The P-39 Airacobra soldiered on in US service into 1943, long after it was obvious it wasn’t the best fighter for most jobs. But it took time to get newer types into service.
After the jump, let’s look at a late model Airacobra.
The vast scope of World War Two ensured that many types would stay in service for longer than was ideal. From the start of the war the US Army Air Force favored P-40 Warhawks in more active locations, while the Airacobra was more often kept to the rear. But this wasn’t always possible. It wasn’t even always desirable. The Airacobra had better firepower than the Warhawk thanks to a 37 mm cannon in the nose, and with a high top speed on the deck it was often useful for close support work.
The 15th Fighter Group was attached to the 7th Air Force. That means they worked in the Central Pacific. They spent much of the war protecting Hawaii and other Pacific outposts. Given how much the Central Pacific was the Navy’s war, the 7th Air Force served in the background for most of the war. Those familiar with the book or movie Unbroken may recall that Louie Zamparini served in the 7th Air Force flying long range bombing missions, from one tiny spot in the ocean to another. But these ranges far exceeded what any of the early war fighters could fly. So Warhawk and Airacobra fighter squadrons were based at remote islands to chase the occasional long range raid or recon mission.
This aircraft was based at Caroline Island through much of 1943. Because Caroline was a coral speck of land with little foliage the ground crews acquired Army tan paint from the local engineers to give their aircraft better camouflage on the ground. This is slightly different from the Air Force Desert Tan often seen on planes that served in North Africa, I think it is lighter and less pink. This color would quickly disappear late in the year when the group was reassigned to Makin Island, which had more green. And from Makin, in the Gilbert Islands, the 15th Fighter Group would fly more actual combat missions since several islands in the chain were “bypassed”, or left in Japanese hands. In 1944 they were equipped with P-47 Thunderbolts.
Much later in the war the 15th Fighter Group was re-equipped with Mustangs and based on Iwo Jima to fly very long range escort missions for B-29s.
This model is from the Eduard kit. It is of a “Q” model Airacobra which, as far as I know, is the highest sub-type letter used for any US aircraft! But per my “What’s in a Name – United States” from a while back, early in the war even minor tweaks to a type would often get a whole new sub-type designation. While later in the war such changes were made only rarely. In fact, I believe more changes occurred during the production of the P-39Q than all previous sub-types combined.