(Redirected from P-40)
The 'Curtiss P-40' was an
American single-engine, single-seat, all-metal
fighter and
ground attack aircraft that first flew in
1938. It was used in great numbers in
World War II. The P-40 design was a modification of the previous
P-36; this reduced development time and enabled a rapid entry into production and operational service. When production of the P-40 ceased, in November
1944, 13,738 had been built. They were used by the air forces of 28 nations and remained in front line service until the end of the war.
'Warhawk' was the name the
United States Army Air Corps adopted for all models, making it the official name in the United States for all P-40s.
British Commonwealth air forces gave the name 'Tomahawk' to models equivalent to the P-40B and P-40C, and the name 'Kittyhawk' to models equivalent to the P-40D and all later variants.
The P-40's lack of a
two-stage supercharger made it inferior to ''
Luftwaffe'' fighters in high-altitude combat, and it was rarely used in operations in
Northwest Europe. Between 1941 and 1944, however, the P-40 played a critical role with
Allied air forces in five major theaters around the world:
China, the
Mediterranean, the
Southeast Asia, the
Southwest Pacific and
Eastern Europe. The P-40's poor performance at high altitudes was not as critical in those theaters, where its bomb load, durability and good range were also highly-valued.
P-40s first saw wartime service with the British Commonwealth squadrons of the
Desert Air Force in August 1941.
[2] The
Royal Air Force's
No. 112 Squadron was among the first to operate Tomahawks, and the unit copied the "shark mouth" nose markings used by ''Luftwaffe''
Bf 110 units.
[3] The logo was more famously used on P-40s by the
Flying Tigers in
China.
[4]
In theaters where high-altitude performance was less important, the P-40 proved effective as a fighter. Although it gained a reputation as a mediocre type, suitable only for
close air support, later research — including close scrutiny of the records of individual Allied squadrons — indicates that the P-40 performed surprisingly well as an
air superiority fighter, at times suffering severe losses, but also taking a very heavy toll on enemy aircraft.
The P-40 offered the additional advantage of a low price, which kept it in production as a ground attack fighter, long after it was obsolete as an air superiority type.
Design and development
The prototype XP-40 was the tenth production Curtiss
P-36 Hawk,
[5] with its
Pratt & Whitney R-1830 (Twin Wasp) 14-cylinder
radial engine replaced by a liquid-cooled, supercharged
Allison V-1710 V-12 engine. The V-12 engine offered no more power than the radial but its smaller frontal area reduced drag.
XP-40 flying.
Performance characteristics
The P-40 had good agility, especially at high speed. It was one of the tightest-turning monoplane fighters of the war,
[6] although at lower speeds it could not out-maneuver
Japanese fighters such as the
A6M Zero and
Ki-43 ''Hayabusa'' ("Oscar").
[7]
Allison V-1710 engines produced about 1,040
hp at sea level and at 14,000
feet: not powerful by the standards of the time and the P-40's speed was average. Its climb performance was fair to poor, depending on the subtype.
Dive acceleration was good and dive speed excellent.
However, the single-stage, single-speed supercharger meant that it could not compete with contemporary planes as a high-altitude fighter.
The P-40 was a fairly simple aircraft, lacking such sophisticated innovations as boosted
ailerons or automatic leading edge slats, but it had a very strong structure including a seven-
longeron wing, which enabled P-40s to survive some mid-air collisions: impacts with enemy aircraft were occasionally recorded as victories by the RAF and
VVS.
[8]
Operational range was good by early war standards, and was almost double that of the
Supermarine Spitfire or
Messerschmitt Bf 109, although it was inferior to the Zero, Ki-43,
P-38 and
P-51.
Visibility was adequate, although hampered by an overly complex frame and completely blocked to the rear in early models. Poor ground visibility and the relatively narrow landing gear track led to many losses due to accidents on the ground.
Three-quarter view of an early model P-40 in flight.
Late-model P-40s were regarded as well-armed and armored, the P-40 could carry a moderately effective air-to-ground load.
