P-39 Aircobra

One of the not so popular planes the Americans produced. Outclassed by many other fighters but whatever the P-39 could catch it killed. It was armed with 4 .30cal MG, 2 .50cal MG, and a 37mm anti-tank gun. This was the tank busting plane of WW2. I don't know of any actually use of it by the Americans but I know many were lend-leased to Russia.

Just want to know what people think of this plane, and if anyone has any accounts of the Americans using it please post.

 

Sorry, I couldn't get the image to work.

 

You forgot the http:// part. The whole URL has to be included to get the link to work. I fixed it for you btw.

I´ll get back to you later on the P-39. Interesting topic indeed !

 

Thanks!

 

Airacobra

Tha Airacobras were very popular among Soviet pilots because in late 1941 and early 1942 these were the best fighters in the Red army. Later types Jak 1, 3, 9, La5 and 7 came a little later. Even such aces as A. I. Pokryshkin flied them.

 

Re: Airacobra

The Soviets loved the P-39 for ground attack work; ditto for its successor, the P-63 Kingcobra. Amercian experience with the Airacobra was not happy; according to Japanese ace Saburo Sakai, the P-39 was an easy kill for a Zero.

 

you mean the P-39 or the P-63?

 

I thought these photos of the engine / gun arrangement of the P-39 could be of interest :





This is the Allison V-1710-85 engine and the 37mm cannon of the P-39Q.

 

I notice that the ammo in the belt is arranged brown-white-brown; do these round tips indicate kinds of ammo?

 

The use of Kingcobras in USSR was not so wide, becasuse in that time they've already had enough their own good planes.

 

White for phosphorus and brown for AP?

 

As the white ones have sharper noses, I would guess that the whites are AP and the brown are HE. Does anyone have some decisive info?

 

The P-39. The P-63 never saw combat with the USAAF.

 

That's not what I've read. And given that the Russians accepted several thousand of them, one would think that they saw service somewhere. Otherwise, why take them?

 

The Soviets received 5578 P-39s between December 1941 and February 1945, 4952 saw actual service. The P-39 was tested by the VVS, and the test pilots were pleased by the aircrafts handling and performance. According to lead engineer Rabkin, "At flight levels above 3000m, the Airacobra is superiour to the Yak-1 and the LaGG-3 fighters; it is one of the best aircraft as regards manoeurability in the horizontal plane". On 7 October 1942 Stalin adressed Roosevelt : "...We are prepared to temporarily do without tanks, artillery, ammunition etc. However, we need an urgent increase in the deliveries of up-to-date fighter aircraft, notably the Airacobra". The Soviets were aware of the fact that the P-39 was a more demanding aircraft to fly than most Soviet fighters, and they also made some improvements to the design. But the Soviet pilots praised the P-39 for its excellent cockpit vicibility, its tricycle landing gear and perhaps most of all for its 37mm cannon.

Source - Wings of Fame, Vol.10

 

The P-39 was excellent in ground attack, because of the heavy armament and the fact that it was designed to operate at its best at low altitude. Another bonus the Russians got from the Airacobra (and other Allied fighters) were modern gunsights and radios, which home produced Soviet fighters lacked.

 

The Airacobra was also used by the RAF from Britain, but proved unpopular, the version used by the RAF kept the .50 cals, replaced the .30s with .303s and exchanged the 37mm cannon for a 20mm Hispano. It only equipped one squadron before being withdrawn from service.

The both the P-39 and and P-400 (Repossessed RAF standard machines) saw action with the USAAF over Guadalcanal and apparently met with some success even against IJN machines and pilots proving a poor interceptor due to its high altitude performance and climb, but otherwise generally quite manouevrable, well armoured and well armed.

"The P-63 never saw combat with the USAAF"

Maybe not against anything that could fight back, but one was apparently creditted with the successful interception of a Fu-Go balloon.

