Ernie P.
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Joined: 9/29/2007
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From: Bealeton, VA, USA
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quote:
ORIGINAL: zippome
I missed that all important word ''fighter'' when I first read the question. Now you mention (fixed wing) in a clue. A red herring perhaps? Well I'm gonna guess not, and since the russians had considerable success with it, I'm gonna guess the Bell P-39?
Zip
A red herring? Me? Would I do that? Yes zippome, the Bell P-39 is the right answer; and you are up, Sir. We await your question. Thanks; Ernie P.
Look at the production numbers below. Of the main US WWII fighter types, the P-38, P-39, P-40, P-47, P-51, F4F, F4U and F6F, only the F4F Wildcat was produced in smaller numbers than the P-39. And the P-39, in Russian hands, scored more air to air victories than any other US type of aircraft. Yet somehow, the P-39 is considered to be a near failure; because it was only effective at low altitude. My point? Well, two points actually. When considering the effectiveness of any aircraft; you must consider one primary point: How did it fare IN THE CIRCUMSTANCES UNDER WHICH IT FOUGHT, and against the enemy opposition AT THE TIME? Also, this should highlight the fact that the struggle between Germany and Russia was the main thrust of the war. All else was secondary. It was in Russia that Germany put her main effort; and it was in Russia that she lost the war.
Question: What United States fighter do I describe?
Clues:
(1) Credited with the most enemy aircraft shot down in combat?
(2) Considered to be the most successful mass produced aircraft (fixed wing) produced by its manufacturer.
(3) Low wing design.
(4) All metal.
(5) Single engine.
(6) Tricycle landing gear.
Answer: The Bell P-39
Production Numbers
P-38: 10,037
P-39: 9,584
P-40: 13,738
P-47: 15,686
P-51: 15,000
F4F: 7,885
F4U: 12,571
F6F: 12,275
The Bell P-39 Airacobra was one of the principal American fighter aircraft in service at the start of World War II. Although its mid-engine placement was innovative, the P-39 design was handicapped by the lack of an efficient turbo-supercharger, limiting it to low-altitude work, although the type was used with great success by the Soviet Air Force. In the P-39, Soviet pilots scored the highest number of individual kills attributed to any U.S. fighter type. Together with the derivative P-63 Kingcobra, these aircraft would be the most successful mass-produced, fixed-wing aircraft manufactured by Bell.
The P-39 was an all-metal, low-wing, single-engine fighter, with tricycle undercarriage incorporating a very streamlined and aerodynamically efficient design.
The Airacobra was conceived as a "weapons system" design with the T9 cannon in mind. This weapon fired a 1.3 lb. (610 g) projectile capable of piercing .8" (2 cm) of armor at 500 yards (450 m) with armor piercing rounds. The complete armament fit as designed consisted of the T9 with a pair of Browning M2 .50" (12.7 mm) machineguns mounted in the nose. This would change to two .50s and two .30s in the XP-39B (P-39C, Model 13, the first 20 delivered) and 2x0.50 and 4x0.30 (all four in the wings) in the P-39D (Model 15), which also introduced self-sealing tanks and shackles (and piping) for a 500 lb. (227 kg) bomb or drop tank. The engine was placed behind the cockpit, so pilots often referred to this as "Allison armor." A long transmission tunnel passed through the fuselage, under the cockpit, and was linked to the three-bladed propeller. The radiator was located in the fuselage.
In September 1940, Britain ordered 386 P-39Ds (Model 14), with a 20 mm Hispano-Suiza HS.404 and six .303 (7.7 mm), instead of a 37 mm and six 0.30 calibers. The RAF eventually ordered a total of 675 P-39s. However, after the first Airacobras arrived at 601 Squadron RAF in September 1941, they were promptly recognized as having an inadequate rate of climb and performance at altitude for Western European conditions. Only 80 were adopted, all of them with 601 Squadron. Britain transferred about 200 P-39s to the Soviet Union.
Another 200 examples intended for the RAF were taken up by the USAAF after the attack on Pearl Harbor as the P-400, and were sent to the Fifth Air Force in Australia, for service in the South West Pacific Theatre.
Because of the unconventional layout, there was no space in the fuselage to place a fuel tank. Although drop tanks were implemented to extend its range, the standard fuel load was carried in the wings, with the result that the P-39 was limited to short range tactical strikes.
