In September 1942 Clarence Emil "Bud" Anderson graduated as a pilot. He was assigned
to the 328th FG flying the P-39 that he called “Old Crow”. One year later Anderson was
transferred to the 363rd FS, 357th FG at Tonopah Nevada. Since they were flying the P-
39 the pilots thought they would be assigned to the Pacific or North Africa. Later in 1943
the 357th shipped out for Europe without their Airacobras and received P-51 Mustangs.
Anderson ended WWII with 16.25 victories and over his career was decorated 25 times.

The Bell P-39 was a revolutionary designed aircraft with the engine placed in the middle
of the fuselage just behind the cockpit. The propeller shaft ran under the cockpit floor just
beneath the pilot’s feet. All this was done to make room for the 37mm M4 canon that fired
through the propeller hub. The M4 turned out to have limited ammunition, slow rate of fire
and prone to jamming. To add to the poor performance a turbocharger wasn’t provided
limiting the aircraft to low level duties.

Specifications / P-39Q Airacobra

Manufacturer – Bell Aircraft

Role – Fighter

Crew – 1 X pilot

First flight – April 6, 1938

Introduced into active duty – 1941

Production time span – 1940/May 1944

Number built – 9,584

Dimensions
Length – 30 ft 2 in   (9.2 m)
Wingspan – 34 ft   (10.4 m)
Height – 12 ft 5 in   (3.8 m)
Wingarea – 213 ft²   (19.8 m²)

Weights
Empty – 5,347 lb   (2,425 kg)
Loaded – 7,379 lb   (3,347 kg)
Max takeoff – 8,400 lb   (3,800 kg)

Performance
Engine – 1 X Allison V-1710-85 liquid-cooled V-12, 1,200 hp   (895 kw)
Maximum speed – 376 mph   (605 km/h)
Maximum dive speed – 525 mph   (845 km/h)
Range – 1,098 miles   (1,770 km)
Service ceiling – 35,000 ft   (10,700 m)
Rate of climb – 3,750 ft/min   (19 m/s)
Time to 15,000 ft – 4.5 minutes at 160 mph   (260 km/h)

Armament
1 X 37 mm M4 cannon firing through the propeller hub, ROF 140 rpm with 30 rounds of
HE ammo.

4 X .50 cal (12.7 mm) machine guns ROF 750 rpm – one gun in each wing and two guns
in the cowl with a ROF of 300 rpm for each.

Ammo – 200 rounds per nose cowl gun, 300 rounds in pods under the wings for each
wing gun.

Up to 500 lb   (230 kg) of external bombs.

P-39Q-21 used the 4-bladed propeller while the P-39Q-30 reverted to the 3-bladed
propeller because the 4-bladed prop worsened directional stability.

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