An American single-engine fighter built around a centrally mounted engine and heavy nose armament.
Development
Bell P-39 Airacobra was developed by Bell Aircraft Corporation in United States as a fighter. The family first flew in 1938 and entered service in 1941. Its recorded airframe configuration is fixed wing, with the family classified in the archive as core combat-aircraft scope.
Operational History
Operationally, Bell P-39 Airacobra is represented primarily in the fighter role. The sourced variant records include service with United States Army Air Forces. Its documented combat-history coverage includes World War II. Role tags attached to the family include air superiority.
Variants and Lineage
Major variants represented in the structured record include P-39D.
Variants
| Designation | Type | Role | Recorded operators |
|---|---|---|---|
| P-39D | Production | Fighter | United States Army Air Forces |
Representative specifications
Configuration-specific profiles are shown separately so values from different variants are not blended into one false “standard” aircraft.
Bell P-39 Airacobra — P-39Q museum-reference configuration
- Length
- 9.19 m
- Wingspan
- 10.36 m
- Height
- 3.78 m
- Maximum speed
- 605.11 km/h
- Range
- 1,046.07 km
- Service ceiling
- 10,668 m
Powerplant: 1 × Allison V-1710 · 894.84 kW
Armament: One 37 mm cannon, two .50-caliber nose guns, two .50-caliber underwing guns, and up to 500 lb of external bombs in the museum-described P-39Q configuration.
Sources and further reading
Structured references supporting this aircraft family, variants, specifications, and narrative sections.
- Bell P-39Q Airacobra — National Museum of the United States Air Force · Tier 1
- American Combat Planes — Doubleday · Tier 3