P-29 or Spitfire wreck?

[Maxrobot1]

Sorry about the error in the title: It should say P-39!

I found this s picture when researching the U.S.Army in the North African Campaign. It was listed as a P-38 wreck but I think it is a P-39 Airacobra. I wondered if it is a Spitfire wreck but I'm leaning towards a P-39.
It doesn't look like it was destroyed on the ground because of the lack of debris around it. Anyway, the fuselage looks strongly built like a P-39. Notice the wing fillets were ripped off along with just about everything else.

 

[Jerry W. Loper]

Looks like a P-39. The P-39 had tricycle landing gear and this has what looks like undercarriage door covers under the nose.

 

[herman1rg]

I think if it was a Spitfire, you would be able to see the wheel wells

 

[bobbysocks]

looks to me like there is a nose gear in the front section...if so that pretty much limits the type of ac. cant be a spit...or a 38

 

[FLYBOYJ]

It's a P-39, take it to the bank. you could see the NLG doors and the access for the radio in the aft fuselage.

 

[GrauGeist]

Don't think it's a P-39, guys...

Note the engine's location.

* Nevermind, I'm on the ipad and at first, it looked like the engine up front...but I looked closer and it looks like the nose gear assembly up there...my bad.

 

[Edgar Brooks]

Wingroot fairings are the wrong shape for a Spitfire, and there's no tail wheel.

 

[Airframes]

Everything is wrong for Spitfire, of any Marque !
It's a P-39, very probably a badly damaged or very 'weary' airframe, stripped for parts and left to rot, possibly after a ground incident.

 

[BiffF15]

It's a P-39, take it to the bank. you could see the NLG doors and the access for the radio in the aft fuselage.

Concour!

 

[Capt. Vick]

It even has the American star marking just visible on the side which would eliminate any relation to a p-38, should it even be needed.

 

[GrauGeist]

From the looks of the light band (yellow) around the insignia, I'd say this was a North Africa setting, about '43 or so?

 

[GregP]

What engine? I don't see one.

 

[BiffF15]

Greg,

I looked at a few photos of P-39s and think this is an extremely butchered remains of one. However you get to crawl all over most stuff the rest of us only see at air shows once a year and with that in mind am curious what you think?

Using my iPad to zoom in on the pic there appears to be a nose gear door (ala P39), but don't see where the main gear wheels housing would be (although there appears to be some structure that MIGHT be for the inward retracting mechanism).

It also appears to be the rainy season (in the desert)?...

Cheers,
Biff

 

[stona]

It also appears to be the rainy season (in the desert)?...
Cheers,
Biff

It rains in North Africa, particularly around the Mediterranean coast, not like here in England but rain nonetheless

Cheers

Steve

 

[bobbysocks]

a lot of where the gear mechanisms and structure is gone.....but here is a pic to use as reference

sorry let me rotate the image so it faces the same direction...

 

[GrauGeist]

It's hard to see the main-gear well on the port wing (what's left of it) because the flap has hyper-extended and is hiding it from view

 

[BiffF15]

Grau,

That explains the lack of "wheel well"!

Cheers,
Biff

 

[Bad-Karma]

Just gonna throw this out there for arguments sake since I also think its a P-39 but could it possibly be one of the booms from a p-38 with everything else around it destroyed?

 

[tomo pauk]

The 3 things are dead giveaways: nose wheel well covers, two oil cooler flaps, wing-fuselage fairing outlined. It is a P-39: as (Joe?) said before - take it to the bank.

 

[GrauGeist]

Just gonna throw this out there for arguments sake since I also think its a P-39 but could it possibly be one of the booms from a p-38 with everything else around it destroyed?

The P-38's wings were mounted higher on the "boom" and the nose gear assembly was housed in the center fuselage.

It's a P-39