My Uncle Jim lost his life in the P-39. I’ve read about this particular aircraft. Apparently it did not live up to expectations and the US sold a lot of the planes to Russia. The Russians liked them. These planes were very fast, and performed best at low altitudes which left the pilot vulnerable to ground fire. Higher altitudes were more of a problem for them, as performance declined as they climbed.
The engine was located mid-plane and the placement allowed heavy armaments to be installed up front. A 37mm cannon was placed in the nose with barrel sticking through the propeller.
My Uncle Bob was a B-24 bomber pilot and he used to say the P-39 was a bad plane, he did not like them. He sneered and shook his head as he said it. He was interviewed by his son, Scott Palmer, here: uncle bob – WW II.pdf