Upon entering the Niagara Aerospace Museum, you will see the fuselage of this Bell P-39Q, SN 44-9211, that has a most unique history. It was one of the 9,584 P-39s that rolled out of the Bell Aircraft Wheatfield plant from 1940 -1944. It was also one of the 4,773 P-39s sent to Russia during WWII in part because of America’s Lend-Lease Program.
On November 18, 1944 this aircraft, flown by decorated 22 year old Russian pilot Ivanovich Baranovskiy, failed to return to base and was listed as Missing In Action. Not until the summer of 2004 was Ivan Baranovskiy’s fate learned when a Russian fisherman, fishing the waters of Lake Mart-Yavr (which is located north of the Arctic Circle 40 miles from the Norway-Finland border), spotted the top of the tail section of SN 44-9211 protruding from the water.
Upon retrieval of the aircraft, Ivan Baranovskiy’s remains were found inside the cockpit and given a military burial with honors in Russia. When you visit the Museum you will learn the full history of what happened to SN 44-9211 and the many additional personal stories related to this Niagara Aerospace Museum treasure.
For an extensive article, see: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/air-space-magazine/lieutenant-ivan-baranovskys-p-39-41818469/
Bell P-39 Specifications:
Top Speed: 375 mph at 20,000 ft.
Engine: Mid-fuselage Allison V-1710-85 V-12 with continuous rating of 810hp.@2600rpm at sea level and 1,000hp.@2600rpm at 14,000’. It had a single stage supercharger. (see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allison_V-1710)
Armament: 2 nose and 2 wing mounted 50 cal. machine guns and one rapid-fire nose cannon with a magazine of 30 37mm shells.
Read more and see the video at the museum’s website here.
Contributed by David Faix