Originally posted by Guppy35
P400 was used a lot early in the Pacific Karnak. They had em in the MTO as well.
Definately not 'rare' like a 4 20mm Spit V
A few shots of 80th FS P400s as well as the well known Air A Qutie
Norb Ruff's 80th FS bird
Might as well get the good side
From what I can gather Only 80 or so P-400 were delivered to the Brits.
"Of the 675 Model 14s ordered by the RAF, 212 were diverted to the Soviet Union (54 of that number being lost in transit).
Of the rest, 179 were taken over by the USAAF. Retaining their RAF serial
numbers, over 100 Model 14s, designated P-400 in US service, and rearmed by replacing the .303 Brownings with two .50 Brownings in the cowling, and 2 .30 Brownings in each wing, the 20mm was left, as it would have been a major pain
in the rear to replace it with the 37mm cannon, were shipped to Australia in early 1942 to strengthen USAAF units there. Along with P-39Ds the P-400 became one of the first USAAF aircraft to see action when the 8th Group took it into action over port Moresby, New Guinea, in April 1942."
The P-39 sent to Britain under Lend-Lease was factory Model 14A. 494 with USAAF designations of P-39D-1 and -2 were ordered.
In July 1941 the RAF received three P-39Cs with an Allison delivering 1,150hp up to 12,000', after which power fell off sharply. Observed top speed in RAF tests was 359 mph, slower than they had been led to believe. Shortly after RAF received first Airacobra Is (which were later redesignated P-400 by USAAF) with self-sealing tanks, external drop tank, 20mm nose cannon, among other things. RAF flight tests demonstrated top speed of 355 mph, faster than Spitfire VB at 15,000', but with a slower rate of climb.
RAF 601 Sqn was equipped with Airacobras in Sept 1941 and they were in service about three months in numerous cross-channel missions to strafe ground targets and river barges. They were removed from service at the end of the year with performance deemed unsatisfactory and range too short.
RAF accepted only a total of 80 Airacobras, the rest of the order went to USSR, and to USAAF, who redesignated its 179 planes P-400 and assigned them along with P-39s to the 8th, 35th, and 67th Fighter Groups in the Southwest Pacific. By June 30, 20 P-400s had been destroyed in combat. In July, P-400s were only able to intercept four of nine Japanese bombing raids because they climbed too slowly above 12,000'. Thereafter they undertook strafing attacks on Japanese landing craft, where eight P-400s were lost in ten days, but invasion forces were severely damaged.
The 67th's 14 P-400s went to Guadalcanal in late Aug 1942, where in combat four were destroyed and six damaged. They were then switched to ground attacks, where they performed admirably, and their tricycle gear enabled them to take off from fields so muddy that other types could not. P-400s played a key role in beating off the enemy attack on Bloody Ridge on Sep 2, 1941, where strafing attacks by three planes — the entire available force — decimated troop concentrations. They continued yeoman work during the rest of the Guadalcanal campaign, sometimes flying as many as 11 sorties per plane per day. P-39s did solid ground attack and anti-shipping work in Solomons, becoming expert boat-busters. The P-400s were gradually replaced by P-39s in the Pacific, but were still being sent from England to Africa in early 1943 (81st FG, 350th FG). 52 P-400s were in Africa at end of Jan 1943, carrying out low-level strafing attacks with considerable success and low losses.
In the Southwest Pacific at the end of July, the 5th AF still had 30 P-400s, averaging 300 combat flying hours each. P-39s and P-400s were considered useless above 17,000' by 5th AF brass and unequal to the heavy demands being made on fighter forces in the theater. They requested P-38s, but were offered P-63s, which they countered with a request for P-47s — they ended up with P-40s.
http://www.aerofiles.com/p400.htmlOut of the 10000 or so p-39's made about 400 of the p-400<20mm version> made were flown and only about 250 were flown in combat including the USAAF. Others were sent to training roll.
How many spit5's with 4 20mm were there? VC =2,467
"Only 94 Mk.VA's were produced bfore the Mk. VB went into production early in 1941. The VB for the first time introduced "clipped" wing tips to increase the roll rate. It also featured an improved armament of 2-20mm cannon and 4-.303 machine guns. Some 3,911 Mk. Vb's were produced before the armament was again changed to 4-20mm cannon, thus creating the Mk. VC. A further 2,467 Mk. VC's were produced."
Now I not going to argue with you about spits but what you saying about the spit 5, from what I can tell, dose not hold water. The p-400 was certinally more rare than a Spit Vc with 4 20mm.
Don't you agree?
