Bell P-59 Airacomet

The Bell P-59 Airacomet was a single-seat, twin-engined jet fighter designed and built by Bell Aircraft during World War II, and the first jet aircraft produced in the United States. The United States received a Power Jets engine from Britain in 1941, which General Electric copied as the J31 that powered the P-59. Bell flew the first prototype at Muroc in October 1942 and built 18 prototype and test aircraft before 50 production machines followed. The aircraft was underpowered, so the Army Air Forces judged it unsuited to combat and used the production aircraft as trainers, while the Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star became the first operational American jet fighter. The Airacomet gave American pilots and engineers their first practical experience of jet flight.