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Fsx p-39?

S

SSI01

Charter Member
In numerous trips into my FSX "Simobjects/Airplanes" folder for one reason or another, it occurred to me we have developers provide us with a marvelous assortment of WWII-era USAAC/USAAF fighter/interceptor aircraft in FSX. This includes the P-36, P-38, P-40, P-47, P-51 - all the major types. All beautiful. We just happen to be missing one aircraft I haven't seen for sale anywhere, although if memory serves, I thought I saw an entry on this website some time ago about a developer making some preliminary moves - and that's the P-39. Is anyone aware of one in the works?

I can remember seeing a WWII training film on this aircraft and if anyone would desire an aircraft with a cozy cockpit and an instrument panel that to my memory was crammed with switches, dials, gauges, etc, the P-39 was it.

And, as an aside - does anyone know of a decent payware Cessna 310?
 
SSI01 said:
In numerous trips into my FSX "Simobjects/Airplanes" folder for one reason or another, it occurred to me we have developers provide us with a marvelous assortment of WWII-era USAAC/USAAF fighter/interceptor aircraft in FSX. This includes the P-36, P-38, P-40, P-47, P-51 - all the major types. All beautiful. We just happen to be missing one aircraft I haven't seen for sale anywhere, although if memory serves, I thought I saw an entry on this website some time ago about a developer making some preliminary moves - and that's the P-39. Is anyone aware of one in the works?

I can remember seeing a WWII training film on this aircraft and if anyone would desire an aircraft with a cozy cockpit and an instrument panel that to my memory was crammed with switches, dials, gauges, etc, the P-39 was it.
Click to expand...

Warbirdsim has one in the works - some details on his Facebook page
 
I'm hoping to have the Warbirdsim P-39 finished in 2019. Aside from working on textures for our B-25J (a vast amount of rivet bucking over the past couple months), I've been working on completing the last of the external detailing of the P-39 (finer details, such as within the gear and flap wells and external cockpit). As I've mentioned before, the VC is essentially complete and really just needs to be coded. As you mention, it is quite a small aircraft, with a lot crammed into a rather small cockpit.

Speaking of the P-39, I've been closely following the restoration of the P-39Q owned by Jerry Yagen (Military Aviation Museum), that is very near completion to fly at Pioneer Aero in Ardmore, New Zealand. Not yet completely finished, the aircraft was rolled-out for static display at the NZ Warbirds Open Day event this past weekend. It is expected to fly either by the end of the year or early in 2019. Once flight testing is completed, the aircraft will be shipped to the US and will be based at Virginia Beach, Virginia with the rest of the Military Aviation Museum collection and hopefully will be flown often/regularly (it will be only the third flying example of the P-39 in the world, and I'm not aware of any others undergoing restoration to fly at this time). http://nzcivair.blogspot.com/2018/11/bell-p-39q-airacobra-at-ardmore-18-11-1.html
 
A book I'm in the middle of right now ("Deadly Sky" by John McManus) -a pretty good read more about the human than the technical side of WWII in the air for American airmen - mentions a trait the P-39 reportedly had which I've never heard of before - a tendency to abruptly and violently swap ends. This was supposed to happen because of the greatest weight in the aircraft being concentrated right in the center of the airframe, making it unstable. It was supposed to be something of a dog in air-to-air combat and of all US aircraft they encountered, Japanese fighter pilots flying the Zero most PREFERRED to meet P-39s.

Is it possible for you to give us a little foretaste of what we may be in for with the flight model when the -39 is released - will it do an uncommanded 180 flip due to being so unstable?
 
Re: aircraft it would be fun to see (although I don't know how well they'd sell - someone would have to do these for love of the bird, not for profit, probably): the P-35, and the Curtiss-Wright CW-21 Demon, a Curtiss-Wright prewar product which was supposed to be able to maneuver on a par with the Zero; a number of them were shipped to China for use with the Nationalist Air Force, I haven't read or heard of what happened to them. It's a VERY sharp little fighter, though.
 
Thanks very much for the info! Will look it up, looking for a good interim P-39 pending the arrival of the WBS one in 2019.
 
A P-39 will be a nice addition. I remember the SimTech P-39 for FS9. That plane was a lot of fun. If you can find a book called "Angels Twenty", read it. It's by Edwards Park. He flew P-39s in the Pacific War. He has some great descriptions of the flying characteristics of this plane. Apparently the accelerated stall during high G was particularly vicious. The old FS9 SimTech P-39 sort of duplicated this, it seemed to me, because if you pulled too many Gs it would depart with no warning at all. Can't wait for this one!

[OT]
I was at the barber shop the other day. They man cutting my hair was having fun playing "car trivia" with one of the other customers. I couldn't keep up. When they were done I said that some of my friends and I sometimes do this with airplanes. Quickly changing gears, he says "Have you ever heard of the P-39?".

Me: "Sure have".
Him: "Do you know what it was called?"
Me: "Airacobra."
Him: "No, it was called the 'Black Widow'."
Me: "I think that was the P-61."
Him: "No, the P-39 was called the Black Widow. It was the best night fighter ever made."
I didn't "pursue" the matter.
[/OT]
 
What's really funny is when you mention an airplane about the size of a B-25 can outmaneuver a P-51. I've seen write-ups on P-61s saying they could do just that, would love to find film showing it being done.
 
The P-51 vs P-61 match may have actually happened, or not, but...
In 1943 Maj. Vincent "Squeek" Burnett was tasked with showing terrified B-26 pilots that the aircraft was capable if they learned to fly it. He did various exhibitions and training sessions through the first part of 1943 and then...

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The Martin B-26 Marauder
J. K. Havener
Tab Aero Pub.
ISBN 0-8306-8287-2

Now, back to our regularly-scheduled P-39 program....
 

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Bomber_12th said:
I'm hoping to have the Warbirdsim P-39 finished in 2019. Aside from working on textures for our B-25J (a vast amount of rivet bucking over the past couple months), I've been working on completing the last of the external detailing of the P-39 (finer details, such as within the gear and flap wells and external cockpit). As I've mentioned before, the VC is essentially complete and really just needs to be coded. As you mention, it is quite a small aircraft, with a lot crammed into a rather small cockpit.

Speaking of the P-39, I've been closely following the restoration of the P-39Q owned by Jerry Yagen (Military Aviation Museum), that is very near completion to fly at Pioneer Aero in Ardmore, New Zealand. Not yet completely finished, the aircraft was rolled-out for static display at the NZ Warbirds Open Day event this past weekend. It is expected to fly either by the end of the year or early in 2019. Once flight testing is completed, the aircraft will be shipped to the US and will be based at Virginia Beach, Virginia with the rest of the Military Aviation Museum collection and hopefully will be flown often/regularly (it will be only the third flying example of the P-39 in the world, and I'm not aware of any others undergoing restoration to fly at this time). http://nzcivair.blogspot.com/2018/11/bell-p-39q-airacobra-at-ardmore-18-11-1.html
Click to expand...
Wow, didn't know YOU were doing the Airacobra. (AND a B-25 too!) If they are as good as the Mustangs we're in for a treat. Will there be the options of wartime service and currently restored versions with these as well? I do really like the Then and Now Mustangs.
 
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