The Missus and I are volunteers at the Military Aviation Museum in Virginia Beach. We meet a lot of really nice people and show them the very cool aircraft we get to hang around.
This is the Bell P-39 Airacobra. It is a WWII fighter aircraft. It has a couple of unusual features. First, the engine is behind the pilot (check out the exhaust stacks with red covers behind the canopy). This is because of the second unique feature, the 37mm cannon in the nose. You can see the barrel in the center of the propeller spinner.
It was a very good fighter at altitudes below 15,000 feet. Above that, it wasn't good at all because its engine didn't have a supercharger. This made it of limited use to the US and British air forces because of the high altitudes that bomber-escorting fighters were needed (25,000-30,000 feet). The Soviets, however, made excellent use of it since their airpower was used at much lower altitudes.
Of the 9,500 Airacobras built, 4,700 were sent to the Soviet Union in the US/USSR Lend-Lease program.
Like all of the Military Aviation Museum's aircraft, the Airacobra still flies.
Very interesting those planes. I met a person who's job was to improve the suspension/systems to drop bombs in the fight planes. He had some interesting stories.
