THE BELL AIRACOBRA WAS ADVANCED in several ways and disadvantaged in others. A lot has been written about its virtues and vices. Yet the aircraft and its offspring became one of the favorites—and most potent—in Lend Lease during World War II. Its design aided in development of even more advanced U.S. aircraft. And the craft served one of the oddest roles in training aerial gunnery. Here, in Parts 1 and 2 today and tomorrow, are tidbits about these three gleaned from a variety of sources.
An early Bell P-39 Airacobra. Image from Chronicle of Aviation.
Bell Origins. In Classic World War II Aircraft Cutaways, Bill Gunston writes, “In the story of the Catalina the point is made that in 1935 Consolidated moved from Buffalo to California. Many of the company’s former employees stayed behind, and these included Larry Bell (former general manager), R P Williams (former assistant general manager) and Robert J Woods (former chief engineer). They quickly formed Bell Aircraft, began designing most unconventional fighters, and started hiring the Consolidated workforce who preferred icy Buffalo to sunny San Diego.”
Bell YFM-1 Aircuda. Image from Wikipedia.
Bell’s first design was the YFM-1 Airacuda, a “bomber destroyer” heavy fighter which first flew in September 1937. Alas, it failed to meet its innovative design objectives: The craft was slower than most bombers, not maneuverable enough for fighter encounters, and its dual nacelle-residing gunners were getting smoked out by the cannon fire, not to say fearful of parachuting into the path of rear-mounted propellers.
The P-39 Airacobra—Flying Armament. Envisioned as a single-engine interceptor of high-altitude hostile aircraft, the P-39, Wikipedia notes, was “unusual, because fighter design had previously been driven by the intended engine, not the weapon.” The Airacobra had a “37-mm Browning T9 cannon, later produced by Oldsmobile, firing through the center of the propeller hub for optimum accuracy and stability.”
In early variants, .50 caliber machine guns also fired forward from the fuselage. Later P-39s repositioned them onto the wings.
Image from United States Army Air Forces via Wikipedia.
A Rear-Engine Craft. The P-39’s Allison V-1710 liquid-cooled V-12 engine resided near the craft’s center of gravity, unorthodoxly directly behind the cockpit. Its two-piece driveshaft was located beneath the cockpit floor.
Another innovation was the P-39’s tricycle landing gear, deemed easier for maneuvering than tail-dragger designs.
Mechanics crank the starter handle of a P-39Q-1 BE Airacobra at Hamilton Army Airfield, California, July 1943. Image by USAAF vis Wikipedia.
Yet another oddity was the pilot’s access, car-like doors with wind-down windows on either side of the P-39’s fixed canopy.
Operational Shortcomings. In envisioning its specifications, the P-39’s powerplant would have had two-stage forced induction, a mechanically-driven supercharger (likely a centrifugal one) combined with an exhaust-driven second stage. This latter was omitted, seemingly for reasons of packaging, maintenance, and other considerations.
This seriously compromised the aircraft’s intended capabilities of high-altitude interception. The first Airacobras were limited to engagements at 12,000 ft. or less; later variants, up to 20,000 ft.
Another problem was aero instability related to location of the craft’s center of gravity: A tendency to flat spin was related to empty ammo canisters in the craft’s nose. Similarly, in certain maneuvers—and again sans ammo—the aircraft could tumble end over end.
Tomorrow in Part 2, we’ll find people who appreciated the P-39 and its P-63 sibling. ds
© Dennis Simanaitis, SimanaitisSays.com, 2025