ArtKramr wrote:

Every WW II pilot I knew who flew the P-39 was glad ot be rid if it.

I know of several, starting with Yeager and Anderson, who liked its handling and
would happily have gone to war in it. It had its handling quirks, but so did
every other a/c. The P-40 was renowned for its tendency to groundlooping, and
also (IIRR) for its nasty stall/spin. The P-38 had serious compressibility
problems, and like all twins could bite you if you lost an engine on takeoff. The
Merlin P-51 had to be very careful not to get into combat with the aft tank more
than about 1/3 - 1/2 full, and there were yaw issues at high speed. About the
only USAAF fighter I can think of that wasn't commonly associated with any bad
handling quirks was the P-47 (quite typical of Republic fighters, judging by the
jets that followed).

Guy