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American Combat Planes of the 20th Century is an incredible reference for anyone who is interested in any American Combat Plane History. There are 758 pages and 1700 b/w photos in this substantial labor of love by Ray Wagner, who has been passionately researching and writing about aircraft for over 50 years. Whether you are already familiar with his past works, or just discovering this accomplished author for the first time... This is the book that you've been waiting for!

If you'd like to see the book's Table of Contents ... Click here. You can also browse the entire Index Section to get an idea of the extensive amount of information that is covered within this book.

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P-39 Airacobra

Page 3

The only Fighter Command squadron to use the Bell flew just nine strafing sorties across the Channel, from October 9th to 11th, before compass troubles ended operations. As Fighter Command no longer wanted the type, No. 601 Squadron re-equipped with Spitfires in March 1942. While the Airacobra could have given good service to Army Cooperation squadrons, these had a goodly number of Mustang Is on the way. BELL P-39D-1

Of 675 Airacobra Is built, 477 were shipped to Britain, two lost in tests, and 196 requisitioned by the Army Air Force at the factory after the United States entered the war. The USSR received 195 from Britain via convoys to North Russia, and 71 others were sunk en route.* Heavy convoy losses delayed shipment to Russia of another 179 P-400s which were instead transferred to two AAF groups in the United Kingdom, leaving only 32 retained or expended by the RAF.

Lend-lease funds were used for the Model 14A, first ordered June 11, 1941, to follow the Model 14 in 1942. The first 336 were designated P-39D-1 and had a 20-mm gun with 60 rounds, two synchronized .50s with 430 rounds in the nose, four .30-caliber wing guns with 4,000 rounds, 177 pounds of armor, and 65 pounds of armor-glass, and a 129-pound radio. Most were requisitioned by the AAF, and 158 similar P-39D-2s were delivered to the AAF and the Soviet Union with V-1710-63 engines.

The P-39D-3s were 26 Ds with two cameras added aft of the engine for taking vertical and oblique pictures, and 11 D-1s with these cameras became the P-39D-4. Cameras were also fitted to 27 P-39F-2 models.

A larger square-cut wing was designed for the XP-39E (Bell Model 23) and two prototypes were ordered April 11, 1941, with a replacement added in 1942. Armed with a 37-mm nose gun with 30 rounds, two .50-caliber guns in the nose, and four in the wings with 300 rpg, the XP-39E planned to use an Allison V-1710-47. This power plant was not ready in time and were replaced by an Allison V-1710-35 when the first prototype was flown February 21, 1942. It spun to a crash March 26, but the second prototype, flown April 4, and the last, flown September 19, had the new V-1710-47 with a two-stage supercharger.

Each of the three examples tested a different vertical tail surface, and engineering studies made on this project contributed to the development of the Bell P-63 Kingcobra. Four thousand production models, designated P-76, were ordered on February 24, 1942, from the new Bell plant then building at Marietta, Georgia, but this contract was canceled on May 20, so that this plant would be free for B-29 production, and Bell engineers could concentrate on the P-63. BELL P-39D-2 of 45th IAP, VVS

The next Airacobra production batch was externally like the P-39D, and began with a contract approved August 25, 1941, for 1,800 P-39Gs, Bell Model 26. Changes in engine model led to different designations when their delivery began in July 1942 from the Niagara Falls factory, but all had the 37-mm gun.*

Using a V-1710-63 of 1,325 hp for takeoff, the first 210 were P-39K-1s with an Aeroproducts propeller, while 250 P-39L-1s built at the same time had Curtiss propellers. Both appeared with the same 37-mm and two .50-caliber nose guns as the P-39D, but only 1,200 .30-caliber rounds were carried for the four wing guns, with 165 pounds of armor and 66 pounds of armor-glass. About 17 fitted with two cameras in the left rear fuselage were redesignated P-39K-2 and P-39L-2 as were eight P-39M-2 models.

In November 1942, water injection appeared on the V-1710-83, of 1,200 hp for takeoff, boosting war emergency (WE) power to 1,420 hp at 9,500 feet on the P-39M-1. For long-range ferry flights like the ALSIB route, a flush belly tank could replace the usual 75-gallon drop tank and increase fuel capacity to 295 gallons. After 240 P-39M-1s had been accepted, Bell rolled out the fastest of the Airacobras, the P-39N.

The P-39N had the V-1710-85 of 1,420 hp at 9,700 feet for war emergency power with an Aeroproducts propeller, and was credited with 399-mph. To reduce weight, the normal fuel load was limited to 87 gallons and on the P-39N-5, rearranged armor weighed 171 pounds with a 22-pound armor glass windshield. Of 2,095 N models built, 1,113 were shipped to Russia. Of those kept by the AAF, 128 P-39N-2, 35 P-39N-3, and 84 P-39N-6 models were modified with cameras. BELL XP-39E

Larry Bell felt that the wing guns were unnecessary weight, but on September 17, 1942, the Airacobra’s wing gun installation was ordered changed from four .30-caliber to two .50-caliber guns with 300 rpg. Too large to fit inside the wings, these under slung weapons distinguished the P-39Qs that began appearing in May 1943 with the V-1710-85. All had belly fittings for a 500-pound bomb, a 75-gallon drop tank, or a 175-gallon ferry tank. Of 4,905 P-39Qs built, 3,291 left the U.S. for the long trip to the Soviet Union. BELL P-39K-1

Internal arrangements varied. The first 150 (P-39Q-l) were used by the AAF, and had 87 gallons of fuel and 193 pounds of armor and glass. The next 950 (Q-5) had 110 gallons, and the remainder (Q-10 to Q-30) had 120 gallons and 227 pounds of armor weight. Army tactical recon squadrons got five P-39Q-2, 148 P-39Q-6, and eight P-39Q-11s modified by adding two cameras. A dozen P-39Q-22 trainers were unarmed two-place versions of the P-39Q-20.

Blocks Q-21 to Q-25 could be recognized by a four-bladed propeller, and those ferried to Russia deleted the wing guns, saving 331 pounds. The last block, Q-30, reverted to three-blade props.

In 1943, Bell produced more fighters than any other manufacturer, April deliveries reaching 511 P-39Ns. Peak AAF inventory was 2,150 in February 1944, but then all P-39 groups were converted to more advanced types by August. When the last P-39Q-30 was accepted on August 5, 1944, 9,589 Airacobras had been completed, most of them for lend-lease. Average unit cost in 1944 was $50,666.

P-39s in Combat
When the U.S. entered the war, P-39Ds equipped five pursuit groups: the 8th at Mitchel Field, the 31st and 52nd at Selfridge, the 53rd at MacDill Field, and part of the 36th in Puerto Rico. On December 8, 1941, the 31st Group was rushed to Seattle and the 53rd to the Canal Zone for defense purposes.

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