Jack Woolams was born in 1917 and after completing university he joined Bell Aircraft in
1941. It wasn’t long before he was transferred from the test flight division to the
experimental research division. In the following year Jack became the first person to fly a
fighter aircraft coast to coast over the USA without stopping. In 1943 he set a new altitude
record of 47,600 feet and in 1944 became chief test pilot for Bell. Another first for
Woolams was piloting the X-1.

With WWII over the USAAF scrapped most of the Airacobras but a few managed to elude
the scrap yard and were sold as surplus. Some of the survivors found their way to the
unlimited racing circuit. Being Bell test pilots, three of them including Jack Woolams,
purchased the two aircraft for $1.00 each plus spares, hangar space and technical
support. The two aircraft were P-39Q-10s 42-20733 (NX92847) and 42-20869 (NX92848)
or better known on the racing circuit as “Cobra I” and “Cobra II” respectively. The three
prepared these planes for the big Thompson Trophy Race to be held in Cleveland, Ohio
on 1946 Labor Day weekend. On Thursday August 29 Woolams “Cobra I” qualified for
the race at 392.7 mph but he wasn’t pleased with sound of the engine. He flew the plane
to Niagara Falls, NY and changed the engine but tragedy struck on Friday August 30
when Woolams and “Cobra I” were lost over Lake Ontario during a practice flight.
Guesses are there was a windshield collapsed or a rear structural failure.
Knowing Woolams would have wanted “Cobra II” to complete the race, pilot Tex Johnston
flew and won the Thompson Trophy beating out the favored P-51s and other P-39s.
Johnston flew at an average speed of 373 mph over the 300-mile course. On August 10,
1968, while practicing for an attempt at the world piston-engine speed record, the heavily
modified “Cobra II” was lost in a fiery crash killing the pilot.
These ex-military P-39s were stripped of everything that wasn’t absolutely necessary to
fly. Over 1,000 pounds of parts and equipment were removed and 800 pounds were
replaced with racing modifications. The changes included huge belly mounted oil coolers,
increased fuel, oil storage and anti-detonate injection fluid that would make it possible to
maintain military emergency power throughout the race at speeds as high as 420 mph.
To provide all this power the stock 1,200 hp engines were replaced with Allison V-1710-
135 (G4) engines removed from P-63s that put out 2,000 hp and had to spin an 11’ 7”
four-bladed paddle propeller with an extra long Pitot tube sticking out the end. The huge
prop made it necessary for the nose gear oleo to be pumped up to provide tip clearance.
All flaps were sealed and all control surfaces were skinned in aluminum. All this required
the inlet for the engine-driven supercharger to be enlarged and extended forward slightly
over the rear of the canopy to reduce turbulence in the inlet airflow.

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