“P 39D 1 Airacobra, first batch of American fighters to take on the Japanese in New Guinea, shot.
Item specifics
| Used |
| “P-39D-1 Airacobra, first batch of American fighters to take on the Japanese in New Guinea, shot down Japanese aircraft and sunk landing barges before being shot down and strafed.” |
| Make: | BELL | Model Year: | 1941 |
Bell P-39D Airacobra 41-38385
Project for sale This P-39D-1 Airacobra was built by Bell aircraft in Buffalo New York under USAAF Contract AC156 on 1/6/41, after being built it was destined to be delivered directly to the Philippines, however when on route the Japanese attacked pearl harbor and the Philippines fell shortly after, the ship carrying this and other airacobras, the SS Stephen Fields, was instead diverted to Brisbane Australia, arriving August 15 1942, they were then quickly assembled and flown straight to New Guinea with the 8th fighter group consisting of the 35th, 36th and 80th fighter squadrons. This aircraft was among the very first batch of aircraft that the USAAF sent to combat the Japanese in the second world war.
After arriving the New Guinea this aircraft was assigned to the 35th fighter squadron marked as "J" in the defense of Milne bay and alternated between Port Moresby and Milne bay, during this time it flew defensive patrols in the battle of the Bismarck sea, however it lacked the range to engage the Japanese fleet at sea which was tasked to B-17"s, B-25 and Australian RAAF Beaufighter aircraft.
41-38385 was assigned to pilot 2nd LT Thomas R Jemison of Spokane Washington who later destroyed an enemy fighter aircraft in the air, an enemy bomber taking off from Lae and further damaging two bombers on the ground. This attack was performed alone as Jemison"s formation had earlier broken up in dense cloud and become lost, Jemison was awarded the Silver Star, The distinguished flying cross and the Air medal for his heroism in single handedly engaging the enemy in this aircraft.
One of the above feats by Jemison was the subject of a Bell aircraft promotional poster explaining the mission in the lower text:
Now promoted to captain, Jemison was rotated out of New Guinea in early 1943 for respite and to overhaul the squadrons aircraft at Mareeba Australia when he took off in another P-39D-1 Airacobra, 41-38398, for a test flight. During this flight Captain Jemison for some unknown reason failed to pull out of a high speed dive and was killed. P-39D 41-38385 later crash landed for unknown reasons, due to the lack of available records it is not known if the aircraft was shot down or lost due to mechanical failure, however the aircraft was strafed from right to left while on the ground at some stage. It is also possible that this aircraft was later transferred and served with the 41st Fighter squadron later on in the war. What makes this aircraft rare is that the P-39 Airacobra was not suited to the pacific conditions, lacking range and lacking a high altitude supercharger made it very vulnerable in the hot and high conditions faced in New guinea with its 10,000ft high owen stanley mountains (strangely the P-39 is faster and much more maneuverable than any P-51 mustang at sea level on far less horse power) as opposed to the conditions faced in Russia where the P-39 scored the highest number of individual kills attributed to any U.S. fighter type in the Eastern European theatre, as such most early P-39"s were outclassed by the lighter Japanese A6M Zero and KI-43 oscar fighters which lacked armor and self sealing fuel tanks which gave them speed and maneuverability, due to these factors the P-39 did not achieve a high kill ratio in the early days of the Pacific war and later only barely achieved parity with the Japanese who liked to come in between 20 and 25,000ft. This means that it is extremely rare to find a surviving P-39 Airacobra with a genuine combat history with aerial kills. As of 2016 there are only two Airacobras flying, one being an Ex-state side training plane flown by CAF and the other being Brooklyn Bum 2nd which saw service as a reconnaissance aircraft with the 82nd TRS in New Guinea. The fuselage keel of this aircraft still shows a kill marking for a Japanese fighter aircraft and what could also be two ships or landing barges painted underneath:
This historical aircraft is being offered as a project with many hard to get parts as well as access to new built parts as they are made to lower costs. The purchaser will also have access to CAD drawings as completed.