It was semi-modular and thus easy to maintain in the field, and tolerated harsh conditions, in the widest possible variety of climates.
Operational history
In April 1939, the US Army Air Corps, witnessing the new sleek, high-speed, in-line-engined fighters of the European air forces, placed the largest single fighter order it had ever made for fighters: 524 P-40s.
French Air Force
An early order came from the French ''
Armée de l'Air'', which was already operating P-36s. The ''Armée de l'Air'' ordered 140 as the 'Hawk 81A-1' but the French military had been defeated before the aircraft had left the factory, consequently, the aircraft were diverted to British Commonwealth service (as the Tomahawk I), in some cases, complete with metric instruments.
In late 1942, as French forces in North Africa split from the
Vichy government to side with the Allies, U.S. forces transferred P-40Fs to the ''GC II/5'', a squadron that was historically associated with the
Lafayette Escadrille. GC II/5 used its P-40Fs and Ls in combat in Tunisia and, later, for patrol duty off the Mediterranean coast until mid-1944 when they were replaced by P-47Ds.
Royal Air Force/Desert Air Force
Service history
The British
Air Ministry deemed the P-40 Tomahawk unsuitable for combat in North West Europe, and it was relegated to service with the
Desert Air Force (DAF) in
North Africa and the
Middle East. The P-40 entered service in August 1941. Tomahawk and Kittyhawk squadrons bore the brunt of the ''
Luftwaffe'' and the ''
Regia Aeronautica'' onslaught in the
North African campaign. Tomahawks initially proved quite effective against Axis aircraft and contributed to a slight shift of momentum in the Allied favor. Its appearance and gradual replacement of
Hawker Hurricanes led to the Luftwaffe accelerating retirement of the
Messerschmitt Bf 109E ("Emil") and introducing the newer Bf 109F ("Friedrich") to North Africa.
Over
Alexandria,
No. 250 Squadron,
Royal Air Force (RAF) claimed the first air combat victory for the P-40 on
8 June 1941, when Sgt Tom Paxton and
F/O Jack Hamlyn destroyed a
CANT Z.1007 bomber from ''211
a Squadriglia'' of the ''Regia Aeronautica''.
[9] Several days later, the Tomahawk was in action in the
Syria-Lebanon campaign with
No. 3 Squadron,
Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), which claimed 19 aerial victories over
Vichy French aircraft in June and July 1941, for the loss of one P-40 (as well as one lost to ground fire).
[10] The claims included five
Dewoitine D.520 fighters considered by many as France's best pre-war production fighter.
When they converted to the P-40, DAF pilots found that landing required a flatter, slower approach than Spitfires and Hurricanes, due to the P-40's rear-folding landing gear, which was prone to collapse in harder landings. The most prominent Australian
ace of the war,
Clive Caldwell later said that he found the Tomahawk's armament of two .50 calibers firing through the prop and two .303 Brownings in each wing to be inadequate.
[11] This was rectified with the P-40E Kittyhawk, which had three .50 calibers in each wing. Caldwell was impressed with other characteristics; he said the P-40 "would take a tremendous amount of punishment — violent aerobatics as well as enemy action."
[12] He said the P-40 had "almost no vices", although "it was a little difficult to control in terminal velocity".
[13] Caldwell said that the type was "faster down hill than almost any other aeroplane with a propellor." He believed that Operational Training Units did not properly prepare pilots for air combat in the P-40, and as a commander, stressed the importance of training novice pilots properly.
[14]
The Tomahawk was superseded by the more powerful Kittyhawk ("D"-mark onwards) types from early 1942, though Tomahawks remained in service until 1943. Kittyhawks included many major improvements, and were the DAF's air superiority fighter for the first few months of 1942, until "
tropicalized"
Spitfires were available. From 26 May, all Kittyhawk units operated primarily as fighter-bomber units.
[15] DAF units received few of the speedier Packard
Merlin-engined P-40F/L models (Kittyhawk IIA), most of which went to the USAAF. The later P-40M/N versions arrived after, but were also used mostly in the fighter-bomber role.
