Being somewhat of a college-educated, weightlifting younger brother to the P-39, the Kingcobra was a series improvement that unfortunately never made it into combat with

the U.S. Army Air Forces...

Scores of Kingcobras were lined up along the railroad tracks at Sales-Storage Depot No.41 and, as can be seen in this 1947 photo, the dismantlers just couldn't wait to get their hands on them. Stripped of her nose wheel and something - possibly radio equipment - having been extracted from her waist via the molested panel, flashy checkerboard paint on

RP-63A-9-BE #42-69501 indicates a Wartime Pyote Army Air Field assignment.

Incidentally, that Texas base also stored surplus aircraft after WWII, but showing how equipment was inefficiently shuffled around the post-War nation, at least one of PAAF's planes ended

up at Kingman. Conversely, it's believed the aircraft at KAAF during the War were assigned

to other salvage depots for disposal...!

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P-63 artifacts in the

Depot 41 Museum Collection...

...included this right hand Door from this olive Kingcobra:

Any full coat of paint being unusual for a

P-63, this ship also sported a colorful lightning bolt surrounding the spinner then stretching to the middle of the door. Look closely at the second photo above; the arrow points to the remains of that bolt on the opposite side...

In the early 80's and shortly before coming across this crucial photo of the plane, the Door had already been hastily donated to a well-known Southern California airplane museum. Reapproaching the museum's owner with news of the photo, I was bluntly told the Door had

disappeared from their possession...

In any event, another, bare aluminum

P-63 Door still remains safe & sound in the

Depot 41 Museum Collection

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Yet one more favorite Cobra item

in the Collection

is this DETROLA 'Ferry' Radio:

These relatively small units operated solely

on Stateside frequencies and while they were commonly found in military planes crisscrossing the country, this particular Radio has a lower

Bracket with the Bell P-63 part number and

was pulled out of the cockpit of

a Kingman fighter prior to its being melted.

 

 

 

photo credits this page:

William T. Larkins,

Depot 41 Photo Archive