This plane used to be with the Commemorative Air Force wing in Houston. It is one of 2 P-63F models ever built. The plane now resides with the Centex Wing of the CAF and is hangared in San Marcos.

According to USWarplanes.net there were 3303 P-63s of all variants made. Over on his site, Nick Borer says that:

Of the nine new fighter designs tested by the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) in 1942-43, only one was produced in quantity – the Bell P-63. This aircraft was designed to address the shortcomings of the P-39 Airacobra. Although similar in appearance to the P-39, the P-63 was in fact a completely redesigned airplane and only a few parts are interchangeable between the two aircraft. The picture above is an early photo of the very P-63 the Dixie Wing is restoring shortly after its delivery to the USAAF in early 1944.

The P-63 was a fast airplane – its performance approaching that of the P-51 – but since the P-51 and P-47 were in full production, about 2,400 of the 3,303 P-63s produced were sent to the Soviet Union under the Lend-Lease act. France used some in Indo-China after the end of World War II. The U.S. used it as a test plane and, in a unique version, as live gunnery target training for bomber crews. These variants, called RP-63s or “Pinballs,” had much more armor to withstand the impact of the special frangible bullets used by the crews on these training missions.

When I first met this plane, it had just made its transition from Houston to San Marcos. The plane was in crates and boxes in a corner of the hangar. Actually, one of the wings was on top of some boxes resting on a mattress and other unboxed parts of the fuselage were spread out across the floor of the hangar.

At that point, I had no idea of the significance of the plane that I was looking at.

I made it a point to always try to find out at what stage the restoration of the this plane was at whenever I visited the hangar. I knew it was rare to find a P-63, but I had no idea how rare it was to find a P-63F.

After my last visit, when I was reviewing the pictures of the engine…

Allison Engine P-63F

I came across this one of the number plate:

P-63 Allison Engine Plate

That’s when I realized that this was one of 2 P-63F models ever built. Of course, all I really needed to do was look at the placard in front of the plane, but for whatever reason when I was standing in front of the placard I didn’t realize what I was looking at.

P-63F Placard

Here are some of the rest of my pictures of the plane from that day:

P-63F With Engine In Foreground

P-63F

P-63F Being Restored

In this picture you can see the Centex Wing’s B-25 Mitchell bomber in the background. Yes, I took pictures of that plane too. I’ll post those pictures later on.

P-63F Rear Quarter

Col. Stephen called this portion of the P-63 engine cowling “the turtle” though I never asked him why it was called that.

P-63F Turtle Sans Engine

The P-63F was built to test out this new tail. The program was cancelled due to the end of the war.

P-63F Tail

P-63F Fuel Bladder Goes Here

P-63 Propeller Hub

In the background, you can see one of the few remaining air worthy P-39s. I believe that there are only 3 P-39s that are airworthy and flying. This one, happens to share the same hangar as the P-63F.

P-63F Regulator Needs Oil

This plane was never outfitted with a cannon, so it has this permanent ballast weight to keep the plane’s center of gravity balanced. that big yellow tank holds oil for the propeller assembly or the crankshaft gear box.

P-63F Nose Ballast

Is that an air freshener, or something completely different?

P-63F Cockpit

Detailed view of the crankshaft from the engine making its way to the propeller.

P-63F Crankshaft

Here’s a view of the P-39. It’s getting the leading edge fixed due to a “runway overrun” accident.

P-39