The Unconventional, Bizarre Bell Airacuda

The Bell YFM-1 long-range and heavily armed escort fighter featured twin pusher engines housed in glazed nacelles.

Tuesday, September 05, 2023 at 11:42 AM ET

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An Airacuda in flight, with vacant nacelle seats and the second control yoke in the stowed position. [Credit: U.S. Army Air Forces]

Key Takeaways:

Bell Aircraft Corp., founded by Larry Bell, began with the highly unconventional and "bizarre" YFM-1 Airacuda, a heavily armed, five-crew escort fighter featuring twin pusher engines.
The Airacuda's unique design incorporated advanced features like tricycle landing gear and an auxiliary power unit, but also presented significant challenges, including a complex bailout procedure for nacelle crew and engine cooling issues.
Upon its first flight, the aircraft demonstrated "atrocious" flight control characteristics and dangerous single-engine handling, with the flight manual warning of violent reactions and requiring experienced pilots.
Though only 15 examples were built and none saw combat, the Airacuda program provided Bell with valuable design lessons, particularly regarding driveshaft extensions, which benefited later successful aircraft like the P-39 and P-63.

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Larry Bell, founder of the Bell Aircraft Corp., now known as Bell Helicopter, entered the aircraft manufacturing industry with a unique bang. After dropping out of high school in 1912, Bell worked for various aircraft companies, including Martin and Consolidated, before starting his own company in 1935. Rather than beginning with a conservative, basic aircraft type, he opted to respond to a military contract by proposing one that was so unconventional it bordered on bizarre.

That aircraft was the Bell YFM-1 Airacuda, a long-range and heavily armed escort fighter designed as an interceptor and bomber escort. It was part of a newly emerging category of aircraft containing models described by FLYING in 1941 as “virtually impregnable fortresses of themselves, yet maintaining considerable maneuverability and striking prowess which the big bombers lack.”