Bell P-59 Airacomet

A procedural model built in Blender from the type’s published dimensions, painted as Bell P-59B-1-BE Airacomet 44-22650, as displayed at the National Museum of the United States Air Force, Dayton, Ohio: America’s first jet aeroplane, a single-seat fighter with two General Electric J31 turbojets (developed from Frank Whittle’s W.1) in nacelles tucked under the wing roots either side of the fuselage, a blunt nose, a framed canopy set well forward, a mid-set straight tapered wing spanning 13.87 m, tricycle undercarriage and a tall rounded fin and rudder, shown resting nose-up on its wheels: bare natural aluminium overall, a black anti-glare panel ahead of the windscreen, the star-and-bar insignia without the red bar on each side of the rear fuselage, a black buzz number ‘PJ-650’ aft of it and under the port wing, the serial ‘422650’ in black across the fin, and a small data stencil below the windscreen, as photographed on display (no P-59 is in a UK museum; shape from a P-59A three-view scaled to the published dimensions and checked against photographs of this aircraft; the main-wheel track is estimated from photographs, and the buzz number on the starboard side is assumed to match the port side). Drag to orbit, scroll or pinch to zoom · all 338 models · download .glb (1.0 MB) · Plate 165 in The Hangar