 

I'm not very convinced about that 37mm gun used in airacobra. I'm just guessing with following: Sure it is wonderful destroying unarmoured or lightly armoured vehicles but otherwise it probably isn't that good. Rather slow MV doesn't make it a wonderful AT-weapon. Apparently russians didn't even have AP-rounds available. Against aircrafts it also had some drawbacks. Low MV makes hitting harder than usually. Also low ROF doesn't help this task. Sure it kills if it hits but hitting isn't that easy if target is manouvering hard. I believe it was excellent against light/medium bombers.
Some stats about M4 used in P-39:
Case: 37 x 145R
MV: 580-610 m/s (sources differ)
ROF: 140 rpm
Ammunition weight: 608 or 680 grams (typo or different type of ammunition, if latter, then difference in MV could be explained).
Gun weight: 96 kg.

Sources:
http://www.quarry.nildram.co.uk/ammotable5.htm
http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Hangar/8217/fgun/fgun-pe.html

 

The P39 Airocobra was used extensively in the solomons and particularly from Port Moresby were they flew over the Stanley Range to attack Lae.
Saburo Sakai was one of many Japanese pilots who did not think highly of the P39 due to its lack of climb rate and maneuverablity at high altitude. However, the IJA dreaded the P39s attacks on their suppy routes.

Out of the total of 9,558 P39s built, 4,773 were handed over to Russia. The P39 was used extensivly by the red airforce in low level sweeps were they used there 37mm cannon to good effect. However, as Notmi already mentioned, the cannon was very poor against aircraft for the simple reason that it was incredibly difficult to acheive a hit with it.

Some info on the M4 37mm cannon:

Projectile weight: 21.4oz. (608g)
Muzzle velocity: 2,000ft/sec (610m/sec)
Rate of fire: 140 rpm
Ammo types: HE (other types of ammunition were very rarely fired from the M4 37mm cannon
High lethality requires (against aircraft): 1 hit

Strengths of weapon:

1) Extremely heavy round with high destructive power makes the M4 an excellent surface-attack weapon.
2) A lucky hit with its big , heavy round can knock an airplane out of the sky.

Weaknesses:

1) Very low rate of fire
2) Bulky ammo limits load to only 30 rounds
3) Low velocity and excessivly drooping trajectory makes it a poor air-to-air weapon.


Some info on aircraft:

Bell P39D Airacobra:

Type: Fighter/Ground attack
Year: 1941
Engine: Allison V-1710-35, 12-cylinder V, liquid cooled, 1,150 h.p.
Wingspan: 34 ft
Length: 30ft 2in
Height: 11ft 10in
weight: 8,200lbs
Max. speed: 368mph at 13,800ft
ceiling: 32,000ft
Range: 800miles
Armament: 1 37mm cannon, 6 machine guns, 500lbs of bombs.
Crew: 1

Bell P39Q Airacobra:

Type: Fighter/Ground attack
Year: 1943
Engine: Allison V-1710-85, 12-cylinder V, liquid cooled, 1200h.p.
wingspan: 34 ft
Length: 30ft 2in
Height: 12ft 5in
Weight: 8,300 lbs
Max. speed: 385mph at 11,000ft
Ceiling: 35,000ft
Range: 650 miles
Armament: 1 37mm cannon, 4 machine guns, 500 lbs of bombs.
Crew: 1

The Kingcobra, of wich 3,303 planes were built, were used almost exclusively by the USAAF for towing targets. In 1943 a special version of the P63 was built with reinforced covering to stand up to training shells. Every hitacheived on the aircraft turned on red lights at the wing tips.

Around 2,000 Kingcobras were handed over to the russians, 300 to the FreeFrench, and the remaining aircraft used by the USAAF.

Info on the Bell P63A Kingcobra:

Type: Fighter/ground attack
Year: 1943
Engine: Allison V-1710-95, 12-cylinder V, liquid-cooled, 1,325 h.p.
Wingspan: 38ft 4in
Length: 32ft 8in
Height: 12ft 7in
Weight: 10,500lbs
Max. Speed: 408 mph at 24,450ft
Ceiling: 43,000ft
Range: 450 miles
Armament: 1 37mm cannon, 4 machine guns, 1,500lbs of bombs.
Crew: 1

Hope this info proves of use

 

Do you have any info on the M10 37mm cannon used in later versions of the P-63 as well.