Americas First Jet Fighter: The P-59 Airacomet

TOP SECRET 

in 1941

This is America's first jet airplane -- the P-59 first flown in Oct.1942. Volunteers have spent 10 years restoring it. In 1942, this was a Top Secret project at Edwards AFB. When the dry lake flooded, they had to transport it by road so it was disguised with a dummy wooden propeller on the front and covered with a shroud.

Supposedly on the test flight the jet was spotted by pilots getting checked out in P-38s operating from Van Nuys Airport. When the P-38 pilots reported seeing an airplane with no propeller, their account met with skepticism but the story kept circulating, so on a subsequent flight the test pilot of the P-59 dressed up in a gorilla mask, put on a derby hat and smoked a cigar when in range of the airport. When the P-38 pilots got back to the base, they told everyone about the plane with no propeller flown by a gorilla wearing a derby and smoking a cigar.
Of course folks would chalk this up to excessive drinking and tall tales by fighter pilots (Not much has changed) so the plane remained secret.

Power plant Two General Electric J31-GE-5 turbojets
Thrust 907 kg 8.89 kN
Max. speed 413 mph 664 km/h
Range: normal 240 miles 386 km
Weight empty 7,940 lb 3,600 kg
max. takeoff 12,700 lb 5,760 kg
Wingspan 45.5 ft 13.88 m
Length 38.85 ft 11.84 m
Height 12.3 ft 3.76 m
Armament One 37 mm cannon, three 12.5 mm machine guns;
under wings 2x 450 kg bombs or 8x 27 kg rockets
Date deployed to active service: 1944
Number built 66 (incl. three training XF2L-1 for US Navy)