Another interesting quote:
"In New Guinea through 1942 and well into 1943, the chief U.S. opponent of the Ki-43 was the P-39, and the Ki-43 generally made short work of any P-39 it encountered (since all the P-39's plumbing was in the rear, and poorly protected, only a few well-placed rounds would finish it off). The boys in the 8 and 35 FGs had a very tough time of it, and soon gave the Bell fighter the nickname "Fearless Fosdick." They didn't think much of the P-39's fighting qualities at all. Yet against another opponent on another front, the P-39 proved itself formidable--the Soviets apparently thought very highly of the P-39 and many of their aces flew it.
One key to why they thought so highly of it might be discovered in the flight tests the RAF carried out with a P-39C against an Me 109E at Duxford in mid-1941. The Bell demonstrated clear superiority to the 109 in all but one category up to 15,000 ft.--the lower the altitude the greater the superiority. (The exception was rate of climb, the advantage of the Bell held only briefly). It was noted that when the 109 was planted on the tail of the P-39, the Bell was able to out-turn it to such an extent that it would be on the 109's tail in less than two 360s and there was nothing the 109 driver could do to shake it--he couldn't outrun it, outdive it or outturn it.
So if the Russians in their P-39s were getting in low-level dogfights with 109s, the superior maneuverability might have been very important--it might have been what kept them from getting those few deadly rounds in the cooling system that would put the Bell down."
From:
http://yarchive.net/mil/ki-43.htmlIf the P-39 could outmanouver a 109-E, it might be a heck of a ride in TOD as long as missions stay under 10K.
