Originally posted by Gorf:
Hail all,
I was looking through some aviation books and saw the P-39(my personnal favorite) and then the P-63.. read the specs on it and DAMM that was a kick$%#! airplane. Read some more on it and this is why HTC should REAALLY consider this one.
Only mid-egine fighter ever used(as far as I know)
There were several other besides the P-39 and P-63.
The Koolhoven F.K.55, Fisher P-75, Piaggio P.119 and Bell's other oddball, the XFL-1 Airabonita.
410mph topspeed and cruise speed of 378!! wow.
Understand that this is a cruise speed that is not going to be utilized in normal service. Maximum cruise speed is defined as the maximum continuous power setting that can be maintained without eventual damage to the engine. Normal cuise settings for the P-63A were closer to 240 mph. To obtain max range, you can expect cruise settings producing speeds below 200 mph.
Carries a 37mm with 4 50s and was heavily armoured
The 37mm cannon was not an especially good weapon. It's muzzle velocity wasn't very high and the reliability was never good, with feed jams being very commonplace. 58 rounds filled the magazines, nearly double that of the P-39 (30 rnds). Contray to the commonly accepted belief, the P-39 and P-63 were not frequently used by the Soviets to attack ground targets. By and large, these fighters were deployed in the air superiority role over the battlefield. Armor protection was no better than any other U.S. fighter of this generation.
Was a kickbutt tank killer AND fighter in one nice packadge.
The 37mm wasn't of much value against tanks. It simply did not have the moxy to penetrate the topside armor and could do little more than superficial damage to most tanks, even with AP ammo.
Considering how many P-39s and P-63s were transferred to the Soviets, I must believe that one or both will turn up in AH at ome future date.
My regards
Widewing
[This message has been edited by Widewing (edited 03-14-2001).]
