Aerocobra over New Guinea
Aerocobra over New Guinea. One of the P-400s of the 80th squadron of the 80th fg. An additional 75-gallon fuel tank is clearly visible under the fuselage.
Bell P-39 Airacobra fighter pilots were very active during the New Guinea campaign, especially in 1942 during the defense of Port Moresby, the last Allied line before Australia. To fight for such a high stake, the Americans threw fighters, which were considered almost the worst of all that served in the US Air Force during World War II. All the more impressive are the achievements of their pilots, who, flying on such fighters, collided with the aviation elite of the Imperial Japanese Navy.
The R-39 Airacobra fighter was undoubtedly an innovative design. What most distinguished it from the fighters of that era was the engine mounted in the middle of the fuselage, behind the cockpit. This arrangement of the power plant provided a lot of free space in the bow, allowing you to install powerful onboard weapons and a front wheel chassis, which provided excellent visibility from the cab when taxiing.
In practice, however, it turned out that a system with an engine connected to a propeller by a long cardan shaft complicated the design of the aircraft, which made it difficult to maintain technical performance in the field. Worse, this arrangement of the engine was more susceptible to blows from behind, especially since it was not protected by an armor plate. It also occupied the space normally reserved for the main fuel tank, which meant that the P-39 had a relatively short range. To make matters worse, the 37mm gun was known to jam. However, if during the battle the pilot managed to use up the ammunition load of cannons and 12,7-mm heavy machine guns in the nose of the aircraft, the center of gravity dangerously shifted towards the engine, due to which the R-39 fell into a flat tailspin during sharp maneuvers that would bring it out was practically impossible. Even the chassis with the front wheel proved to be a problem, as on the bumpy airfields of New Guinea, the long support often broke when landing and even when taxiing. However, the biggest mistake was the exclusion of the turbocharger from the design plans, as a result of which the flight performance of the R-39 fell above 5500 m.
Probably, if the war had not begun, the R-39 would have been quickly forgotten. The British, who had ordered several hundred, became so disillusioned with him that almost all of them were given to the Russians. Even the Americans equipped their squadrons stationed before the war in the Pacific with other types of fighters - Curtiss P-40 Warhawk. The remainder of the British order was the R-39 variant with a 20mm cannon (instead of the 37mm). After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the US Air Force confiscated all copies, adopting them under the designation P-400. They soon came in handy - when at the turn of 1941 and 1942 the Americans lost the Warhawks in the battles for Hawaii, the Philippines and Java, they had Aircobras to defend Port Moresby.
In the early months of 1942, New Guinea was not the only Allied concern in the Pacific. After the occupation of Java and Timor by the Japanese, the cities on the northern coast of Australia were within the reach of their aircraft, and in February air raids began on Darwin. For this reason, the first American fighters (P-40Es) sent from the US to the combat area were halted in Australia, leaving the defense of New Guinea to a single Kittyhawk Squadron (75 Squadron RAAF).
While the Australians single-handedly fought off Japanese raids on Port Moresby, on February 25, personnel of the 35th PG (Pursuit Group) arrived in Brisbane by sea, consisting of three squadrons - 39th, 40th and 41st - equipped with P-39 in options D. and F. Shortly after that, on March 5, the 8th PG, also consisting of three squadrons (35th, 36th and 80th PS), arrived in Australia and received future British P-400s. It took both units many more weeks to reach full combat readiness, but the Allies did not have that much time.
In early March 1942, the Japanese landed on the northeast coast of New Guinea, near Lae and Salamaua, where they soon built airports, reducing the distance from Port Moresby to less than 300 km. While most of the Japanese air force in the South Pacific was still stationed in Rabaul, the elite Tainan Kokutai moved to Lae, the A6M2 Zero fighter unit from which some of Japan's best aces such as Hiroyoshi Nishizawa and Saburo Sakai originated.
