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The Bell P39 design is the work of R.J Woods and O.L Woodson, the first flight of the plane take place in 1939. For these year the design of the plane include many new solutions, the nose-wheel and the middle fuselage engine position was very particulat front of the contemporary planes. The curious arrangment of the engine have two reasons, first freeing space front of pilot in oder to install the armament, second is a good position of the gravity center to imporve maniability of the plane. This original conception induce a complex mechanic arrangment a shaft passing under the pilot seat was connected to a reductor positionned at the tip of nose, this reductor have an open center, which permit to passed the big 37mm gun.The early models of P39 have only 15 rounds for the 37mm gun, later model have 30 rounds .In the nose was mounted also 2 x 12,7mm Colt/Browning and 2 or 4 7,65mm Browning in the wings. The Great Brittain was the first country to order this non-conventional plane in 1940. The first plane to be delivered was during june 1941. The brittish plane have some differences with the original model. The 37mm gun was replaced by a 20 mm Hispano with 60 rounds, the 2 x 12,7mm Colt/Browning have been replaced by 2 x 7,65mm Browning and 4 others 7,65 Browning are mounted in the wings. The 601th RAF Sqdr make few missons with not a real success, and the ground crew disapointed by the particular mechanic of this plane have many difficulty to maintain him. So the P39 was retired from first line. Few time after the USAAF use the P39 with good results in Mediteranean an Pacific theater. The P39 was better in close support mission than in fighter mission .The plane was robust ,well armed and the pilots appreciate these quality. The most important number of P39 in operations was certainly the Russian P39 not less than 5000 planes have been delivered to the URSS wich use them ase a close support and ground-attack plane, many of russian models have 2 x 12,7mm in gondolas under wing. Late 1944 the P39 was replaced by the P63 " Kingcobra " from outside the two planes are very similar but the P63 was a new plane, and imporved at the P39 experience. The P63 have the same armament but the 37mm gun have 58 rounds URSS received 2241 of the 3303 P63 built, 300 was delivered t the french " armee de l'air " and used by the Normandie-Niemen in Indochina. On the whole number of P63 only 332 was used by USAF as target plane under name of RP63. |
