It's impossible to kill the pilot when he's flying a P-39D-1, at least using rifle caliber MG and shooting directly through the cockpit windshield.
Additionally, the P-39D series seems to benefit from the following things:
* Far less prone to overheating than any other contemporary Alison-engined fighter (notably the P-40C).
* Far less prone to engine failure when the coolant system or oil coolant system is hit than just about any other plane in the game.
* Almost invulnerable to "control destroyed," "gun jammed" or "engine inoperable" critical hits.
Given the accuracy of the AI bomber gunners, the P-39D's remarkable durability, plus the cannon in the nose, makes the "Iron Dog" one of the best bomber interceptors there is!
More seriously, it would be wonderful if TD could take a look at the damage modeling for some of the other early-war planes (or maybe just the original IL2 models) like the P-40 series, the Bf-109E series and perhaps the early Spitfires, to make them much less vulnerable to critical hits by rifle-caliber MG fire.
As it stands, planes like the P-40 and the Bf-109 are "one hit wonders" where a single 0.30 caliber MG through the prop spinner kills the engine, a single bullet through the engine firewall or windscreen kills or injures the pilot or wipes out the controls, or a single hit elsewhere to the engine often results in massive smoke and quick demise of the engine.
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