Norman Mathews

Training film demonstrating techniques for piloting the P-39 Airacobra pursuit plane, including aerobatics and strafing.

Flying the P-39

Historical Curiosity.

This is a brief introduction to the Bell P-39 Aircobra for USAAF pilots about to be checked out on the airplane. It was produced between June 1942 and May 1943, judging from the national roundels on the wings and fuselage.

Since they don&apos;t make P-39s anymore and nobody flies them, this training film requires a particular reason for viewing. It&apos;s not very &quot;entertaining&quot; in the sense that a feature film grips a view, but it is informative.

The framing device is that a pilot named Chuck begins his flight training in the P-39 and takes it through its paces. Chuck is an optimistic and cheerful narrator who doesn&apos;t seem to have a care in the world. He learns to fly the airplane bit by bit until he&apos;s ready for combat. The last scene shows a P-39 shooting down a Japanese airplane with its 37 mm. nose cannon, which I doubt ever happened.

The actual technical material -- manifold pressure readings and so forth -- don&apos;t overwhelm the visuals. The P-39 was a graceful airplane that fit almost precisely the idea of what a classic WWII fighter should look like, sleek and tubular, with no ugly air intakes like the P-47.

It carried powerful armament that wasn&apos;t useful in air combat so it was mostly relegated to the ground attack role. The USSR put the export version to good use. It was fitted with tricycle landing gear, almost unique at the time, and entrance and exit to the cockpit was through an ordinary car door, from the side.

The engine itself was located behind the pilot and the drive shaft ran under his seat. The vibration was uncomfortable and distracting at first but this film was produced by the Bell Aircraft Corporation and that little annoyance isn&apos;t mention. And it&apos;s not made clear why a good landing took place on two wheels, with the nose wheel touching down at the last minute. The nose wheel would have collapsed.

Chuck, our amiable host, shows how easy it is to recover from a tailspin. Wikipedia reports that with a certain distribution of ammunition, the center of gravity shifted and the AirCorba didn&apos;t enter a spin but tumbled end over end.

It probably would have made a good fighter but its Allison engine failed it. It was first intended by the designers to have a supercharger that would give the P-39 high altitude capabilities but this was changed and the aircraft was produced with a single stage supercharged that limited its effective altitude to 12,000 feet.

My interest in the P-39 dates from my childhood, when magazine ads were filled with illustrations showing the airplane demolishing enemy tanks and performing all sorts of heroics. And I&apos;ve always admired its innovative design and its emblematic quality. And there is some appealing aerial photography of the Aircobra in flight. It&apos;s what a clean World War II fighter should look like -- the P-39 and the Supermarine Spitfire.

This is a brief introduction to the Bell P-39 Aircobra for USAAF pilots about to be checked out on the airplane. It was produced between June 1942 and May 1943, judging from the national roundels on the wings and fuselage.

Since they don't make P-39s anymore and nobody flies them, this training film requires a particular reason for viewing. It's not very "entertaining" in the sense that a feature film grips a view, but it is informative.

The framing device is that a pilot named Chuck begins his flight training in the P-39 and takes it through its paces. Chuck is an optimistic and cheerful narrator who doesn't seem to have a care in the world. He learns to fly the airplane bit by bit until he's ready for combat. The last scene shows a P-39 shooting down a Japanese airplane with its 37 mm. nose cannon, which I doubt ever happened.

The actual technical material -- manifold pressure readings and so forth -- don't overwhelm the visuals. The P-39 was a graceful airplane that fit almost precisely the idea of what a classic WWII fighter should look like, sleek and tubular, with no ugly air intakes like the P-47.

It carried powerful armament that wasn't useful in air combat so it was mostly relegated to the ground attack role. The USSR put the export version to good use. It was fitted with tricycle landing gear, almost unique at the time, and entrance and exit to the cockpit was through an ordinary car door, from the side.

The engine itself was located behind the pilot and the drive shaft ran under his seat. The vibration was uncomfortable and distracting at first but this film was produced by the Bell Aircraft Corporation and that little annoyance isn't mention. And it's not made clear why a good landing took place on two wheels, with the nose wheel touching down at the last minute. The nose wheel would have collapsed.

Chuck, our amiable host, shows how easy it is to recover from a tailspin. Wikipedia reports that with a certain distribution of ammunition, the center of gravity shifted and the AirCorba didn't enter a spin but tumbled end over end.

It probably would have made a good fighter but its Allison engine failed it. It was first intended by the designers to have a supercharger that would give the P-39 high altitude capabilities but this was changed and the aircraft was produced with a single stage supercharged that limited its effective altitude to 12,000 feet.

My interest in the P-39 dates from my childhood, when magazine ads were filled with illustrations showing the airplane demolishing enemy tanks and performing all sorts of heroics. And I've always admired its innovative design and its emblematic quality. And there is some appealing aerial photography of the Aircobra in flight. It's what a clean World War II fighter should look like -- the P-39 and the Supermarine Spitfire.

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Flying the P-39

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