Hobby Master Archive

Hobby Master 1/72 Air Power Series HA1710 P-39Q AiraCobra 4 Stormo C.T. Italian Co-Belligerent AF, Italy 1945

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 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 Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force was formed in October 1943 after the Italian armistice a month earlier. The Italian pilots now flew for the Allies and in June and July 1944 received 75 former USAAF 332nd Fighter Group P-39Qs. These aircraft equipped the Gruppi 9° and 10° of 4° Stormo and the name J. Baracca was to honor an Italian Ace from WWI. The black prancing horse was used because it was Baracca’s aircraft emblem. This horse emblem would go on to become the famous Ferrari emblem.

Specifications / P-39Q Airacobra Manufacturer - Bell Aircraft Role - Fighter Crew - (1) pilot First flight - April 6, 1938 Introduced into active duty - 1941 Production time span - 1940/May 1944 Number built - 9,584 Dimensions Length - 30 ft 2 in (9.2 m) Wingspan - 34 ft (10.4 m) Height - 12 ft 5 in (3.8 m) Wing Area - 213 ft² (19.8 m²)

Weights Empty - 5,347 lb (2,425 kg) Loaded - 7,379 lb (3,347 kg) Max takeoff - 8,400 lb (3,800 kg)

Performance Engine - (1) Allison V-1710-85 liquid-cooled V-12, 1,200 hp (895 kw) Maximum speed - 376 mph (605 km/h) Maximum dive speed - 525 mph (845 km/h) Range - 1,098 miles (1,770 km) Service ceiling - 35,000 ft (10,700 m) Rate of climb - 3,750 ft/min (19 m/s) Time to 15,000 ft - 4.5 minutes at 160 mph (260 km/h)

Armament (1) 37 mm M4 cannon firing through the propeller hub, ROF 140 rpm with 30 rounds of HE ammo.

(4) .50 cal (12.7 mm) machine guns ROF 750 rpm - one gun in each wing and two guns in the cowl with a ROF of 300 rpm for each.

Ammo - 200 rounds per nose cowl gun, 300 rounds in pods under the wings for each wing gun.

Up to 500 lb (230 kg) of external bombs.

P-39Q-21 used the 4-bladed propeller while the P-39Q-30 reverted to the 3-bladed propeller because the 4-bladed prop worsened directional stability.