This P-39 Airacobra at Oshkosh did a couple of passes in the air show. Although I was looking for it, it still surprised me on it’s first pass and was hard for me to follow on its second pass. Still, it’s a cool looking fighter. With its tricycle landing gear, nose-mounted cannon and 1,300-horsepower Allison V-1710 liquid-cooled, 12-cylinder engine mounted behind the pilot and turning the propeller by a driveshaft, the P-39 was better looking than many other fighters of the period. But some pilots thought that it looked better than it flew. It did not have a supercharger for high-altitude performance. Still, at lower altitudes, the P-39 with its heavy armament could hold its own against he famed Japanese Zero. Only one American pilot became an ace in the P-39 Airacobra.
