FLYBOYJ
"THE GREAT GAZOO"
And could you imagine on the P-39 with the engine located so far aft!
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DAVIDICUS said:Adler said, "As I said before I just would not like sitting on a drive shaft like that."
You're just not used to having a big shaft between your legs.
The P-39 wasn't always a good USAAF dogfighter because the lack of turbosupercharger prevented it from flying at higher altitudes where it could challenge Bf 109s and Fw 190s, but the P-39 was popular among Soviet airmen as a ground attack aircraft.
Never let the facts get in the way of a good story................journalism 101.Except its main use by the USSR was air-to-air, not ground attack.
The P-39 initially was designed as a high altitude interceptor, had a supercharger, and seemed to have a bright future. Then the AAF wanted the thing to drop bombs and carry additional equipment. When the supercharger went away the AAF forgot that fact and placed it in harms way
It had an Allison engine with a single speed, single stage supercharger. What they left off was a turbo charger like the P38 hadI have a hard time believing any P-39 lacked a supercharger.
The Feb 2020 Flight Journal mentions the Nov 1942 flight tests of Koga's Zero vs. its American contemporaries. Against the P-39D, "In a formation takeoff climbing to 5,000 feet, the Zero was at 4,000 feet when the Airacobra reached 5,000 feet... starting from 220 mph level at 10,000, the Airacobra again accelerated markedly away from the Zero... Climbing from 15,000 to 20,000 feet, the Zero took immediate advantage and walked away from the Airacobra... On a straight climb from takeoff to 25,000 feet, the Airacobra maintained the advantage until 14,800 feet and from then on the Zero pulled ahead reaching 25,000 feet five minutes ahead of the Airacobra."
Test pilot Corky Meyer says, "the Zero kept performing for every flight while both the Allison and Packard engines couldn't keep up, even with the optimum maintenance of flight testing."
I have a hard time believing any P-39 lacked a supercharger.
The Feb 2020 Flight Journal mentions the Nov 1942 flight tests of Koga's Zero vs. its American contemporaries. Against the P-39D, "In a formation takeoff climbing to 5,000 feet, the Zero was at 4,000 feet when the Airacobra reached 5,000 feet... starting from 220 mph level at 10,000, the Airacobra again accelerated markedly away from the Zero... Climbing from 15,000 to 20,000 feet, the Zero took immediate advantage and walked away from the Airacobra... On a straight climb from takeoff to 25,000 feet, the Airacobra maintained the advantage until 14,800 feet and from then on the Zero pulled ahead reaching 25,000 feet five minutes ahead of the Airacobra."
Test pilot Corky Meyer says, "the Zero kept performing for every flight while both the Allison and Packard engines couldn't keep up, even with the optimum maintenance of flight testing."