TFC P-39 First Flight Alert!

Alan Brooks · **Posted:** Wed Jun 16, 2004 5:57 pm

Saw on the flypast forum that the P-39 first flight is anyday now! Then the a/c will hurriedly shipped to the UK, possibly in time for Legends. Brandon, you have to be the man on the spot, since that IS your base of operations! Please post what you see and any pics that you may take......as many of us are waiting to see the finished aircraft!.... Alan

bdk · **Joined:** Sun May 02, 2004 1:16 am **Posts:** 11324

Alan Brooks wrote:

Saw on the flypast forum that the P-39 first flight is anyday now! Then the a/c will hurriedly shipped to the UK, possibly in time for Legends. Brandon, you have to be the man on the spot, since that IS your base of operations! Please post what you see and any pics that you may take......as many of us are waiting to see the finished aircraft!.... Alan

It is undergoing engine runs now... Won't fly today.

C170BDan · **Posted:** Wed Jun 16, 2004 9:19 pm

Is it still in bare metal finish? Thought I read somewhere about its paint scheme but saw pictures of it from the airshow being bare.

bdk · **Joined:** Sun May 02, 2004 1:16 am **Posts:** 11324

C170BDan wrote:

Is it still in bare metal finish? Thought I read somewhere about its paint scheme but saw pictures of it from the airshow being bare.

It has since been painted.

bdk · **Joined:** Sun May 02, 2004 1:16 am **Posts:** 11324

Alan Brooks wrote:

Saw on the flypast forum that the P-39 first flight is anyday now! Then the a/c will hurriedly shipped to the UK, possibly in time for Legends. Brandon, you have to be the man on the spot, since that IS your base of operations! Please post what you see and any pics that you may take......as many of us are waiting to see the finished aircraft!.... Alan

She flies! And looks grand in the Reno Air race "Mr. Mennen" scheme as raced by Mira Slovak. :twisted:

Anyone know where I could get some short .mpeg videos hosted?

DaveM2 · **Posted:** Fri Jun 18, 2004 2:36 am

BK

STEP AWAY FROM THE BUDWEISER ....... :-)

Dave

Dan K · **Posted:** Fri Jun 18, 2004 9:10 am

Seriously...

The Planes of Fame board is indicating she flew on June 17th at about 7:15 p.m.

But "Mr. Mennen"?...

Seriously??...

bdk · **Joined:** Sun May 02, 2004 1:16 am **Posts:** 11324

Dan K wrote:

Seriously...

The Planes of Fame board is indicating she flew on June 18th at about 7:15 p.m.

But "Mr. Mennen"?...

Seriously??...

Sorry, I didn't have enough time to upload photos last night and I couldn't resist... :twisted:

http://community.webshots.com/album/141113725qboEVz?857

I'm only posting a few photos to start with because I've commited the best ones to other sources for right now.

More later...

Alan Brooks · **Posted:** Fri Jun 18, 2004 9:47 am

Great to see her fly, but it is a shame that the only flying P-39's will be a continent apart.... Gongrats to all parties involved with the P-39... I know all the UK'ers will be excited to see her on the grass at Duxford! Alan

TimAPNY · **Posted:** Fri Jun 18, 2004 9:52 am

Thanks for the shots, I wish I could have been there. I love to see them back in the air!

Was the the P-39 that was / is being restored in the POF hanger with all the model airplanes in it? I was there in April and it appeared to still had a lot of work to go.

Dan K · **Posted:** Fri Jun 18, 2004 9:55 am

Many thanks for the photos!

Truly bittersweet. Great to see her in the air, but I wish she was staying on the correct (western) side of the pond. Long may she fly!

bdk · **Joined:** Sun May 02, 2004 1:16 am **Posts:** 11324

TimApNy wrote:

Was the the P-39 that was / is being restored in the POF hanger with all the model airplanes in it? I was there in April and it appeared to still had a lot of work to go.

It is/was the ONLY P-39 being restored, so if it was in pieces, that's the one! The museum owns a P-39 as well, but it was restored some years ago a a static display. Yanks also has a P-39 restored to airworthy condition on the field, but it does not fly since their collection is primarily static.

And why do I keep getting the following error message, "You cannot make another post so soon after your last; please try again in a short while."?

JDK · **Posted:** Fri Jun 18, 2004 10:24 am

Great news - yes, a really big effort completed. As regards location, Well... Should really be in the Pacific Theatre, you know... :wink:

Rob Mears · **Posted:** Fri Jun 18, 2004 11:08 am

Man, I'm really jazzed to see one of the PNG machines in the air after so long. I've been looking at all those picked over carcasses for decades! Hopefully the emergence of this plane on the scene will put the fire under a few more butts and get a couple more of the PNG planes on the road to recovery.

The Airacobra is truly an awsome little plane IMO. It may not be the fastest, but in the realm of existing WWII-era fighters it's uniqueness really sets it apart. Sitting on the flight line with all of it's cowls removed, it'll draw my attention quicker than a Mustang any day!

Looks like TFC pulled out the stops and had all of the proper goodies fitted in the nose. First rate gents!

bdk · **Joined:** Sun May 02, 2004 1:16 am **Posts:** 11324

Rob Mears wrote:

Looks like TFC pulled out the stops and had all of the proper goodies fitted in the nose. First rate gents!

The goodies include solid machined brass cannon shells for weight and balance purposes and a Reno Air Race style radiator spray bar evaporative cooling system. One of the machine gun ammo containers is actually a reservoir for water. Cooling is quite a problem on the ground since the radiator intakes are so small.

And TFC paid the bills... Fighter Rebuilders did the restoration!

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