- Yes
- No
Hello! and welcome to my suggestion for the Bell Airacobra in British Service (Known as the P-39 in US service). This, similarly to my other recent suggestions, will be a two part series where I cover the Airacobras in UK service, today I will focus on the first Airacobras the RAF Bought, the Airacobra Mk.I, also known as the P-39C.
History
Spoiler
In 1940 the British Direct Purchase Commision based in the US was looking for new Combat aircraft to compliment other American built aircraft such as the Tomahawks making their way into RAF service, to this avail the P-39 Airacobra was chosen as a prime candidate, the RAF initially ordered 675 aircraft built to slightly different specifications, however due to the desperation of the RAF to get new aircraft into service, 3 P-39C variants were supplied in order to speed up the testing at Boscombe down.
Two of these aircraft reached the UK by July 1941, being given the serials DS173 and DS174, these were standard P-39Cs with no modifications meaning unlike their later british cousins they retained the 37mm Cannon firing through the Prop hub, These were to be dubbed the Caribou Mk.I However were later renamed to the Airacobra Mk.I for simplicity. These were to be used for Gunnery Trials However these were limited due to the lack of spare parts and the excessive amount of time it took to rearm or replace the Cannon (taking at least 20 mins to rearm it and over 24 hours to fully replace it).
This was not the end of the troubles these Airacobras faced however, in November 1941 DS173 was heavily damaged following an undercarriage failure after landing and only 4 weeks later DS174 suffered an engine failure, these incidents rather humorously convinced the Pilot, who was the same in both incidents to retrain as a Technical officer instead. Despite these issues the RAF went ahead with their procurement of the rest of the order with the Airacobras after being dubbed the Caribou Mk.IA, and like their counterparts were later renamed to the Airacobra Shortly after their arrival.
Not much is known of the Third Airacobra Mk.I, No Documentation seems to exist of it and it is not recorded as being tested at Boscombe down, so it is most likely safe to assume it was lost in transit across the Atlantic, most likely due to German U-boats.
Images
Spoiler
An Airacobra Mk.I at Boscombe Down, note that it only has one 7.62 in the wings
The Two Airacobra Mk.Is beside each other
An Airacobra Mk.I taking off from Boscombe Down
Specs/Armament
Spoiler
General Characteristics/Performance
Crew: 1
Engine: Allison V-1710-35
Take-off weight: 4000 kg
Max altitude: 9 500 m
Max speed: 576 km/h
Length: 9.19 m (30.2 ft)
Span: 10.36 m (34.0 ft)
Height: 3.61 m (11.8 ft)
Armament
- Guns
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1 x 37mm Cannon
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2 x 12.7mm Machine guns
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2 x 7.62mm Machine guns
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**More info greatly appreciated **
Place in game
Spoiler
In game I feel this would fit best as a Premium due to it only being tested by the RAF however it would be an interesting aircraft to add, offering a different and Unique playstyle to the game that not many British aircraft offer, In terms of BR it would most likely fit best at 2.3 due to it being superior to the P-400 but still worse than the P-39N in the US tree
Sources
Spoiler
Bell P-39 Airacobra - Wikipedia
P-400 - War Thunder Wiki
P-39 Performance Tests
http://www.wwiiaircraftperformance.org/P-39/P-39C_40-2988.pdf
THE SECRET YEARS flight testing at boscombe down 1939 - 1945, Tim Mason, ISBN 0951989995
