From the chart Bronk posted, some impressions and comparisons:
1) WOW what a difference between Mfr Data and USAAF data.
2) Let's use the less-favorable USAAF data and compare speed against the LA-7 as modeled in AH.
V@SL,mph V@5K',mph V@10K',mph V@15K',mph V@20K',mph P-63A-8, "wet", WEP 340* 360 379 396 408 P-63A-8, Military Power 318* 337 355 373 388 LA-7, WEP 380 401 396 391 410 LA-7, Military Power 358 380 396 391 410 *extrapolated from chart
3) For completeness, the mfr data: V@SL,mph V@5K',mph V@10K',mph V@15K',mph V@20K',mph P-63A-8, "wet", WEP 378 398 412 422 421 P-63A-8, Military Power 344 364 382 399 416
4) Rate of climb using the mfr data (USAAF didn't report R/C directly but based on time-to-altitude comparisons, the mfr data is reasonably close)
R/C@SL,fps R/C@5K',fps R/C@10K',fps R/C@15K',fps R/C@20K',fps P-63A-8, "wet", WEP 4100* 3900* 3800 3750 2900 P-63A-8, Military Power** 3200 3200 3300 3100 2600 LA-7, WEP 4400 4100 3300 2850 2400 LA-7, Military Power 3600 3750 3300 2850 2400 *"dry"; no data for "wet" **extrapolated from time-to-altitude data
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Conclusion 1:
If you accept Mfr's data as correct, the P-63A-8 is nearly competitive with the LA-7 below 10K and faster above 10K at WEP output.
If you accept USAAF data as correct, the P-63A-8 is much slower than the LA-7 up to about 12K and is then a match but at WEP output only.
Conclusion 2:
The P-63A-8 is nearly a match for the LA-7 in rate of climb below 7K and climbs better than the LA-7 above that mark.
Sooooo...depending on whose data you chose - Widewing is correct, I'm correct or we both are
Thanks again Bronk for the chart
Sorry for the table format; can't quite make everything line up