See the only regularly flying P-39 in the world at CAF-Centex wing Museum

View our vintage P-39 flying aircraft, the "Miss Connie at the Commemorative Air Force-CenTex Air wing Museum.

"Miss Connie" is on display (when not flying) at our CAF Centex wing Hanger-Museum.

Bell P-39 profile with Soviet WWII markings.

Bell P-39, its landing gear extended.

 "Miss Connie" parked in front of the Centex Wing Museum's hanger.

A great short P-39 video clip.

Our Bell P-39 - "Miss Connie" taking off. 

Definitely worth viewing. 33 seconds.

The History of Our P-39, the "Miss Connie"

Our fighter originally built in the late 30s and early 40s. Most were sent to the Soviet Union under lend-lease and were used against the Nazi's in the invasion of Russia in WWII. Has a 20 mm canon in the nose and was an excellent tank killer. This is the only P-39 flying in the Western Hemisphere.

P-39's unique front armament compartment

Bell P-39Q-5-BE, Bell construction number 21-9597, Army air Force serial number 42-19597 is the CAFs P-39 registered as civilian number N6968.It is the only regularly flying P-39 in the world.The aircraft was delivered to the AAF onMay 25, 1943 at a cost of $48,673.It was the second Q-5 produced. Through July 1943, it was on loan to Bell at Buffalo.On December 29, 1943, it was flown to Cincinnati, OH and then transferred to Laredo, TX by January 1944.By June 1944 it was transferred to Harlingen, Texas to support gunnery training there.

On July 20, 1945, it was making a cross-country flight to the Reconstruction Finance Corp scrap yard to be disposed of when the engine failed and the pilot landed the airplane at a crop dusting strip in Hobbs, New Mexico. The AAF abandoned the aircraft and it was later moved to a schoolyard display at Capitan High School in Lincoln, NM.

After acquiring the aircraft, Joe Brown of Hobbs, NM donated the hulk to the CAF in 1962.The aircraft only had 392 recorded hours on it at that time. The aircraft was then dismantled and trucked to Harlingen.In 1968, Don Hull of Sugarland, TX began restoring the aircraft to flying condition. It flew again on October 21, 1974. That same year John Stokes, the founder and first leader of the CENTEX Wing, bought the aircraft and again donated the restored P-39 to the CAF.

The aircraft has been flying out of the San Marcos Airport ever since.

During WWII, the WASP's played large role as ferry pilots in the Lend-Lease Program.

Air Transport Command ferry pilots, including U.S. women pilots of the WASP program, picked up the planes at the Bell factory at Niagara Falls, New York, and flew them to Great Falls, Montana and then onward via the Northwest Staging Route through Canada to Alaska, where Russian ferry pilots, many of them women, would take delivery of the aircraft at Nome [12] and fly them to the Soviet Union over the Bering Strait via the Alaska-Siberia route (ALSIB).

A very complete air show video (7 minutes.)

The Bell P-39 Airacobra was one of the principal American fighter aircraft in service when the United States entered World War II. It was the first fighter in history with a tricycle undercarriage and the first to have the engine installed in the center fuselage, behind the pilot. Although its mid-engine placement was innovative, the P-39 design was handicapped by the absence of an efficient turbo-supercharger, limiting it to low-altitude work. The P-39 was used with great success by the Soviet Air Force, who scored the highest number of individual kills attributed to any U.S. fighter type.[N 1] Other important users were the Free French and co-belligerent Italian air forces. Together with the derivative P-63 Kingcobra, these aircraft became the most successful mass-produced fixed-wing aircraft manufactured by Bell.
Copyright © 2012 Malcolm Auld

Technical Data for the Bell P-39M Airacobra

The Bell P-39 was the world's first fighter aircraft with tricycle landing gear and rear-mounted engine. The Soviet Air Force was the largest P-39 operator with approx. 5,000 aircraft.

Crew	1
Propulsion	1 Piston Engine
Engine Model	Allison V-1710-83
Engine Power	895 kW	1200 hp
Speed	620 km/h	335 kts 386 mph
Service Ceiling	10.973 m	36.000 ft
Range	1.046 km	565 NM 650 mi.
Empty Weight	2.545 kg	5.611 lbs
max. Takeoff Weight	3.810 kg	8.400 lbs
Wing Span	10,36 m	34,0 ft
Wing Area	19,8 m²	213 ft²
Length	9,19 m	30,2 ft
Height	3,61 m	11,8 ft
First Flight	07.10.1937
Production Status	out of production
Production Range	1940-1944
Total Production	9558
Data for (Version)

Learn how the P-39 helped turn the tide of WWII, and changed the course of history. 

P-39 Historical Blog

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