Bell P - 59 Airacomet The Bell P - 59 Airacomet was the first American jet fighter aircraft , designed and built by Bell Aircraft during World War II . The United States Army Air Force was not impressed by its performance and cancelled the contract when fewer than half of the aircraft ordered had been produced . Although no P - 59s went into combat , it paved the way for another design generation of U . S . turbojet - powered aircraft and was the first turbojet fighter to have its turbojet engine and air inlet nacelles integrated within the main fuselage . Design and development . Major General Henry H . " Hap " Arnold became aware of the United Kingdom ' s jet program when he attended a demonstration of the Gloster E . 28 / 39 in April 1941 . The subject had been mentioned , but not in depth , as part of the Tizard Mission the previous year . He requested , and was given , the plans for the aircraft ' s powerplant , the Power Jets W . 1 , which he took back to the U . S . On 4 September , he offered the U . S . company General Electric a contract to produce an American version of the engine . On the following day , he approached Lawrence Dale Bell , head of Bell Aircraft Corporation , to build a fighter to utilize it . Bell agreed and set to work on producing three prototypes . As a disinformation tactic , the USAAF gave the project the designation " P - 59A " , to suggest it was a development of a completely unrelated Bell " XP - 59 " fighter project that had been canceled . The design was finalized on 9 January 1942 , and construction began . In March , long before the prototypes were completed , an order for 13 " YP - 59A " pre - production machines was added to the contract . On 12 September 1942 , the first XP - 59A was sent to Muroc Army Air Field ( today , Edwards Air Force Base ) in California by train for testing , taking seven days to reach Muroc . While being handled on the ground , the aircraft was fitted with a dummy propeller to disguise its true nature . The aircraft first became airborne during high - speed taxiing tests on 1 October with Bell test pilot Robert Stanley at the controls , although the first official flight was made by Col Laurence Craigie the next day . A handful of the first Airacomets had open - air flight observer stations ( similar to those of biplanes ) later cut into the nose ; over the following months , tests on the three XP - 59As revealed a multitude of problems including poor engine response and reliability ( common shortcomings of all early turbojets ) , insufficient lateral stability , i . e . , in the roll axis , and performance that was far below expectations . Chuck Yeager flew the aircraft and was dissatisfied with its speed , but was amazed at its smooth flying characteristics . Nevertheless , even before delivery of the YP - 59As in June 1943 , the USAAF ordered 80 production machines , designated " P - 59A Airacomet " . Operational service . The 13 service test YP - 59As had a more powerful engine than its predecessor , but the improvement in performance was negligible with only a five mph increase in top speed and a decrease in service - before - overhaul time . One of these aircraft , the third YP - 59A ( S / n : " 42 - 22611 " ) was supplied to the Royal Air Force ( RAF ) , receiving serial " RG362 / G " , in exchange for the first production Gloster Meteor I , " EE210 / G " . British pilots found that the aircraft compared very unfavorably with the jets that they were already flying . ( The YP - 59A also compared unfavorably to the propeller - driven North American P - 51 Mustang . ) Two YP - 59A Airacomets ( " 42 - 108778 " and " 42 - 100779 " ) were also delivered to the U . S . Navy where they were evaluated as the " YF2L - 1 " but quickly found completely unsuitable for carrier operations . Faced with their own ongoing difficulties , Bell eventually completed 50 production Airacomets , 20 P - 59As and 30 P - 59Bs . Each was armed with one 37 mm M4 cannon and 44 rounds of ammunition and three . 50 cal . machine guns with 200 rounds per gun . The P - 59Bs were assigned to the 412th Fighter Group to familiarize AAF pilots with the handling and performance characteristics of jet aircraft . By 1950 , all examples of the Airacomet were no longer airworthy . Over time , disposal of the aircraft included use as static displays , instructional aids in military training and use as static targets . While the P - 59 was not a great success , the type did give the USAAF experience with the operation of jet aircraft in preparation for the more advanced types that would shortly become available . Survivors . Six P - 59s are known to survive today .