page_title: Bell P-39 Airacobra
section_title: Racing
hierarchical_section_title: Bell P-39 Airacobra / Racing
caption_attribution_description: English: Bell P-39 Airacobra racer (US)
context_page_description: The Bell P-39 Airacobra was one of the principal American fighter aircraft in service when the United States entered World War II. The P-39 was used by the Soviet Air Force, and enabled individual Soviet pilots to collect the highest number of kills attributed to any U.S. fighter type flown by any air force in any conflict. Other major users of the type included the Free French, the Royal Air Force, the United States Army Air Forces, and the Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force.
  Designed by Bell Aircraft, it had an innovative layout, with the engine installed in the center fuselage, behind the pilot, and driving a tractor propeller with a long shaft. It was also the first fighter fitted with a tricycle undercarriage. Although its mid-engine placement was innovative, the P-39 design was handicapped by the absence of an efficient turbo-supercharger, preventing it from performing high-altitude work. For this reason it was rejected by the RAF for use over western Europe but adopted by the USSR, where most air combat took place at medium and lower altitudes.
  Together with the derivative P-63 Kingcobra, the P-39 was one of the most successful fixed-wing aircraft manufactured by Bell.
context_section_description: The Airacobra was raced at the National Air Races in the United States after World War II. Famous versions used for racing included the twin aircraft known as "Cobra I" and "Cobra II," owned jointly between three Bell Aircraft test pilots, Chalmers "Slick" Goodlin, Alvin M. "Tex" Johnston, and Jack Woolams. These aircraft were extensively modified to use the more powerful P-63 engine and had prototype propeller blades from the Bell factory. "Cobra I" with its pilot, Jack Woolams, was lost in 1946 during a test flight over Lake Ontario, late in the afternoon, possibly at speeds of up to 400 mph. The aircraft suddenly and inexplicably crashed into the water, breaking apart upon impact.
  The "Cobra II" (Race #84) flown by test pilot "Tex" Johnston, beat racing-modified P-51s, as well as other P-39 racers (which were the favorites), to win the 1946 Thompson Trophy race. Cobra II competed again in the 1947 Thompson Trophy, finishing 3rd. In the 1948 Thompson trophy, she was unable to finish due to engine difficulties. Cobra II did not race again and was destroyed on 10 August 1968 during a test flight prior to an attempt at the world piston-engine air speed record, when owner-pilot Mike Carroll lost control and crashed. Carroll died and the highly modified P-39 was destroyed.
  Mira Slovak's P-39Q "Mr. Mennen" (Race #21, former USAAC serial no. 44-3908, civil registry NX40A) was a very fast unlimited racer;  a late arrival in 1972 kept the 2,000 hp (1,491 kW) racer out of the Reno races, and she was never entered again. Her color scheme was all white with "Mennen" green and bronze trim. She is now owned and displayed by the Kalamazoo Air Zoo, in the color scheme of P-400 "Whistlin' Britches."
caption: Mira Slovak's P-39Q "Mr. Mennen"
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