A Shiny Cobra

This is your blogmeister's most-favoritest pikshur of the Bell P-39 Airacobra... an early example (a YP-39 me thinks) in bare-metal finish, as was the norm with most aircraft of the mid to late 1930s US Army Air Corps.

Project 914 Archives (S.Donacik collection)

Like the P-40, the P-39 has been much maligned during the six-and-a-half decades since the Second World War came to an end... perhaps more so. It was not used as extensively by AAF combat outfits as the P-40, and was arguably not as capable or effective. But the AAF had only two 'modern' pursuit types available in any appreciable numbers at the beginning of that soire... the P-39 was one of them, and it did its part to hold the line until more advanced types became available.

Putting capability and operational effectiveness aside to concentrate on aesthetics and sheer bad-assness, as many of us winguts are wont to do, there's no denying that the Airacobra is one grooooovy lookin' bird... and if your blogmeister weren't a P-40 fanatic, the P-39 would most certainly be #1 in his book.

More P-39s and other Bell products to come!


Fade to Black...