Bell Cobra I & II 1946 NAR video

[Big_Jim]

Re: Bell Cobra I & II 1946 NAR video

Easier to get out the right side door than the left side door...because of where the throttle/prop quadrant was mounted. The last time I shoehorned myself into a P-39 it was a dance to get out...I can't imagine wearing a fanny chute AND trying to fight control of the aircraft to get out in a hurry!

[W J Pearce]

Re: Bell Cobra I & II 1946 NAR video

In an emergency, you could yank a handle by the front of the door and it would disengage the hinge pins. The whole door would then float away, leading edge first. In the video, you can see the door removed from Cobra I at the start and again at 1:50.

However, there were issues in water landings. The pressure differential of the water on the door and air inside would prevent the door from opening, just like a car door. You had to pop the door before you hit the water, or roll down the window, or wait for the water to come up in the cockpit.

I'm not sure if I remember this correctly, but I think the left door on Cobra III (Carroll's rebuild of Cobra II) was sealed and only the right door was operational.

The bulletproof windscreen had been replaced by much thinner plexiglass and in the Woolams Cobra I accident, it was thought the plexiglass caved in on Woolams. He was making a highspeed pass low over a lake and went in.

Of course, I have only read everything above, not lived it. But I'm sure Brad and others will let me know of any missteps.

Thanks for the link to the video, best 19:18 of my day.

[Big_Jim]

Re: Bell Cobra I & II 1946 NAR video

In an emergency, you could yank a handle by the front of the door and it would disengage the hinge pins. The whole door would then float away, leading edge first. In the video, you can see the door removed from Cobra I at the start and again at 1:50.

However, there were issues in water landings. The pressure differential of the water on the door and air inside would prevent the door from opening, just like a car door. You had to pop the door before you hit the water, or roll down the window, or wait for the water to come up in the cockpit.

I'm not sure if I remember this correctly, but I think the left door on Cobra III (Carroll's rebuild of Cobra II) was sealed and only the right door was operational.

The bulletproof windscreen had been replaced by much thinner plexiglass and in the Woolams Cobra I accident, it was thought the plexiglass caved in on Woolams. He was making a highspeed pass low over a lake and went in.

Of course, I have only read everything above, not lived it. But I'm sure Brad and others will let me know of any missteps.

Thanks for the link to the video, best 19:18 of my day.

That's pretty spot on. Jack Woolams had qualified 2nd for the Thompson, but felt that the motor was starting to lay down on him, so he flew from Cleveland up to the Bell plant in Buffalo, where the company put in a fresh Allison. At dusk he took off for the short trip back to Cleveland, and on the way he buzzed some boats on Lake Ontario--on which were some fellow Bell employees. They stated that the plane just suddenly pitched down at high speed and impacted the water. The speculation centered on two areas that could have failed...either the windshield or the aft fuselage.

As part of the modifications, they had put BIG late-model Allisons in along with the big 4 bladed props. Together it amounted to a lot of additional torque on the airframe, and the thought was that the twisting moment when adding a lot of power shattered the 'new' windscreen. To combat it on Johnston's Cobra II they installed safety wire across the windscreen to prevent it from 'bowing' under the torque. But they also did a 'field mod' on the ramp at Cleveland where they bolted doublers on the fuselage just aft of the exhaust stacks, because they thought that, again, the combination of the engine and prop was twisting the fuselage.

Nobody knows for sure if the mods helped, or if that was even the problem....but Cobra II raced very successfully from '46-48 without ever having issues with either thing, and I'm pretty sure that the fuselage doublers were removed in 1948 when it ran as the Kaiser-Frazier KF-1.

Just as a footnote, Sandberg's P-63 Tipsy Miss had the same windshield issues as they cracked many-a-one at the high manifold pressure they used when running on 'the sauce'.

[stuntflyr]

Re: Bell Cobra I & II 1946 NAR video

I always wondered if the elevator trim tab failure that Tex experienced in Cobra II happened to Cobra I resulting in the crash. I know Cobra II had all moveable tabs fixed but it wasn't clear if the same was done to Cobra I.
Anyone ?
Chris...

[Big_Jim]

Re: Bell Cobra I & II 1946 NAR video

I always wondered if the elevator trim tab failure that Tex experienced in Cobra II happened to Cobra I resulting in the crash. I know Cobra II had all moveable tabs fixed but it wasn't clear if the same was done to Cobra I.
Anyone ?
Chris...

I'd have to go back and check Matthew's book, Chris, but I think it says that Tex's accident happened early enough in the process that both birds were fitted with the fixed tabs to prevent 'ballooning' at speed.

[MRE]

Re: Bell Cobra I & II 1946 NAR video

I think the doublers were left on thruout Cobra 1's life.