And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
Correct. "Our Bell P-39, Miss Lend Lease, is displayed as she was found, recovered from Lake Mart-Yavr within the Arctic Circle. She was given to Russia as part of the lend lease program. Piloted by Lieutenant Ivan Baranovsky, an engine failure on a mission in 1944 cause her to crash in the lake." see more here: https://niagaraaerospacemuseum.org/collections/p-39-miss-lend-lease/
This is a Bell AiraCobra P-39 which had a 37 mm cannon thru the nose crawling.
When P-39 production ended in August 1944, Bell had built 9,558 Airacobras, of which 4,773 (mostly −39N and −39Q were sent to the Soviet Union through the Lend-Lease program
I looked it up, that's an interesting plane. The engine was located BEHIND the pilot seat and was connected to the prop by a driveshaft that ran under the pilots feet. Since there was no engine up front there was room for the center mounted cannon and 2 .50 cal machine guns. Quite a bit of firepower mounted dead center and perfect for lining up to the bullseye. You can see a cut away view here: https://scale-model-aircraft.com/wp-content/uploads/Bell-P-39-Airacobra-Cutaway-Drawing.jpg
The Russians didn't use the P-39 for ground attack. That 37mm cannon was not designed to damage armored vehicles. It was intended to down high flying bombers. Unfortunately, the aircraft builder immediately stripped out the multi-stage boost system to get a cheaper aircraft, thereby severely limiting it's high altitude capability. The test pilots raved about it's handling up high, before it got neutered. The slow climbing fighter was near useless in the Pacific and European theaters as a consequence. However, the Russians primary use was as an air-superiority fighter at low level, under 10k feet. That was where the fight was on the Eastern Front. In some cases, the 37mm was replaced with a 20mm cannon to get a higher cyclic rate. Russian pilots loved the aircraft.
Note the door; pilots entered/exited their office like Gentlemen. Surprised naval "aviators" haven't insisted on such a feature somewhere along the line. FLY NAVY!
Might've been drug from the lake; pilot inside.
ReplyDeleteCorrect. "Our Bell P-39, Miss Lend Lease, is displayed as she was found, recovered from Lake Mart-Yavr within the Arctic Circle. She was given to Russia as part of the lend lease program. Piloted by Lieutenant Ivan Baranovsky, an engine failure on a mission in 1944 cause her to crash in the lake." see more here: https://niagaraaerospacemuseum.org/collections/p-39-miss-lend-lease/
DeleteThis is a Bell AiraCobra P-39 which had a 37 mm cannon thru the nose crawling.
ReplyDeleteWhen P-39 production ended in August 1944, Bell had built 9,558 Airacobras, of which 4,773 (mostly −39N and −39Q were sent to the Soviet Union through the Lend-Lease program
I looked it up, that's an interesting plane. The engine was located BEHIND the pilot seat and was connected to the prop by a driveshaft that ran under the pilots feet. Since there was no engine up front there was room for the center mounted cannon and 2 .50 cal machine guns. Quite a bit of firepower mounted dead center and perfect for lining up to the bullseye. You can see a cut away view here: https://scale-model-aircraft.com/wp-content/uploads/Bell-P-39-Airacobra-Cutaway-Drawing.jpg
DeleteThe cannon actually fired through the propellor spinner, not the nose cowling, under which the two nose machine guns were located.
DeleteNothing like seeing a Bell P-39 Airacobra in full Soviet heraldry.
ReplyDeleteGood thing the USSR and USSA teamed up to fight WWII, otherwise we're told we'd be speaking German.
Instead of spanglish, yiddish, hindi, turkish, somali, mandarin, hmong, tagalog, malay, swahili, persian, punjabi, indio, zulu, arabic, igbo, hebrew and ebonics while pressing 1 for "English"...
Sure glad I got to vote for all this.
Funny how the US pilots didn't like this craft but the Russkies loved it for strafing German vehicles and light tanks!
ReplyDeleteIf you had flown a Russian craft you would have liked this as well...😁
DeleteThe Russians didn't use the P-39 for ground attack. That 37mm cannon was not designed to damage armored vehicles. It was intended to down high flying bombers. Unfortunately, the aircraft builder immediately stripped out the multi-stage boost system to get a cheaper aircraft, thereby severely limiting it's high altitude capability. The test pilots raved about it's handling up high, before it got neutered. The slow climbing fighter was near useless in the Pacific and European theaters as a consequence. However, the Russians primary use was as an air-superiority fighter at low level, under 10k feet. That was where the fight was on the Eastern Front. In some cases, the 37mm was replaced with a 20mm cannon to get a higher cyclic rate. Russian pilots loved the aircraft.
DeleteChuck Yeager said he liked it. That's a fairly decent reference.
DeleteNote the door; pilots entered/exited their office like Gentlemen. Surprised naval "aviators" haven't insisted on such a feature somewhere along the line.
ReplyDeleteFLY NAVY!
Don't give me a P-39 with an engine that's mounted behind
ReplyDeleteIt will tumble and roll and dig a big hole
Don't give me a P-39.