| Oh some tech savy guy could probably punch in the data and come up with some idea of how it would've performed. Its just finding the guy who can do it. My only other change right now would have been to make the door open towards the rear. That would make bailing out easier.
- Shawn |
Pull the emergency release and the whole door pops off. Doesn't matter what side the hinge is on. Having the door open towards the rear would make it harder to shut the door if you got in with the engine running. It would also make it more dangerous if the door accidentally opened in flight.
The difference in performance between a P-39 with Allison and a P-39 with Merlin would be the same as the difference in performance between the P-51A with Allison and the P-51B with Merlin. No rocket science here, just engine power versus altitude performance curves. The original P-39 prototype had a turbo-supercharger and was a literal rocket, climbing to 20,000 feet in 5 minutes. Among the changes the Army made for production was to leave the turbo-supercharger off. Looks pretty foolish in hind-sight. The P-63 corrected that problem.