Hobby Master Archive

Hobby Master 1/72 Air Power Series HA1709 P-39Q Airacobra, GC II/6 “Travail” French Air Force, 1944

True 1/72 scale.

Professionally painted.

Great attention to detail.

All markings are Tampoed (pad applied).

Option to display the model on a stand that is provided.

Model can be shown with the landing gear in the down or up positions.

Optional armament provided.

Canopy can be displayed open or closed.

Pilot figure included.

Extremely heavy metal with a minimum of plastic.

Highly collectable.

The Bell P-39 Airacobra originally flew with excellent performance but by the time the aircraft reached the front lines the Army Air Corp had changed so many features that the plane was far from what Bell had originally designed. They added weight, removed the supercharger from the Allison engine that didn’t have the power it claimed. What could have been and should have been one of the best aircraft of WWII turned out to be much less. Even with all its flaws they still produced 9,584 P-39s.

The GC II/6 “Travail” (GC - Fighter Group) (II/6 “Travail” - 2nd Flight 6th Fighter Group “Work”). With the fall of France to the Germans GC II/6 was disbanded on August 20, 1940. On August 1, 1944 GC II/6 was reconstituted in Reghaia, Algeria and supplied with P-39s. Their first assignments were to carry out daylight coastal surveillance missions. Next they flew close -support missions over Southern France and Italy until the end of WWII in Europe. The group retained the Stork emblem they had adopted back in WWI.

P-39Q Airacobra Specifications Manufacturer: Bell Aircraft. Number built: 4,905 Armament: 1 X 37-mm cannon, 4 X .50 caliber machine guns Powerplant: Allison V-1710-85 1,200 hp Maximum speed: 385 mph @ 15,000 feet Rate of climb: 4.5 minutes to 15,000 feet Ceiling: 35,000 feet Maximum range: 1,100 miles Combat range: 650 miles Wingspan: 34 feet Length: 30 feet 2 inches Height: 12 feet 5 inches Empty weight: 5,645 pounds Gross weight: 7,700 pounds Maximum take-off weight: 8,350 pounds Maximum internal fuel load: 120 US gallons Maximum external fuel load: 175 US gallons