Main components included in this project:
Approximately 14,000 high quality digitally scanned Bell aircraft technical blueprints
Part number catalog, erection manual, repair manual & design analysis
Main fuselage keel section
Roll over truss
Extra nose section parts
Right hand wing
Left hand wing
Wing tips
Pilots seat
Pilots trim box
Reduction gearbox
Propeller spinner
Propeller spinner backing plate
Reduction gearbox armor
Damaged Propeller
A set of Exhaust stacks
Front armored glass frame
Rear armored glass frame
Rudder pedal hangers
Rudder pedals
Left side instrument panel
Lower instrument panel
Right instrument panel
Landing gear switch
New made fin not assembled
Original stabiliser ok but not airworthy
Original stabiliser sections as patterns
Original fin as patterns
Rudder with bar, top, bottom, minus extruded ribs
Top intake scoop & panel
Front gun cowling panels
Stainless steel exhaust shrouds
Nose gear leg & fork missing top section
Main gear leg doors
wing skin patterns
one side of 37mm cannon magazine (identical halves, easy to reproduce)
various access panels
Manual u/c retract gearbox and electric motor
Various instruments
Drive shaft patterns
N-3B gunsight
New USAAF data plate
New Bell aircraft data plate
Front plexiglas flapper window
37MM gun mounts
.50 cal gun mounts
Many smaller parts & patterns
Etc..many more smaller parts, lots of pattern material, Too much to list
The main fuselage keel section, stripped wing wing wing wing wing Stabiliser Roll over truss Spinner Exhaust stacks 37MM cannon magazine Propeller
More photos available for serious buyers
In addition to this, access to the following parts can be made available for reproduction by negotiation, or will be made available seperetely as reproduced parts to the buyer: Ailerons, elevators & extrusions
Good spar webs & extruded caps
Rear fuselage
Main instrument panel (repro only)
Main & nose wheels
Rear plexiglas / radio deck
Electric flap drive
Electric landing gear drives
All body panels including top nose, side gun cowlings, engine, rear deck, radio & service panels
New roll over trusses (tooling available locally)
New 4140 steel center sections (tooling available locally)
Nose gear doors
Left & right cabin doors
Drive shaft covers
Control yoke
Wing ammunition boxes
Etc etc..
Some examples: New center sections Rear radio deck Body panels Instrument panels Doors Good wing spars CAD
Specs:
Crew: One
Length: 30 ft 2 in (9.2 m)
Wingspan: 34 ft 0 in (10.4 m)
Height: 12 ft 5 in (3.8 m)
Wing area: 213 sq?ft (19.8 m²)
Empty weight: 6,516 lb (2,955 kg)
Loaded weight: 7,570 lb (3,433 kg)
Max. takeoff weight: 8,400 lb (3,800 kg)
Powerplant: 1 × Allison V-1710-85 liquid-cooled V-12, 1,200 hp (894 kW) at 9,000 ft (using emergency power)
Maximum dive speed: 525 mph (845 km/h)
Maximum speed S/L: 389 mph (626 km/h) at 10,000 ft (using emergency power)
Stall speed: 90 mph (144 km/h) Power off Flaps & undercarriage down
Range: 525 miles on internal fuel (840 km)
Service ceiling: 35,000 ft (10,700 m)
Rate of climb: 3805 ft/min (19,3 m/s) at 7,400 ft (using emergency power)
Wing loading: 34.6 lb/sq?ft (169 kg/m²)
Power/mass: 0.16 hp/lb (0.27 kW/kg)
Time to climb: 15,000 in 4.5 min at 160 mph (260 km/h).
There is a correct Allison V-1710 engine to suit this aircraft for sale on ebay now buy another seller for $37,500 Selling due to other projects needing attention, this is a very unique and rare project that will be listed for sale one time only, only serious buyers/restorers please, this is not a T-6 or a BT-13, this is a very rare and powerful fighter aircraft and not for the faint hearted. I Will ship worldwide in 40" container at buyers expense, cost approximately $5000 to UK/USA, Contact +61 481 308 223 for more info
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Current date: 2016-10-31