IRON DOG

Fighting the Pacific and the P-39 at the same time

- BY JAMES P. BUSHA

Although the Bell P-39 Airacobra was designed as a front-line fighter, one loaded with a lethal combination of both cannon and machine guns, its high-altitude dueling attributes were nonexistent. The original design called for a turbo-supercharger that would have taken the P-39 to new heights, but to save weight, Bell decided to take it out. There were only two types of P-39 pilots: those who loved the P-39, and those who despised it. Follow along with pilots on both sides of the fence as they share their experiences flying the “Iron Dog.”

I had just finished getting checked out in a P-36 back in the States when the war broke out. Most of us thought we would make the next leap into combat at the controls of a P-40 Warhawk when we arrived at our unknown destination somewhere in the Pacific. But when we finally set foot at our new base in early 1942, most of us in the squadron were absolutely dumbfounded for a couple of reasons. The first one was because we had been offloaded on the exotic island of Fiji—more of a tourist destination than a frontline fighter base. But the bigger concern was that there wasn't a Warhawk around, just a bunch of wooden crates containing Bell P-39 Airacobras.

Airacobra in paradise