COBI Bell P-39D Airacobra Set 5746

COBI's Bell P-39D Airacobra is a 1:32 model built from 361 blocks, 28 cm long with a 31.5 cm wingspan, in American olive drab. The propeller and ailerons move, the wheels fold on rubber tires, and the cockpit opens for the pilot figure. A display stand with a nameplate and a mounting point for the figure is included.

The engine is behind the pilot

The Airacobra is built the wrong way round on purpose. The Allison V-12 sits behind the cockpit, roughly over the wing, and drives the propeller through a two-metre extension shaft that runs forward underneath the pilot's seat — between his legs, in the usual phrase.

The reason was the nose. Clearing the engine out of it left room for a 37 mm cannon firing straight through the propeller hub, which is an enormous weapon for a single-engine fighter, and for a nosewheel undercarriage at a time when almost every fighter still had a tailwheel.

It also put the mass in the middle, which made the aircraft agile in the roll and unforgiving in a spin — P-39s could enter a flat spin that was close to unrecoverable, and pilots were warned about it in training.

What it did not have was a turbocharger. That was deleted early in development, and without it the Airacobra's performance fell away above about 4,500 metres. American and British pilots, who fought at altitude escorting bombers, disliked it accordingly.

In the COBI range

Set 5747 is the later P-39Q in Soviet service — the air force that found exactly the right job for this aircraft.

Specifications

Pieces: 361 · Figures: 1 pilot · Scale: 1:32
Model dimensions: 28 × 31.5 × 10.5 cm (11.0 × 12.4 × 4.1 in)