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The radical Bell P-39 Airacobra singleseatfighter was designed around thehub-firing 37-mm T-9 cannon whichhad given impressive demonstrationsin 1935. The Allison V-12 engine waslocated amidships behind the cockpit,driving the propeller by an extensionshaft, and nosewheel landing gear wasadopted. The prototype XP-39 was firstflown in April 1939; production P-39Daircraft entered service with theUSAAC in 1941 and first saw combat inthe Pacific theatre in April 1942. P-39Ds also served with US forces inEurope but suffered heavily in action;they also flew with one RAF squadron(No. 601) but persistent problemscaused them to be withdrawn afterscarcely a single action. The Airacobraflew with much better results withthree USAAF groups based in NorthAfrica from the end of 1942. The P-39Dwas followed by the P-39F, which introducedan Aeroproducts propeller inplace of the former Curtiss type, theP-39J with V-1710-59 engine, the P-39Kwith -63 engine and Aeroproductspropeller, and the P-39L with -63 engineand Curtiss propeller. The P-39Mintroduced the -83 engine with largediameterpropeller. Final and mostbuiltversions were the P-39N and P-39Q with -85 engine; productionamounted to 2,095, bringing the total ofall P-39s to 9,558, Of these, no fewerthan 4,773 were shipped to the SovietUnion in response to Stalin's desperateappeals for military assistance.SpecificationBellP-39NAiracobraType: single-seat fighter bomberPowerplant: one 895-kW ( 1,200-hp)Allison V-1710-85 V-12 piston enginePerformance: maximum speed 642km/h (399 mph) at 2955 m (9,700 ft);climb to 4570 m ( 15,000 ft) in 3.8minutes; service ceiling 11735 m(38,500 ft); range 1207 km(750miles)Weights: empty 2566 kg (5,657 lb);maximum take-off 3720 kg (8,200 lb)Dimensions: span 10.36 m (34 ft 0 in);length9.19 m (30 ft 2 in); height 3.78 m(12 ft 5 in); wing area 19.79m2(213.0 sq ft)Armament: one hub-firing 37-mm gun,two 12,7-mm(0.5-in) machine-guns innose decking, and four 7.62-mm (0.3-in) guns in the wings, plus provision forone 227-kg (500-lb) bomb under thefuselage
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