Warbird Information Exchange

Howdy all

Thought this may be of interest to everyone

Jerry Yagen has obtained a P-400 Airacobra that last served with the 36th Fighter Squadron, 8th Fighter Group

http://www.pacificwrecks.com/aircraft/p-400/AP335.html

Lightning

I wonder where the rest of the Taft collection ended up including the P-6E *


* If it existed!


Paul

Hi all,
Kermit Weeks is in Australia and yesterday visited Precision Aerospace at Wangaratta, and shared this in a longer post on Facebook:
"Jerry Yegan's[sic] Kingfisher and P-39 projects are heading to Pioneer Aircraft in New Zealand..."

Would this be the P-400 mentioned above?

_________________
Zac in NZ
#avgeek, modelbuilder, photographer, writer. Callsign: "HANDBAG".
https://linktr.ee/zacyates

"It's his plane, he spent the money to restore it, he can do with it what he wants. I will never understand what's hard to comprehend about this." - kalamazookid, 20/08/2013
"The more time you spend around warbirds the sooner you learn nothing, is simple." - JohnB, 24/02/22

No, they have another P-39 under rebuild in Oz... AP335 is still in storage in Va Beach as I understand it.

Cheers,

Lynn

EDUCATE ME !

What was the difference (if any) between the P-400 and the P-39???

Thanks,
JV

www.fuselagecodes.com

I think one o f the differences is the P-400 was built for export and had a 20mm cannon instead of the P-39's 37mm? There's probably more than that, but that's what I recall without hitting the books.

cannon, self sealing tanks, avionics, engine

yet it shot down more enemy aircraft than any other US made aircraft in ww2

If I remember correctly, the P-400 was an export version called the Airacobra I, intended for the French. It had the 37 mm cannon in the nose replaced by a 20mm cannon (smaller caliber, but more ammo and higher rate of fire). The American .30 caliber guns were replaced with .303 British units.

I don't think the planes were ready for delivery until after France fell in 1940, so the order was split between the RAF and the Army Air Corps. Some of the RAF planes were loaned to the Soviets, while most of the Army Air Corps planes ended up in the South Pacific as part of the Cactus Air Force.

_________________
Offer me solutions, offer me alternatives, and I decline......

Pioneer Aircraft built our P-40. They were great to work with. Our project ended up under-budget -- a thing almost unheard-of in warbird restorations. Good people who know what they are doing.

I very much enjoyed my trips there, to monitor and oversee that project.

Later, they were moving along well with the Tempest until the owners died in an accident and the project had to be sold.

Best of luck to them on the P-39/400!

Dave

The P-400 had 12 stack exhaust, 20mm cannon, British serial number under the tail, and usually a three tone camo paint. Some P-400's still on the factory floor were painted olive drab once the order came in that they would be retained by the USAAF. Some where painted in the field too. Love the P-39/400. This week marks the first engagements of the P-39's against Japanese aircraft in New Guinea. Lt. Don Fibber McGee, 8th PG! Other noted aces flying P-39's and P-400's in the Pacific were Buzz Wagner and George Welch.

_________________
Shop the Airplane Bunker At
www.warbirdbunker.com

IIRC - some pilots preferred the P-400 version because the 20mm cannon was more reliable and accurate than the 37mm.

It had a higher rate of fire and it's trajectory more closely matched the machine guns, I think. The 37 mm wasn't even close to the same trajectory (it would fall short), and had a tendency to jam after one or two shots if the pilot held the trigger down. I've often wondered if the jamming issue wasn't a result of the conditions that the planes were operating in (i.e. getting dirty) as opposed to it being prone to breakdown because of how it was manufactured.

I'd have to go back and read Birch Matthew's "Cobra!" (the bible on the P-39/P-63) to see the specifics.

_________________
Offer me solutions, offer me alternatives, and I decline......

According to Edwards Park in 'Nanette' it came down to the sexual maturity of the pilots, the younger guys preferring the urgency of the 20mm, and the older ones (of which Park allowed himself to be) the slower throb of the 37

_________________
Lest Hero-worship raise it's head and cloud our vision, remember that World War II was fought and won by the same sort of twenty-something punks we wouldn't let our daughters date.