P-39 almost ready

The team at Pioneer Aero putting the finishing touches to the Military Aviation Museum’s P-39Q Airacobra 42-20341 at Ardmore in early August.
TONY SMITH

In the Pioneer Aero workshops at Ardmore Airport near Auckland, New Zealand, work on Bell P-39Q Airacobra 42-20341 has been approaching completion, with a first flight expected imminently. The fighter, which was recovered from Papua New Guinea, is destined to join Jerry Yagen’s Military Aviation Museum at Virginia Beach, Virginia.