Bell P-39 Airacobra

what is it?

The Bell P-39 Airacobra is a fighter produced by Bell Aircraft for the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. It was one of the principal American fighters in service when the United States entered combat. Many thousands were shipped to the Soviet Union for battle against Germany, and they enabled individual Soviet pilots to collect the highest number of kills attributed to any U.S. fighter type flown by any air force in any conflict. Other users of the type included the Free French, the Royal Air Force, and the Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force.

🔎How to recognise it: 1 piston engine with propeller · 10.4 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 626 km/htop speed
• size 3,810 kgmax take-off weight
• built 9,584made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 88 years ago, in 1938.
• 🏎️Top speed is 4.8× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 10.4 m: about 2 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🏔️Can fly 1.2× higher than Mount Everest (8,849 m).

piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.

spec sheet

first flight

1938-04-06

introduced

1941

status

retired

number built

9,584

role

fighter

origin

🇺🇸 United States

makers

Bell Aircraft Corporation

engines

1× Allison V-1710-85

length

9.2 m

wingspan

10.4 m

height

3.8 m

max take-off weight

3,810 kg

top speed

626 km/h

range

—

ceiling

10,668 m

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.