Don't know about the gun pods, but my impression of the 39D at full gas:
Takeoff roll the first time is a little surprising as it takes a good bit of right rudder to keep the nose straight. Landing configuration also requires a decent amount of rudder or trim to stay straight on approach. This is a ship that will REALLY benefit from rudder pedals.
Acceleration seems above average. She seems to wind it up fairly well nose-down.
Rate of roll is good at moderate speeds, and greatly assisted with rudder added in the direction of roll. A little sluggish at very low airspeeds, but again the rudder greatly assists. Rudder authority is fairly strong at low and medium speeds. Haven't had a chance to really try it out at the upper end of the speed range to see how it compares with the F4U's.
Her snap-roll is less than remarkable, and she seems to hesitate before kicking over. Being used to the F4U which will snap-roll to the left at the drop of a hat this feels rather unresponsive. The P-39 will NOT snap right. She'll do roughly half a revolution then drops right out of it if you stop control input. To the left she'll continue rolling until recovery, which seems generally quick. She doesn't seem to lose a great deal of altitude in the snap-roll.
Maneuverability isn't mind-blowing but definitely qualifies at the upper end of good. The P-39D will give a LOT of opponents a run for their money in a low-speed turning fight in the weeds. Horizontal turn rate and radius are good at most speeds, and like the F4Us dropping a notch of flaps at the right time will really haul the nose around. She'll also pull through the top of a loop rather smoothly even at relatively low airspeeds with only one or two notches of flaps, and seems to handle relatively well in low and high yo-yos. Some of the guys taking her for a ride in the TA report you need to be really smooth with the controls. I didn't really experience any noticeable problems, but wasn't really getting jerky and ham-fisted with the stick, either.
At low altitudes she doesn't seem to suffer from an appreciable lack of power, though there's no WEP which is especially missed at the top of loops. Rate of climb seems average, maybe a little better. Late war iron should dominate in contests of pure engine muscle, however.
Departure doesn't seem too rough. Stalled her out and hung her on her prop for a few seconds before she finally nosed over, and after she settled from the flopping around when the nose came down recovered fairly easily.
Unable to really get a feel for durability in the TA. I'd prefer to test this in the DA once the map is updated.
Firepower in the 39D is a bit of a concern because of the three drastically different weapons. I only played with the 37mm, which has ballistics, muzzle velocity and rate of fire drastically different from the .50cal and .30cal machine guns. This gun has a lot of drop, even in convergence, so is not going to be an easy weapon to use against maneuvering targets--I had to pull a LOT of lead to get any hits at 200yds with this set as convergence. I suspect it will be of better use in ground attack, with the 20mm as an air-to-air package. The cowl .50s are the "killer" guns once the cannon goes dry. The only thing bad I can say about the Ma Deuce is the 39D only has the two. Also, the ammunition counter for the .50cal is included in the count for the four .30s in the wings, so it's VERY easy to run out of ammunition in the cowl and only be slinging BBs without realizing it. I've never found the light machine gun in any of its incarnations or packages--whether Browning .30cal, .303 or 7.7mm--all that threatening. There's a TON of ammo in the .30s, but it will TAKE a ton to do any appreciable damage with only four of them. Fortunately the .50 and .30cal machine guns are close enough in ballistics that gunnery won't be as much of a chore. I suspect this will be helped further when taking the 20mm over the 37mm, as the 20mm will much more closely match the ballistics and muzzle velocity of the .50s. Ordinance is a single 500lb bomb, so while this would make the 39D an attractive alternative to the dedicated dive-bombers in the Early and Mid arenas, in the LW Mains it won't be much worth taking.
Views vary. The forward view is pretty good, though the sides aren't remarkable due to heavy framing. The dead-six view is ok if you lower the head position. 6-high is quite poor, though can be made serviceable with adjustment of head position.
All in all, she won't get me out of my Corsair any time soon, but I think she's going to surprise a lot of opponents in the classic MA furball.
