production aircraft will begin in 1943. Performance will be disappointing and Bell’s emphasis will shift to the P-63. One production version will be given to the RAF for evaluation in 1944. The British find it to be significantly inferior to the Gloster Meteor. Sixty-six P-59s will be built."