United Kingdom
In 1940, the British Direct Purchase Commission in the US was looking for combat aircraft; they ordered 675 of the export version Bell Model 14 as the "Caribou" on the strength of the company's representations on 13 April 1940. The performance of the Bell P-39 prototype and 13 test aircraft which were able to achieve a speed of 390 mph (630 km/h) at altitude was due to the installation of turbo-supercharging. The British armament was 0.50-inch machine guns in the fuselage, and four 0.30-inch machine guns in the wings, the 37 mm gun was replaced by a 20 mm Hispano-Suiza.
The British export models were renamed "Airacobra" in 1941. A further 150 were specified for delivery under Lend-lease in 1941 but these were not supplied. The Royal Air Force (RAF) took delivery in mid 1941 and found that actual performance of the non-turbo-supercharged production aircraft differed markedly from what they were expecting.
In some areas, the Airacobra was inferior to existing aircraft such as the Hawker Hurricane and Supermarine Spitfire and its performance at altitude suffered drastically. On the other hand it was considered effective for low level fighter and ground attack work. Problems with gun and exhaust flash suppression and compass were fixable.
No. 601 Squadron RAF was the only British unit to use the Airacobra operationally, receiving their first two examples on 6 August 1941. On 9 October, four Airacobras attacked enemy barges near Dunkirk, in the type's only operational action with the RAF. The squadron continued to train with the Airacobra during the winter, but in March 1942, it re-equipped with Spitfires.
The Airacobras already in the UK, along with the remainder of the first batch being built in the US, were sent to the Soviet Air force, the sole exception being AH574, which was passed to the Royal Navy and used for experimental work, including the first carrier landing by a tricycle undercarriage aircraft on HMS Pretoria Castle, until it was scrapped on the recommendation of a visiting Bell test pilot in March 1946.
General characteristics
Crew: One
Length: 30 ft 2 in (9.2 m)
Wingspan: 34 ft 0 in (10.4 m)
Height: 12 ft 5 in (3.8 m)
Wing area: 213 sq ft (19.8 m²)
Empty weight: 5,347 lb (2,425 kg)
Loaded weight: 7,379 lb (3,347 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 8,400 lb (3,800 kg)
Powerplant: 1× Allison V-1710-85 liquid-cooled V-12, 1,200 hp (895 kW)
Performance
Maximum speed: 376 mph; (605 km/h; Redline dive speed=525 mph.)
Range: 1,098 miles (1,770 km)
Service ceiling 35,000 ft (10,700 m)
Rate of climb: 3,750 ft/min (19 m/s; 15,000'/ 4.5 min at 160 mph (260 km/h).)
Wing loading: 34.6 lb/sq ft (169 kg/m²)
Power/mass: 0.16 hp/lb (0.27 kW/kg)
Armament
1x 37 mm M4 cannon firing through the propeller hub at the rate of 140 rpm with 30 rounds of HE ammo.
4 x .50 cal (12.7 mm) machine guns. Rate of fire was 750 rpm x 1 gun in each wing, only 300 rpm each x 2 guns synchronized in the cowl. Ammo: 200 rounds per nose-gun, 300 per wing-pod.
Up to 500 lb (230 kg) of bombs externally
Several of the Red Air Force's ranking aces flew the P-39 for a major portion of their combat sorties. The top ace in the P-39 and number four overall was Guards Major Gregoriy Rechkalov, who shot down 50 of his total 56 kills while flying a P-39. Guards Colonel Aleksandr Pokryshkin, who finished the war as the number two Soviet ace with 59 individual and 6 shared kills, reportedly flew the P-39 for 48 of his kills. Another high scorer in the P-39 was Guards Major Dmitriy Glinka, who destroyed 20 German aircraft in 40 aerial engagements in the summer of 1943, and finished the war with an even 50 kills, 41 of them while flying the P-39. Third-ranked Soviet ace Guards Major Nikolay Gulaev transitioned to the P-39 in early August 1943 with 16 individual and 2 shared kills. He flew his last combat sortie on 14 August 1944 (ordered to attend higher military schooling), leaving the battlefield with an additional 41 individual victories and 1 shared kill after just over one year in his P-39.
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RE: Knowledge Quiz for Warbird wiz - 
