P-39 Illustrated Paperback – May 21, 2025

Nobody could say the P-39 wasn’t good looking. From its bullet-shaped, uncluttered nose to its slim fuselage and classically-shaped wings, the P-39 looked like a winner of the 1930s fighter design competition. The mission of a “P” for Pursuit airplane was to shoot down other airplanes, and the P-39 was conceived as a design for that purpose. It was the first airplane designed around a gun, which resulted in a novel placement of the engine behind the pilot. The gun was a 37mm cannon, one round of which could easily have destroyed most enemy fighters of that era, and had the P-39 been built as conceived, with the supercharged engine that would have allowed it to fight at higher WWII altitudes, it might have emerged as the greatest fighter of WWII, instead of the medium-altitude slogger it became, largely unloved by allied pilots, who labeled it a “Peashooter” or “Iron Dog”. The P-39 was often the first fighter the fledgling USAAF fighter pilot flew after the AT-6 Texan. Up until he opened the car door and stepped into the Airacobra cockpit, he had only flown tail wheel airplanes under an open or sliding canopy. The P-39 had a tricycle gear and a car doors on both sides of the cockpit (with roll-down windows yet!). Taxi was no longer a challenge….he could see over the nose! When fully loaded with ammunition, the weight and balance was perfect, and the P-39 was a dream to fly, fast at low altitude, and more maneuverable than most of its contemporaries. But once the ammo was expended and the center of gravity shifted to the rear, it became much more demanding. Snatching the stick aft was likely to result in departure from controlled flight and a flat spin, difficult or impossible to recover from.The war in Europe got top billing for allied efforts to win the war, and USAAF and RAF efforts were concentrated on high altitude bombing. Effective superchargers were required for engine operation at those high altitudes, and the P-39 did not have the right supercharger for combat at those altitudes. As a result, almost half of all P-39 production in WWII went to the Soviet Union, where most air combat was at low to medium altitude. The P-39 was extremely successful in that arena, producing more than half of the most successful Soviet aces.The P-63 King Cobra was a direct successor of the P-39, and was superior in every aspect. But by the time the King Cobra was ready, USAAF was firmly committed to the Mustang, so the King Cobra never saw American service. It as ordered into production for Lend-Lease to the Soviet Union. But the P-63 paved the way for Bell to produce the first American jet fighter, the P-59 Airacomet. The King Cobra was an important stepping -tone to the jet age.We are fortunate to have many high-quality period color photos of the Airacobra, and equally fortunate to have many of the Bell Aircraft advertising pages that kept the civilian population focused on winning the war included in this “Illustrated”. Read more