How did a gunner know he had hit a target Kingcobra?

Short answer

With a light: each hit moved a counter in the cockpit and lit a large red light in the nose, in the space once occupied by the 37 mm cannon. Lights also flashed on the target aircraft's skin to let gunners know they had scored a hit.

Published: November 5, 2026 · Updated: November 5, 2026 · Edited by Above Ten Thousand · Editorial policy

How did a gunner know he had hit a target Kingcobra?

Bell P-63A Kingcobra ‘269080’ ‘Fatal Fang’ (N94501)Alan Wilson from Stilton, Peterborough, Cambs, UK (CC BY SA), vía commons

Aircraft built to be shot at

The Kingcobras used as targets were modified with thicker skin, special armor, and a redundant pitot-tube system, and flew against bombers in simulated attacks. They carried more than a ton of special armor plate spread across the wings and forward fuselage, plus cockpit glazing over an inch thick. Bomber gunners fired frangible bullets that harmlessly disintegrated into powder on striking the target aircraft. The ammunition was a plastic-and-lead projectile fed from a .30-caliber machine gun that flew straight and broke apart on hitting the armor.

Counting the hits

Each impact moved a counter in the cockpit and, more importantly, lit a large red light in the nose, where the 37 mm cannon had once been. Lights flashing on the target's skin let the gunners know when they scored a hit, and that feature gave rise to the nickname "Pinballs." More than a hundred microphones picked up the dull thud of each frangible round.

The bases and the real risk

From early 1945, the Pinballs flew from bases in Florida, Texas, Arizona, and Nevada. Although it could be an unnerving mission for the pilot, evidence suggests that flying these aircraft as targets was no more dangerous than any other training sortie.