More proof that the P-39 rules! 😂

[GrauGeist]

Beleive it or not, they actually did have figures for the dash back then, not sure of the composition, plasticine or polymers perhaps?

And they had magnets on the bottom to make them stay put, something that surely wouldn't work this day and age!

 

[BlackSheep]

Let us not forget the fuzzy dice hanging from the rear-view mirror and the plastic Jesus on the dash...

Never saw the Jesus figurine but the hula girl with swivel hips was a sure sell item…

 

[BlackSheep]

Oh, and you could order top stitched hand tooled leather seats and steering wheel cover as a premium.

Those were nice but I would have held out for the ultra-rare welded chain yoke in lieu of stick option. It was a factory order only option early on but was quickly discontinued after reports of broken pinkies during aggressive cruising….

 

[GrauGeist]

Never saw the Jesus figurine but the hula girl with swivel hips was a sure sell item…

Here ya' go:

 

[Juha3]

Looks like Revell even issues a Kit of the Cobra II

I built one some 50 years ago, at least a fairly big yellow Airacobra model, not sure was it a Revell one but probably.

 

[Reluctant Poster]

I figured it was running a rich fuel mixture, since it was a racer.

My '68 Chevell had a 502 big block running 12.5:1 compression with a Hillborn MFI that metered a rich air-fuel mixture, allowing it to run optimum at peak RPMs, but when it was at idle or lower RPMs, it was a smokey bastard.

Awesome. I am curious as to what the max gpm of your system was. A V-8 equipped with the largest Hilborn nozzles has a flow rate of 1.6 gpm. For those of you who want to visualize what that looks like turn on your kitchen faucet full blast.

 

[BlackSheep]

Here ya' go:

View attachment 673729

Saddest part of this picture is the fact that even the Ford truck qualifies for historical plates

 

[GrauGeist]

Awesome. I am curious as to what the max gpm of your system was. A V-8 equipped with the largest Hilborn nozzles has a flow rate of 1.6 gpm. For those of you who want to visualize what that looks like turn on your kitchen faucet full blast.

Don't recall the exact diameter of the orifices used, but suffice to say that my mileage on the street was atrocious - roughly 8 to 12 mpg.
It was designed to crush a quarter-mile, but carshows and Friday night cruises were a must!

 

[Reluctant Poster]

Don't recall the exact diameter of the orifices used, but suffice to say that my mileage on the street was atrocious - roughly 8 to 12 mpg.
It was designed to crush a quarter-mile, but carshows and Friday night cruises were a must!

A friend of mine had a 16 ft boat with a 455 Buick with a 12.5:1 compression ratio. Insanity squared! Great for water skiing. We had to mix octane booster into the unleaded gasoline.

 

[NevadaK]

Then, there's this.

 

[GrauGeist]

Then, there's this. View attachment 675574View attachment 675575View attachment 675576

I remember when that P-63 crashed off Seal Beach back in the early 70's.

If I remember correctly, the engine failed.

 

[Dimlee]

I remember when that P-63 crashed off Seal Beach back in the early 70's.

If I remember correctly, the engine failed.

Accident Bell P-63 Kingcobra N9009, Thursday 7 September 1972

ENG QUIT OVER OCEAN. PLT BAILED OUT OK.

aviation-safety.net

 

[WARSPITER]

One question as to the P39.

From Wikipedia - The P-39 was used by the Soviet Air Force, and enabled individual Soviet pilots to collect the highest number of kills attributed to any U.S. fighter type flown by any air force in any conflict.

Any airforce in any conflict ?

Is that at all correct or is it outdone by other U.S. fighter types. I have seen this word for word on several websites now as I went looking
for info. All any of them go on to show is data for Soviet aces. There is no actual site I can find that gives a total number of kills for the
P39.

Any thoughts ?

 

[BlackSheep]

One question as to the P39.

From Wikipedia - The P-39 was used by the Soviet Air Force, and enabled individual Soviet pilots to collect the highest number of kills attributed to any U.S. fighter type flown by any air force in any conflict.

Any airforce in any conflict ?

Is that at all correct or is it outdone by other U.S. fighter types. I have seen this word for word on several websites now as I went looking
for info. All any of them go on to show is data for Soviet aces. There is no actual site I can find that gives a total number of kills for the
P39.

Any thoughts ?

I believe it is saying that the highest scoring Soviet pilots were flying P-39s and everything I've read always states the high number of heroes of the Soviet Union awarded to pilots of this aircraft and at least 4 of the 6 pilots with 50 plus kills state they flew a P-39 while doing it.

