The Bell Airacuda was a brilliant attempt by Bell to break into the airplane business by building something different--a long range multi-place interceptor. The great Ben Kelsey was behind the airplane, and did the first test flights, just as he did with the P-38. He was a Lieutenant at the time, but had more authority than many generals do today. The Airacuda looked good, but it had too much drag, the engines were almost impossible to keep cool, and escape in an emergency would be problematical. Most went out of service with a handful of hours logged. Ben was a good friend of mine later in life, and a fund of information.