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.
Thursday, May 9, 2024
Better get that airborne, given all the searchlights blazing.
the Bell P-39 Airacobra was the biggest POS to come out of the war. it had a short production run of four years and a shorter lifespan for the pilots who flew them.
Pretty much junk. Based loosely on a Howard Hughes speed demon race plane, which translated poorly to what a fighter needed.
Having the monstrous 37mm cannon mounted in the center of the propeller shaft simplified aiming somewhat, but it was mediocre overall.
IIRC, the Russian liked them, because they were equally good at unzipping Panzers, or Messerschmitts at low altitude. It was limited to altitudes below 12K; without a supercharger, it became a sitting duck above that. And when the ammo was expended, they were prone to flat spins and tail-over-nose tumbling if handled sloppily, because stable flight depended on the ammo ballast being there. Kind of a problem if you'd already fired all of yours.
I once met a fellow who flew P39’s out of Redding, CA during the war. I asked him if it was as bad a plane as it was reputed to be. “Hell, it was worse!” He replied.
The Soviets didn't use them for ground attack, they were much liked for air to air use. They generally tossed the 37mm and replaced it with a 20mm. Some of their pilots ran up quite a score in air kills in these. Supposedly they had an open order for all that we were willing to sell them. Part of their attraction was the aircraft was a good cold weather plane compared to most everything else we were willing to sell them, and the Allied pilots hated that it had no high altitude capability. It was designed for high altitude use, but the blower was deleted for cost and engineering reasons. The prototype was very good at altitude, according to the test pilots.
Both the Japs Germans and probably the Russians were working on nuclear bombs. Not mentioned when Hiroshima comes up.
ReplyDeleteFirebombing Tokyo with incendiaries and phosphorous was worse that the A-bomb.
DeleteI doubt they will get very far without a propellor!
ReplyDeleteLook closer. It's spinning. Signified by the white circular streaks in the pic.
Deletethe Bell P-39 Airacobra was the biggest POS to come out of the war. it had a short production run of four years and a shorter lifespan for the pilots who flew them.
ReplyDeleteI read a book that stated Dan Rowan* of Laugh-In flew one in the pacific, crashed when the wings folded. verify?
Delete*Daniel David
Pretty much junk.
DeleteBased loosely on a Howard Hughes speed demon race plane, which translated poorly to what a fighter needed.
Having the monstrous 37mm cannon mounted in the center of the propeller shaft simplified aiming somewhat, but it was mediocre overall.
IIRC, the Russian liked them, because they were equally good at unzipping Panzers, or Messerschmitts at low altitude.
It was limited to altitudes below 12K; without a supercharger, it became a sitting duck above that.
And when the ammo was expended, they were prone to flat spins and tail-over-nose tumbling if handled sloppily, because stable flight depended on the ammo ballast being there. Kind of a problem if you'd already fired all of yours.
I once met a fellow who flew P39’s out of Redding, CA during the war. I asked him if it was as bad a plane as it was reputed to be.
ReplyDelete“Hell, it was worse!” He replied.
Nips. We called 'em Nips back then. Among other things.
ReplyDeleteThe Soviets didn't use them for ground attack, they were much liked for air to air use. They generally tossed the 37mm and replaced it with a 20mm. Some of their pilots ran up quite a score in air kills in these. Supposedly they had an open order for all that we were willing to sell them. Part of their attraction was the aircraft was a good cold weather plane compared to most everything else we were willing to sell them, and the Allied pilots hated that it had no high altitude capability. It was designed for high altitude use, but the blower was deleted for cost and engineering reasons. The prototype was very good at altitude, according to the test pilots.
ReplyDelete