P-39 Airacobra and P-63 King Cobra

[sandiego89]

and of course the jet P-39...

[Dizzyfugu]

There was IIRC actually a Soviet project that seriously resembled an Airacobra twin:

[Weaver]

Posted on Twitter ("X" ) by Navy General Board @thegeneralboard here: https://x.com/thegeneralboard/status/2064439729639030909?s=20

The Bell airacroba AH574 landing aboard the escort carrier HMS Pretoria Castle on 4 April 1945. This was the first time a British pilot landed an aircraft equipped with tricycle landing gear aboard an aircraft carrier.

AH574 was among the production aircobras sold to the Royal Air Force, ordered in 1940. Following dissatisfaction with the airacobra, they were transferred to the Soviet Union. The sole exception was AH574 that was retained for testing purposes by the Royal Navy.

AH574 was being flown by legendary British test pilot Eric "Winkle" Brown for trials with HMS Pretoria Castle. The airacobra was only to conduct landing approaches, but was not meant to actually land. The landing gear was not thought strong-enough to handle a carrier landing.

Brown, who wanted to secure the honor of landing the first aircraft with tricycle landing gear on a carrier,  decided differently. After confirming with aircrew that the airacobra should be able to withstand a carrier landing, he then approached the captain of HMS Pretoria Castle, Captain Caspar John. Brown asked that if he would have permission to land on HMS Pretoria Castle in the event of a mechanical issue. According to Brown's memoirs, Captain John immediately saw what the goal was. He suggested that it would be best for any mechanical issues to occur on the final landing approach.

On the day of the test, Eric Brown began a mock landing approach. As he neared the carrier, he then announced that he was suffering engine problems and asked to land.  Almost as it were expected, Captain John answered on the radio with an  affirmative. Brown then neatly landed aboard HMS Pretoria Castle without issue, becoming the first pilot to land an aircraft with a tricycle landing on a carrier!

Photos courtesy of the British Ministry of Defense

[jcf]

The opening sentence makes the distinction that Brown was first British pilot to land
a tricycle landing gear aircraft on an aircraft carrier, but that gets lost in the body.

The first landing was accomplished on 29 August 1939 when Lieutenant Commander
Thruston B. Clark made a series of landings on and takeoffs from the USS Lexington
CV-2 while the ship was steaming off of the coast of California. The aircraft was the
Lockheed XJO-3, a twin-engined Lockheed Model 12A Electra Junior, that had been
modified with a fixed tricycle undercarriage.

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