Bell P39N Airacobra - White 01 Grigorii Ustinovich Dol'nikov

Product description

Every country except the Soviet Union disliked the P-39. All wanted it to perform well
above 20,000 feet but it didn’t because of a supercharger instead of a turbo-charger and
weight. The Soviets liked the low altitude speed and maneuverability, excellent structural
integrity, and heavy armament, everything they needed to fight the type of war on the
Eastern Front. They were so pleased by these attributes that they nicknamed it “The Iron
Dog”. There were 9,585 P-39s of all variants built with about 4,500 going to the Soviets.

When Ivan Babak was placed in charge of the 16th GIAP in February 1945 his P-39N
42-9033 was given to Grigorii Ustinovich Dol'nikov of the 100th GIAP. On April 18, 1945
Ace Petya Guchyak was shot down so Dol'nikov had Barak’s Angel on the right side
painted over and an inscription added that read “For Petya Guchyak. When Ivan Babak
was shot down on April 22, 1945 Dol'nikov had the inscription “For Vanya Babak” added
to the left side. Dol'nikov accumulated 15 confirmed victories and 1 probable.