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Larry Bell started Bell Aircraft in 1935. It was started when Consolidated Aircraft decided to move from Buffalo to San Diego. The new company took over most of Buffalo’s factory and its designers began work on a new fighter. The only aircraft that was built in large quantities was the model P-400 Air Cobra. It was known to the troops as the P-39.
Like a few dozen fighters before it, the Airacobra had the engine behind the cockpit in order to balance the center of gravity and achieve maximum maneuverability. This meant driving the propeller reduction gearbox via a long tubular shaft passing between the pilot’s legs. This proved to be one of the few fully functional parts of the P-39. Another advantage of the rear engine was that it provided adequate space to install heavy gun armament in the nose of the aircraft. The third advantage was that it protected the pilot from behind.
Another radical feature of the Bell was the landing gear. This also proved almost trouble-free. Because of its novelty it caused some problems in air forces unfamiliar with the idea. A minor novelty was the use of a car-type-hinged door on each side of the roomy and well-equipped cockpit. The roof was now an integrated part of the aircraft.
Despite its unconventionality, the prototype demonstrated an excellent all-round performance. The Airacobra had a turbo-supercharged engine that could exceed speeds of three hundred and ninety miles per hour at medium altitudes; much faster than any other fighter in the world. But unfortunately, it was all downhill from there. The Bell P-39 Airacobra undertook some changes that were not in its best interest. First the turbo charger was removed from the engine, and then the cooling system was moved from the fuselage to the wings. The designers decided to add more than one ton of extra platting, self-sealant tanks, bulletproof transparencies and armament.
The US Army ordered 80 P-45 Airacobras in August 1939, soon changing their order to the design of the P-39C, and large batches were ordered by the French. In 1940, the French orders were taken over by the British. A combination of poor serviceability and deep distrust of this unfamiliar fighter resulted in a pathetic experience, culminating in rejection by the British after just one combat mission.
Production of this new and hardly used aircraft were slowed in the early part of 1944 and stopped completely in July of that same year. This was partly due to the release of the newly built Marietta, Georgia factory that would produce the B-29. About 5,000 Airacobras were flown via Iran to the Soviet Union where they proved satisfactory in close air support operating from rough dirt and board airstrips.
The normal armament for the Bell P-39 was one 37mm Oldsmobile T-1 cannon with 15 rounds and two 12-7mm browning in the nose. It was equipped with four 7-7mm browning in the wings and a place for one 500 lb. bomb under the fuselage.
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