Warbird Information Exchange

Huh. 4-bladed P-39s. Didn't know those existed.

Oh yah!! ... but you had the know that from the racing world.

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“Knowing what’s right, doesn’t mean much unless you do what’s right.”

For what it is worth, the US marked plane in the right front of the photo, 42-68959, traces back to a RP-63A-6-BE that was in storage at Kingman, AZ in 1947, according to one source.

Randy

More awesome photos Mark!
Interesting to see the second and third row stars... I don't recall Russian aircraft having more than just a red star, are these for a different country (sorry, I don't remember seeing that marking).

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Always looking for P-51D parts.

In Warplanes to Alaska by Blake W. Smith, starting on page 186 there are photos of Lend-Lease P-63s all bearing the red star in a white circular background, just like in the photo in this thread. However, Soviet Air Force Fighter Colours 1941-1945 by Erik Pilawski mentions white surrounds to the red star later in the war but all of the illustrations are white borders but no circular surrounds or backgrounds.

Perhaps this was just the U.S. interpretation of Soviet national markings or it may have been for better visibility on dark-painted aircraft while passing through U.S. and Canadian air space and entry into Soviet air space. My guess is that most of the insignias got repainted once they arrived with other markings added.

Randy

It is astounding what is out there and what you can find without even leaving the comfort of your own home. It's a lot like fishing: Throw something out there and hope you get a bite. Sometimes the nibble will lead to something else.

Q21's were 4 bladed but they twisted the fuselage, one of the 4 bladed racers twisted the fuselage so badly that the quarter window popped in at 450 mph and hit the pilot and killed him

in regards to the two P-40 photos at the beginning of this thread.
Any info about the photos? Is that a P-40B model?

It is indeed a P-40B. The photos were taken by a friend of mine whose father (Alvin Smith) was a flight test engineer at Curtiss here in Buffalo. Location was the Buffalo airport, time-frame was probably March or April 1941, making it a very early production P-40B.


Fade to Black...

Here's another of your 4-blade P-39's ...

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“Knowing what’s right, doesn’t mean much unless you do what’s right.”

A bit of follow up on fiftycal’s note. In searching for 44-32666 in the photo above, came up with the following:

P-39Q-21BE, 109 converted. Fitted with four-bladed Aeroproducts propeller.
P-39Q-25BE, 700 produced. Similar to Q-21 but with a reinforced aft fuselage and horizontal stabilizer structure.
s/n: 44-32167 – 44-32666, 44-70905 – 44-71104
P-39Q-30BE, 400 produced. Reverted back to the three-bladed propeller.
s/n: 44-71105 – 4471504

On page 245 of “Cobra!” by Birch Matthews, there is a photo of a P-39C which has been fitted with a four-blade Curtiss Electric propeller “used in performance evaluation test.”

Just in case anyone is interested.
Randy

I am!!! ... and thx Randy. Always good stuff.

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“Knowing what’s right, doesn’t mean much unless you do what’s right.”

Mark - thank you for the photos, I enjoy looking at them and they sometimes give me something to research. Have a happy and safe Memorial Day. Here in Midland, the High Sky Wing of the CAF will be holding an open house with fly-bys, warbird rides and tours of our Midland Army Airfield Museum, located in the big hangar, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Randy

Great Stuff Keep posting pictures...

RE: Production P-39's w/ Four bladed prop

Just conjecture of course, but ...

As the photo depicts both P-63 and P-39's (w/ 44- s/ns) it is entirely possible that the production run of P-39's was nearly ending and they simply ran out of 3-bladed prop's (?). BTW, in the book "Red Stars" there are some photos taken in Russia of 4-bladed P-39's.

FWIW, Joe Baugher's list shows that 44-32666 (re: color ramp photo) went to the Free French Air Force.

JDV
http://www.fuselagecodes.com