Improve That Design: How Aircraft Could Have Been Made Better

[pbehn]

P-39 Airacobra. Give it a ventral radiator similar to Mustang or Ki-61 and use the space in the wings for more fuel tanks.

The P-51 is a much bigger aircraft, the inlet is ventral but a lot of the cooling system is inside the fuselage.

 

[SaparotRob]

I don't see the whistle.

 

[pbehn]

I don't see the whistle.

You know how to whistle, don't you? You just put your lips together, and blow."

 

[SaparotRob]

You get a Bacon and a side of fries, Sir!

 

[pbehn]

You get a Bacon and a side of fries, Sir!

That movie was made in 1944, she obviously had the P-51D cooling system in mind.

 

[XBe02Drvr]

I don't see the whistle.

Don't look, just listen.

 

[Zipper730]

P-39 Airacobra. Give it a ventral radiator similar to Mustang or Ki-61 and use the space in the wings for more fuel tanks.

You'd have two basic problems.

1. Volumetrics: Basically the P-51 had room in the middle of it's fuselage for the belly radiator because it had no engine there. Unless you were to place a radiator behind the engine, which might throw the C/G out of whack.

2. Belly-Landing Characteristics: The P-39 was actually pretty good in that regard (even despite having an extension shaft). Add a belly-radiator and you'd run the risk of wheel-barrowing (the nose would pitch over upon contact with the ground -- if this was in water, the results would see you exploring the watery depths).

While I don't want to get into the P-39 too much, I am curious if a design that was closer to mid-wing would have worked.

 

[XBe02Drvr]

The P-51 is a much bigger aircraft, the inlet is ventral but a lot of the cooling system is inside the fuselage.
View attachment 625962

And you're proposing shifting EVEN MORE weight aft??
"Holy tumbling tinkerBells, Batman, what are they thinking of?"

 

[pbehn]

And you're proposing shifting EVEN MORE weight aft??
"Holy tumbling tinkerBells, Batman, what are they thinking of?"

I was flirting with the dark side of forum discussions.

 

[special ed]

Wouldn't a mid wing put the spar through the engine?

 

[XBe02Drvr]

Wouldn't a mid wing put the spar through the engine?

No, through the pilot. As it is, he appears to be sitting on it. Shift him forward. CG problem solved. Visibility improved. What's not to like?
Driveshaft a little longer, but we can live with that, can't we?

 

[special ed]

I think you have it. A TP-39 without the aft cockpit!

 

[XBe02Drvr]

I think you have it. A TP-39 without the aft cockpit!

Groundhogs, fixed or jettisonable?

 

[pbehn]

Why not take the Allison engine out of a P-39 swap it for a Merlin and put it into a P-51, this new variant could be called a P-39WHITHNOSEWHEELATTHEBACK?

 

[XBe02Drvr]

Why not take the Allison engine out of a P-39 swap it for a Merlin and put it into a P-51, this new variant could be called a P-39WHITHNOSEWHEELATTHEBACK?

Coals to Newcastle. Didn't you chaps have enough Mustang Mk1s already?
Have fun Merlinizing the P39! "Exercises in futility are fun to watch."
-- Gyro Gearloose

 

[FLYBOYJ]

I'd spin this!

 

[FLYBOYJ]

 

[pbehn]

Coals to Newcastle. Didn't you chaps have enough Mustang Mk1s already?
Have fun Merlinizing the P39! "Exercises in futility are fun to watch."
-- Gyro Gearloose

As far as I know the high altitude version of the P-39 was called (with delicious irony) the P-38, I am not an expert on the subject of numbers but I believe that 38 comes before 39.

 

[XBe02Drvr]

View attachment 625996

I'd spin this!

That should auger well for you!

 

[pbehn]

That should auger well for you!

I saw what you did there.