One of the first "modern" Air Corps fighter designs and
the first fighter designed by Bell, Airacobras were used
primarily for ground attack. The XP-39 prototypes featured
an engine supercharger, but the Army's decision to eliminate
it on production aircraft greatly limited the type's
effectiveness, and, in fact, the aircraft performed best
below 17,000 ft. The P-39 had a unique automobile-type
cockpit door, tricycle landing gear (another first for an
AAC fighter), and a center-fuselage-mounted engine. The
Airacobra entered Air Corps service in 1941. At the time of
the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, 179 British Airacobras
were still in the US waiting to be delivered, and these
aircraft were commandeered by the AAC, redesignated P-400,
and sent to the southwest Pacific. US P- 39s were used
extensively in operations in North Africa (most particularly
Operation Torch), Italy, and the Pacific. The type achieved
the lowest loss rate per sortie of any Army Air Forces
fighter used in the European theater of operations, although
it was mostly used in areas where Bf-109s and FW-190s were
scarce. Numerous P-39s remained in the US during the war,
where they were used for training units. Almost half of the
production run was sent to the Soviet Union, where its
tank-killing capability was used to great advantage. Most of
these aircraft were ferried to Russia via Alaska. P-39s were
also flown in numbers by the RAF and the Free French.
Production ended in August 1944. Several aircraft were used
by NACA as research aircraft at the Ames Flight Research
Center in California, and a number were flown as racers
after the war, but only a handful of P-39s are still in
existence. The larger, better-performing P-63 Kingcobra was
a direct descendent of the P-39.
| Contractors: |
Bell Aircraft Corp. |
| Locations Built: |
Buffalo, N. Y. |
| Number Built: (USAF) |
9,558 (approx 3,675) |
| First Flight: |
April 6, 1938 |
| First Flight Model: |
XP-39 |
| First Flight Location: |
Dayton, Ohio |
| First Flight Pilot: |
James Taylor |
| Models/Variants: |
P-39C, D, F, J, K, L, M, N,
Q |
| Powerplant: |
One Allison V-1710-85
liquid-cooled V-12 of 1,200 hp |
| Wingspan: |
34 ft 0 in. |
| Length: |
30 ft 2 in. |
| Height: |
12 ft 5 in. |
| Weight: |
7,651 lb gross |
| Armament: |
One 37-mm T9 cannon firing
through the propeller hub; four (two nose- and two
underwing-mounted) .50-cal. machine guns; 500 lb of
bombs |
| Accommodation: |
Pilot only |
| Cost: |
$46,000 |
| Max. Speed: |
382 mph |
| Range: |
650 mi. |
| Ceiling: |
34,790 ft. |
|
