Auckland, New Zealand-based Pioneer Aero flew its latest restoration, Bell P-39F Airacobra ZK-COB, on February 26 with Frank Parker at the controls. The work was carried out at Ardmore on behalf of American owner Jerry Yagen and his Virginia-based Military Aviation Museum. The project is based on the substantial remains of P-39F 41-2175, which served with the USAAF's 36th FS, 8th FG. Low on fuel, the aircraft force-landed on Australia's remote Cape York Peninsula on May 1,1942, after pilot Lt Walter Harvey ran into bad weather. Harvey survived the incident, but the P-39 remained there until retrieved by Cairns Aircraft Recovery Team in September 1972.
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