In all, 12 British RAF squadrons, as well as two RAAF squadrons and two
South African Air Force (SAAF) squadrons serving with the DAF, used 930 P-40s. The British government also donated 23 P-40s to the Soviet Air Force.
Combat performance
Most of the air combat in North Africa took place well below 16,000 feet, the altitude at which the performance of P-40s tapered off. And in the hands of competent pilots the P-40 proved effective against even the best of the ''Luftwaffe'' and ''Regia Aeronautica''.
It was considered markedly superior to the older
Hurricane, which it replaced as the primary fighter of the Desert Air Force,
the P-40 was deadly against Axis bombers in the theater, as well as the
Bf 110 and early Italian fighter types, such as the
Fiat G.50 and the
Macchi C.200, though the
Bf 109 proved a greater challenge, particularly the later F and G variants. The P-40 was superior to the Bf 109 in maneuverability and structural strength, and was roughly equal to it in firepower, but was inferior in speed and rate of climb.
As DAF P-40 squadrons began to fly more bomber escort and
close air support missions, losses rose dramatically. In addition, from 1942, the Kittyhawk was also used by the DAF as a fighter-bomber, giving rise to the nickname "Kittybomber". As a result of this change in role, many Desert Air Force P-40 pilots were caught low and slow by marauding Bf 109s, flown by the veteran pilots of elite ''Luftwaffe'' units such as ''
Jagdgeschwader 27'' (JG27). The leading ''expert'' in North Africa,
Hans-Joachim Marseille, may have destroyed as many as 70 P-40s in his career.
[17]
North Africa, c. 1943. A P-40 "Kittybomber" of
No. 450 Squadron RAAF, loaded with six 250 lb bombs. (Photographer: William Hadfield.)
Some Commonwealth units, in particular the SAAF squadrons, reportedly utilized poor defensive tactics — such as the
Lufbery circle — and suffered even higher attrition rates as a result. The superior climb rate of the Bf 109 enabled fast, swooping attacks, to which pilots in Lufbery circles had no answer. Various other defensive formations were tried by DAF units in 1941-42, including: "fluid pairs" (similar to the German ''rotte''); one or two "weavers" at the back of a squadron in formation, and whole squadrons bobbing and weaving in loose formations.
[Brown, 1983, p. 28-29.] Werner Schroer, who would be credited with destroying 114 Allied planes in only 197 combat missions, referred to the latter formation as "bunches of grapes", because he found them so easy to pick off.
[Brown, 1983, p. 28-29.] However, it should be noted that German pilots in North Africa may have significantly over-reported kills; DAF squadron records suggest that German units over-claimed by a margin exceeding 200% on some occasions.
[18] In addition, Marseille is believed to have destroyed only three bombers — all of them unescorted — a testament to the performance of escort duties by DAF pilots.
[19]
It is clear that a capable and experienced P-40 pilot, could fare well against the best ''Luftwaffe'' pilots flying the Bf 109. A total of 46 British Commonwealth pilots reached ace status in P-40s, including seven double aces.
[16] Caldwell scored 22 of his 28.5 victories flying P-40s in North Africa. On one occasion in August 1941, while flying alone, he was attacked by two Bf 109s, one of them piloted by Schroer. Although Caldwell was wounded three times, and his Tomahawk was hit by more than 100 7.9 mm bullets and five
20 mm cannon shells, he survived the encounter and shot down Schroer's wingman. Some sources also claim that Caldwell killed a German ''expert'',
Erbo Graf von Kageneck (69 kills) while flying a P-40.
[21] Caldwell's victories in North Africa included ten Bf 109s and two
Macchi C.202s.
[22] Jack Frost, the highest scoring member of any SAAF unit, scored most of his 15 kills in P-40s.
[23] Canadian pilot
James "Stocky" Edwards, who achieved 13 kills in the P-40 in North Africa, shot down German ace
Otto Schulz (51 kills) while flying a Kittyhawk. Edwards and Caldwell were only two of at least a dozen pilots of several different Allied nations who achieved ace status twice over while flying the P-40.
