Bell P-39 Racers Cobra I & Cobra II

[hedger72]

Here is some incredible color footage from the Niagara Aerospace Museum of the legendary Cobra I and Cobra II racers, including racing at the 1946 National Air Races in Cleveland:

The two P-39Qs were purchased from Bell surplus, minus propellers, for $1 each! All military hardware was removed, bladder fuel tanks replacing self-sealing units. The landing gear retraction mechanisms were upgrade to provide a quickly cleaned up airframe (you can see this in the video - very slick). The engines were swapped for Allison V-1710-135 (G4) units, and large, 4 blade, paddle props were installed. Finally, all control surfaces were re-skinned with metal covering. Pilots were Bell test pilots Jack Woolams (Cobra I) and "Tex" Johnston (Cobra II). On August 29th, 1946, both pilots qualified their Airacobras for the Thompson Trophy Race, with Woolams posting a qualification speed of 392.7mph, and Johnston at a staggering 409.1mph. 

Unfortunately, tragedy struck on August 30th, 1946, with Cobra I crashing into Lake Ontario following an engine replacement, killing Jack Woolams. His body was recovered on the 31st, but the wreckage was never found.

Tex Johnston went on to win the Thompson Trophy on Monday, September 3rd, 1946, averaging 373mph on the 300 mile course.

 

Edited March 2, 2018 by hedger72

[No601_Swallow]

Beautiful footage (although it's sad the Youtube encoding doesn't cope especially well with the camera-shake).  The colour really makes it feel like a window on a bygone age. Very sad to hear about the crash, though.

But a dollar each!  Even I could afford that...!

Edited March 2, 2018 by No601_Swallow

[Stig]

46 minutes ago, No601_Swallow said:

But a dollar each!  Even I could afford that...!

Settle down, a dollar back then was worth a lot more than dollar now

[hedger72]

$13.55USD in 2018 currency...m'eh, I could swing that 

https://www.dollartimes.com/inflation/inflation.php?amount=1&year=1946

 

[Stryker07]

23 minutes ago, hedger72 said:

$13.55USD in 2018 currency...m'eh, I could swing that 

https://www.dollartimes.com/inflation/inflation.php?amount=1&year=1946

 

Yep, I think I could too. Less then the pre-order for a virtual La-5FN   :D