P-39 Renaissance

[Wildchild]

Problem really is that the cost of re-build does not come close to market value. Not too many serious collectors wish to spend 1.5- 2 mil to restore a 1 mil aircraft. The wildcat is a prime example. Spend 1.2 mil to restore a 900K airframe. Just my .02 + 30 years experience worth.

If you do your own work it's not that expensive

[T-28mike]

Problem really is that the cost of re-build does not come close to market value. Not too many serious collectors wish to spend 1.5- 2 mil to restore a 1 mil aircraft. The wildcat is a prime example. Spend 1.2 mil to restore a 900K airframe. Just my .02 + 30 years experience worth.

If you do your own work it's not that expensive

Yep, it costs even more.... Divorces don't come cheap these days!!!

[Kyleb]

I believe "Brooklyn Bum 2nd" has a special spray bar added in as a preventive measure to keep the coolant temps down when it should become critical to do so.

Yes, it has spraybars, it can be a long taxi to and from the runway at Chino where it was initially flown. I haven't heard that the CAF example or any of the P-63s regularly operate with spraybars. Anyone know about those?

I was at the Centex CAF Museum right after Thanksgiving and asked a couple of questions about whether their pilots preferred the P-39 or the P-63. The answer was "The P-63, it has a wider gear and doesn't have the cooling problems the P-39 does."

I'm guessing it doesn't have a spray bar.

[Ray Clausen]

Hi! I'm the Maintenance Officer at the CAF Centex Wing and I can answer a few of the questions I've seen here.

The CAF P-39, "Miss Connie", does have a spraybar. We have a 25 gallon water tank in the nose along with a lot of lead ballast. The P-63 does not have the cooling problems that the P-39 has. They both run the Allison 1710, but the P-63 has two cooling radiators, each of which is much larger than the one P-39 radiator. The intake port on the P-63 is a single opening on each wing for both the oil and coolant ducts with a much larger area than the P-39, which has two relatively small openings on each wing for oil and coolant ducting.

I have separate threads for both the Centex P-39 and the CAF P-63 on WIX, though I haven't updated them lately. We recently had issues with the P-63 radiators and there are pictures that might be of value.

The P-63 winter condition inspection is underway as should be completed in a couple of weeks. Our P-39 is finally getting some work completed and should be back in the air by February. Check those threads for updates!

Thanks!

[tom d. friedman]

I don't think we would see a P-39 renaissance. The other planes that you mentioned: Hurricane, P-40, P-47, were all usually well regarded by those that flew them and generally well regarded by historians. The P-39 was not held in such high regard (except for the Russians), and historians, likewise, have not spoken well of the P-39. I think that reputation takes away from the plane popularity and the ability for it to be widely restored and flown today.

The P-39 filled a need when there was no other plane available. As soon as other planes became available, it was unceremoniously kicked to the curb. I can't recall seeing any account of a P-39 pilot regretting having to switch to another aircraft. Burke Davis in "Get Yammamoto" indicated that Japanese pilots said they preferred to meet the P-39 over any other Allied aircraft.

Do I personally think the P-39 is a cool plane? Absolutely. Would have I wanted to go into combat in one? Absolutely not.

interesting post saxman!! i say this because many experimental japanese aircraft of ww 2 that never made it beyond the drawing board have the basic p -39's lines / fuselage shape, etc sans the "car door". to perk your curiosity check out the book "japanese secret projects" experimental aircraft of the IJA 1939 - 1945 by edwin m. dyer III & you'll see how many prototypes smack of the p -39. duplication is the best form of a compliment i'd say!!the 39 even got a thumbs up from chuck yeager!! i can see the infared dot on me now from the pundits!!!

[cooper9411]

Lets pool our money and go after the P-39 that went into the Allegheny River near Pittsburgh and was never recoverd!!!!!!!