October 21, 2010 — A Bell P-39Q Airacobra that was built in a western New York state factory in 1943 has returned home after resting at the bottom of a Russian lake since 1944. This particular aircraft was part of 4,719 P-39s sent to the Soviet Union under the United States’ Lend-Lease program, which propped up Allied forces with war materiel before and after the U.S. entered World War II. Miss Lend-Lease, as it has been named by the Ira G. Ross/Niagara Aerospace Museum (NAM) that is undertaking the restoration, served in a frontline Soviet Air Force squadron along
the border with Finland. The discovery in 2004 is rare since remains of the pilot along with key artifacts, found with the aircraft, have provided insights into the mystery of why the aircraft suddenly broke formation as the squadron repositioned to an airfield closer to the front 66 years ago.
Miss Lend-Lease began as P-39Q-15BE, serial number 44-2911, one of the last of the Q-15 marks of the Airacobra produced at the Bell Aircraft Corporation in Buffalo, New York. The Airacobra (named by the British) was developed as a high-altitude interceptor, but an inadequate supercharger limited its effectiveness above 12,000 feet. The aircraft was designed around its armament, an Oldsmobile T9 37 mm cannon and twin 12 mm machine guns all located in the nose of the aircraft. With all those guns up front the only place for the engine was behind the pilot. A 10-foot, two-part propeller shaft running through the cockpit provided power to the nose, much like a transmission in a car. The P-39 also came with four wing-mounted 7 mm machine guns, but many air forces would often remove them to improve performance.
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