E-Flite/Horizon Hobby P-39 Airacobra 1.2m

This unusual WW II model flies as good as it looks!

- Kevin Siemonsen

The P-39 Airacobra saw service throughout WW II and had awesome firepower. The unique shape of the fuselage with long slender nose was to make room for the massive cannon in the front end. To avoid complications of shooting through the prop arc, engineers chose to use the propeller shaft as a cannon barrel. In turn, this meant moving the engine behind the pilot, so the drive train ran right beneath the pilot’s seat.

The new E-flite Airacobra is a bolt-together EPO airframe with a ton of scale detail. Factory-applied paint and decals recreate the camo trimmed P-39 variant “Wahl Eye II” that was flown by Lt. Eugene Wahl. Worth mentioning is the way it’s packaged: totally encompassed in a foam block negative. It might as well have been in Fort Knox! The injection-moulded P39 comes painted, 99% fully assembled, and loaded with scale details. The paintwork was impeccable with no detail overlooked. The retractable landing gear, detachable fuel cell and flaps add up to incredible realism. ​The Bind-N-Fly version that I reviewed only requires a 4S 2200mAh LiPo battery and 6-channel DSMX or DSM2 compatible transmitter. To add even greater stability the P-39, the BNF version is equipped with a Spektrum AS3X receiver with integral 3-axis gyro to help stabilize it in adverse conditions. The included SAFE feature prevents the aircraft from exceeding excessive flight attitudes and re-levels aircraft when the transmitter controls are re-centered. Even though the P-39 is a warbird, it would be a great second sport plane.

UNIQUE FEATURES

Not a single glue step is required in thebuild. I was amazed by the level of detail and beautiful paint work, and the decals, panel lines, com antenna, gear doors, and more are all factory installed. Considering the level of completion the only hardware to speak of was aluminum prop nut and six small machine screws.