Wikipedia under the russian use of the plane is very quick to state that many of the russians removed the wing guns as a modification to help it fly in a manner that they felt was better. also I came across this bit of tid bit info looking for info on a forum called ww2 aircraft.net and I found it to look very legit in detail but I can prove nothing it is a combat record of the p63 I found this looking for examples of a p39 being modded but I am having trouble locating with search anything that isnt a game mod or racing mod even though I know I read in one of my p39 info searchings a breif mention of how many of the russians liked to mod their planes from removing wing guns to simply modding their guns to all fire with one button press.
P-63 Combat Record
Total P-63 production was 3,303 airframes. 2,421 of these were shipped to the Soviet Union and just over 100 to the Armee d l'Air. The USAAF held on to a few for training.
The USAAF's interest went no further than target practice for bomber gunners after their High Command realised the shortcomings of the bombers' ability to defend itself using gunnery. This was Operation Pinball and entailed a P-63 being shot at with frangible rounds that lit up a light on the a/c when strikes were recorded.
Two P-63s were sent to England, where considerable interest in the merits of laminar-flow led them to take delivery of a P-63A-6 (42-68937) and a P-63A-9 (42-69423) to the RAE at Farnborough. In the course of its study, the A-6 was fitted with the streamlined bubble canopy. This a/c was damaged in a landing accident and was SOC on 18Oct45. The rest of the laminar-flow study was undertaken by the A-9 and it was finally scrapped Sep48.
One Central American country received a batch of P-63s, this being Honduras, taking on charge 5 P-63E-1s and along with 6 P-38Ls made up the mainstay of their airforce for over 5 years. One of these was damaged and provided the surviving 4 with much-needed spares. Two more were damaged and eventually all of them were replaced by F4Us.
P-63s were ferried to the Soviet Union in larger numbers than all other recipients combined, starting with the P-63C, pausing at way-stations in Alaska and Iran (imagine that). It is widely held that the P-63's reputation was short-changed as it never received the local press of the Ilyushin-2 Shturmovik, despite its proven abilities in ground attack and tank-busting.
The Soviets continued military action in the Far East, furthering their acquisition of Manchuria by annexing Sakhalin Island and parts of the Kuriles chain. The Japanese, though exhausted from WWII, fought back and destroyed 62 Soviet aircraft of all types, including 1 P-63, the details of which are unknown.
Just before the end of WWII, the USAAF began transferring P-63s to France for use by the Armee de l'Air. All a/c supplied were the penultimate P-63C-5 model.
The French originally placed an order for 300 a/c though this was later reduced to about one third of that. An initial contract for 40 a/c was signed on 03May45 and a second for 70 a/c on 04Jun45, totalling 112 a/c to which two more were added.
The P-63 was originally intended to directly supplant the existing P-39Q and L fighters but some went straight from the docks into storage. Others were used to equip several Armee de l'Air squadrons; GC9 based in Meknes, Morocco became the first to fully equip on the type.
Trouble brewed for the French in Indo-China, where the locals felt they had earned the right to govern themselves after contributing to the ousting of the Japanese during the previous war. The colonial powers had other ideas and armed conflict was on the cards.
85 P-63s were shipped to Indo-China between July and October 1950 for use by 5 Groupes on a rotational basis.
Most of these were the a/c that had been shipped straight into storage. All were armed with the standard centreline M-10 37mm cannon with 58 rounds plus 4 x .50cal machine guns, 2 in the nose and 2 in underwing gondolas. A 175gal contoured belly tank was usuallly carried and this could be supplemented by 75gal tanks outboard of the underwing guns. This fuel could be swapped for napalm or 2 500lb bombs. The centreline rack was wired for bomb release and provision was made for paired wing launchers for up to 4 HVAR rockets.
30 August 50: Ground attack sorties by 5 P-63s against Viet Minh troops.
04 September: Strafing missions against guerilla hide-outs and storage dumps; their cannons and machine guns were used to deadly effect.
Further shipments of P-63s were made to Saigon and the French had about 50 a/c in-theatre with about 10 held at an MU, Parc 482.
10 January: Less than spectacular debut for napalm
19 January: Loss of first P-63 to flak
The Viet Minh, by now being supplied by the Chinese, were getting stronger and French installations were occasionally overrun in the frequent attacks.
13 February: Air support for the garrison at Phu Loc failed to prevent it from falling
3 August: Having flown 3,703 hours of combat sorties in their P-63s, GCI/5 prepared to return home. II/5 and III/6 maintained the pressure on the guerillas but without appreciably decreasing the Viet Minh's hold on the country. The Armee de l'Air found themselves frustrated by an enemy who rarely went 'toe to toe' with them in pitched battles.
9 August: P-63 lost to flak
4 October: P-63 damaged by flak in the same area
6 October: A detachment of P-63s was sent to Lang Son to provide cover for a supply route favoured by the French.
17 October: Lt Perrotte made an emergency landing on Lang Son after being hit by small-arms fire and his a/c started streaming glycol. The French had to abandon Lang Son quickly and another P-63 was sent to destroy Perrotte's machine with a strafing run.
Normandie-Niemen arrive in-theatre, commanded by Capitaine Billoin.
3 November: III/6 moved to Cat Bi near Haiphong, where it steadily increased its sortie rate against an increasingly tough enemy who had gained control of the countryside, if not the towns.
12 February: III/6 had flown its 1,000th sortie.
March: Normandie-Niemen P-63s used for napalm against large-scale attack on Viet Minh infantry at Tra Vinh.
5 May: Loss of P-63 to flak
14 September: Loss of P-63 to flak
22 October: Loss of P-63 to flak
By the time of that last loss, the P-63 was being supplanted by the F8-F
December: Enough F8-Fs in-theatre, P-63 sorties began to tail off
January 51: 8 P-63s attack ground targets at Cho Phong
19 January: 2 P-63s fly armed recce along Thai Nguyen, flak claim one a/c
20 January: Loss of P-63 to flak
28 January: 2 P-63s failed to return from rocket strike south of Thai Nguyen
In 76 missions, I/9 lost 8 pilots and 9 a/c.
Viet Minh troops were now engaging crack French regiments in pitched battles, the P-63s supported with bombing, strafing and rocket attacks against troops and strongholds wherever they could be found. Eventually, the F8-F and F6-F completely replaced the P-63s and the F8-F in particular proved its superiority over the P-63 in the harsh conditions of Indo-China.
30 April: 24 P-63s bombed Quynh Lu, 21 of the 24 bombs hit the target.
At the end of their service 25 P-63s had been lost on ops or in accidents, 20 were SOC as war weary and 40 still in good condition were earmarked for shipment to Africa.
Sources
Bell P-39 Airacobra
Robert F Dorr & Jerry C Scutts
Crowood Aviation Series
ISBN:1 86126 348 1
Pages 134 - 144
not typed verbatim
