Aircraft History
Built by Bell in Buffalo, New York. Delivered to the U.S. Army. Disassembled and shipped overseas and reassembled.
Wartime History
Assigned to the 5th Air Force, 35th Fighter Group, 41st Fighter Squadron. No known nose art or nickname. Operated in New Guinea. Abandoned at Tsili-Tsili Airfield off the eastern end of the runway.
Wreckage
Remained in a saksak swamp until September 1973.
Charles Darby adds:
"The basic airframe was too corroded to be worth further effort in view of the much better airframes available elsewhere, especially as the latter were much easier to access
Recovery
Parts including the propeller were recovered by Monty Armstrong for David Tallichet / Yesterday's
Air Force and transported to the United States.
Storage
Likely stored at Yesterday's Air Force / Military Aircraft Restoration Corporation at Chino Airport.
References
Joe Baugher "Bell P-39K Airacobra"
Thanks to Charles Darby for additional information
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Last Updated
November 9, 2019
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