America's Trash Became The Soviets' Treasure: Bell P-39 Airacobra and P-63 Kingcobra

Video Description

In this video, we take a look at two American-designed fighter aircraft from World War II in the Bell P-39 Airacobra and Bell P-63 Kingcobra. We first talk about American Isolationism before WW2, and things like "Cash and Carry" and the Lend-Lease Act. We the talk about the beginnings of the Bell Aircraft Corporation, and their attempts to build cutting-edge and unique planes, failing in the YFM-1 Airacuda and seeing success in their Airacobra design. We talk about the early success of the P-39, and how that success faded, and led to the P-39 only playing a minor role in the US Army Air Force. We then talk about overseas use of the P-39, how the British didn't like it, and how the Soviet Union fell in love with it and used it quite effectively. We also talk about why they were far more successful with it. We talk about Bell's attempted successor in the P-63 Kingcobra, how that too was rejected for use in the USAAF, and how it too went over to the Soviets. We end by talking about the overall successes of the Bell line in the Eastern Front, and how aircraft can find their purpose and find a role that suits them.