The first of the redesignated P-39Gs were the P-39K-1-BE production lot (Model 26A). They differed from the P-39D-2 in being powered by a 1325 hp V-1710-63 (E6) engine driving an Aeroproducts propeller. 210 examples were ordered on August 25, 1941. The armament was the same as that of the P-39D, but the aircraft weighed 800 pounds more and had a slightly reduced range.
Some P-39Ks were flown in New Guinea in 1943.
Six P-39Ks were converted to ground attack/photo reconnaissance configuration under the designation P-39K-2-BE. Serials were 42-4244, 47273, 4352, 4387, 4433, 4437.
One P-39K was converted to P-39K-5-BE with a V-1710-85 (E19) engine and acted as the prototype for the P-39N.
Serials of P-39K Airacobra:
42-4244/4453 Bell P-39K Airacobra
Sources:
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War Planes of the Second World War, Fighters, Volume Four, William Green,
Doubleday, 1964.
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The American Fighter, Enzo Anguluci and Peter Bowers, Orion Books, 1987.
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United States Military Aircraft since 1909, Gordon Swanborough and Peter
M. Bowers, Smithsonian Institution Press, 1989.
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P-39 Airacobra in Action, Ernie MCDowell, Squadron/Signal Publications,
1980
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Airacobra Advantage: The Flying Cannon, Rick Mitchell, Pictorial Histories Publishing Company, Missoula, Montana
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The Calamitous 'Cobra, Air Enthusiast, August 1971.
- Bell Cobra Variants, Robert F. Dorr, Wings of Fame, Vol 10, AirTime Publishing , Inc., 1998.