Given, the degree of "love for the mother country" I've seen from the Soviet's concerning lend lease material, for their own sources to admit to success with the P-39 as opposed to say a Yak-3 says a lot, considering the over 4,000 M-4 Sherman tanks, which were well liked by Soviet crews, are almost never mentioned. Official records state lend lease played a minimal role in the defeat of Germany, lol.

 

[Clayton Magnet]

Then, there's this. View attachment 675574View attachment 675575View attachment 675576

You don't really get much more streamlined that that.
That thing must have had a boil-off system installed, I assume?

 

[GrauGeist]

The Red Air Force P-39s operated in a target rich environment for an extended time, so the individual victory count would be high.

However, I believe the Brewster B-399 (Buffalo) of Finland had a higher a high kill ratio.

 

[NevadaK]

One question as to the P39.

From Wikipedia - The P-39 was used by the Soviet Air Force, and enabled individual Soviet pilots to collect the highest number of kills attributed to any U.S. fighter type flown by any air force in any conflict.

Any airforce in any conflict ?

Is that at all correct or is it outdone by other U.S. fighter types. I have seen this word for word on several websites now as I went looking
for info. All any of them go on to show is data for Soviet aces. There is no actual site I can find that gives a total number of kills for the
P39.

Any thoughts ?

I guess it's possible. In US service the Mustang is #1.

Warbirds and Airshows- WWII US Aircraft Victories

Add in other air forces and you might be at 7,000 Mustang kills?
5000 P-39's in Soviet service. Throw in the P-63 and I guess you could shoot down 7000+ German aircraft.

Seems dubious.

 

[WARSPITER]

The Red Air Force P-39s operated in a target rich environment for an extended time, so the individual victory count would be high.

However, I believe the Brewster B-399 (Buffalo) of Finland had a higher a high kill ratio.

The Wikipedia article mentions that but it's the wording in the sentence that conveys the thought that the P39 has the highest number of kills of any US fighter
in any conflict as flown by any air force. I am assuming it means the highest number of kills of any fighter used by the USSR but since the other websites use
the same sentence verbatim I can see how many will start to say the sentence as it is written is correct. It is possible this would shift the centre of gravity of
the truth.

 

[Shortround6]

One question as to the P39.

From Wikipedia - The P-39 was used by the Soviet Air Force, and enabled individual Soviet pilots to collect the highest number of kills attributed to any U.S. fighter type flown by any air force in any conflict.

Any airforce in any conflict ?

Is that at all correct or is it outdone by other U.S. fighter types. I have seen this word for word on several websites now as I went looking
for info. All any of them go on to show is data for Soviet aces. There is no actual site I can find that gives a total number of kills for the
P39.

Any thoughts ?

The US rarely kept pilots in combat zones for long periods of time (missions flown) although a number of pilots did fly repeat tours.
British pilots pretty much in for the duration but were reassigned (new squadron, training etc), given leave, and such to keep burn-out down to somewhat manageable levels.

Soviet pilots, depending on weather, might not fly for days or might fly 3-4 times a day.
The Famous Seafires at Salerno were flying 3-4 times a day instead of the planned 2 missions a day and we know how that turned out.

A lot of simple statistics get complicated when you really look into them.

highest number of kills attributed to any U.S. fighter type flown by any air force in any conflict.

A lot of hyperbole in a short sentence, After WW II

tends to leave out the actual number of planes flown and perhaps more importantly the number of missions flown.
It leaves out the number of enemy aircraft encountered.

The Korean war tended to number aircraft by the hundreds rather than by the thousands.
For instance they built 554 F-86A Sabres and 456 F-86E Sabres and the first F-86F Sabres were issued to a squadron on the summer of 1952. Compare that to the thousands of of P-51s or P-47s used in WW II.

You aren't going to find the numbers of aircraft used in WW II in any post WW II conflict by close to an order of magnitude so while the statement is technically true it is rather misleading.

 

[GregP]

I remember when that P-63 crashed off Seal Beach back in the early 70's.

If I remember correctly, the engine failed.

I think that was Larry Havens who crashed the modified and clipped P-63 on 7 Sep 1972 off Long Beach. As I recall, Larry got out OK.

Mike Caroll also fatally crashed a modified P-39 off Long Beach.

They weren't ever exactly sure of the cause of the crash. It never looked like it was in control after it lifted off, and never gained much height.