[16][25]
Chinese Air Force — Flying Tigers (American Volunteer Group)
The
Flying Tigers, known officially as the American Volunteer Group, were a unit of the
Republic of China Air Force, recruited from US aviators. From late 1941, the P-40 was used by the Flying Tigers.
Compared to opposing Japanese fighters, the P-40's strengths were that it was very sturdy, heavily armed, generally faster in a dive and possessed a good rate of roll.
[26] While the P-40 could not match the maneuverability of Japanese
Nakajima Ki-27s and Ki-43s they were facing, AVG leader
Claire Chennault trained his pilots to use the P-40's particular performance advantages. The P-40 had a higher dive speed than the Japanese fighters, for example, and would exploit so-called "boom-and-zoom" tactics. The AVG was highly successful, and its feats were widely-published, for propaganda purposes. According to their own count, the Flying Tigers destroyed 297 aircraft in the air and on the ground for the loss of only 21 pilots and their aircraft. The lowest count of AVG victories from other sources is 115 kills.
United States Army Air Forces
Second Lieutenant Joseph D. Shaffer of the 33rd Fighter Squadron, based at
Reykjavík,
Iceland, flying a P-40C, shared credit for the first victory over a German aircraft by the
United States Army Air Forces in World War II. A
Focke-Wulf Fw 200C-3 overflew the base on
14 August 1942 and was damaged by Shaffer, before being destroyed by a P-38F.
As with the P-39, many USAAF officers during World War II considered the P-40 inadequate, and it was gradually replaced by the turbo-supercharged P-38, P-51 and
P-47. However, the bulk of the fighter operations by the USAAF in
1942-
43 were borne by the P-40 and the P-39. In the Pacific, these two fighters, along with the
US Navy's F4F Wildcat, contributed more than any other US types to breaking Japanese air power, during this critical period.
Pacific Theater
P-40s on the flight line in the Pacific during World War II.
The P-40 was the main USAAF fighter in the Pacific during 1941-42. In the first major battles at
Pearl Harbor,
the Philippines and in the
Dutch East Indies campaign, USAAF P-40 squadrons suffered crippling losses on the ground and air to Japanese fighters like the
Ki-43 "Oscar" and the
A6M Zero. In later battles, improved tactics and training allowed the strengths of the aircraft to be more effectively utilized and the P-40 played a key role in the
defense of Darwin, Australia and
Port Moresby, New Guinea.
Due to aircraft fatigue, spare parts and replacement problems, the US
Fifth Air Force and
Royal Australian Air Force created a joint P-40 management and replacement pool on
30 July 1942, and many P-40s went back and forth between both air forces.
[27]
The
49th Fighter Group was one of the most important US fighter groups in the South West Pacific, in action from the beginning of the war.
Robert DeHaven was an ace with the 49th FG, scoring ten kills in the P-40 (from 14 kills overall). He compared the P-40 favorably with the P-38:
:''If you flew wisely, the P-40 was a very capable aircraft. In many conditions, it could outturn a P-38, a fact that some pilots didn't realize when they made the transition between the two aircraft. The P-40 kept me alive and allowed me to accomplish my mission. The real problem with it was lack of range. As we pushed the Japanese back, P-40 pilots were slowly left out of the war. So ''when I moved to P-38s, an excellent aircraft, I did so not because I believed that the P-40 was an inferior fighter, but because I knew the P-38 would allow us to reach the enemy''. I was a fighter pilot and that was what I was supposed to do [emphasis added].
[28]
The 49th flew P-40s until 1944, when it moved to P-38s.
China-Burma-India theater
The P-40 performed extremely well in this theater, scoring high kill ratios against Japanese types such as the Nakajima Ki-43,
Nakajima Ki-44 ''Shoki'' ("Tojo") and the Zero. The P-40 remained in use in the CBI until 1944, and was reportedly preferred over the
P-51 Mustang by some US pilots flying in China.
At least 40 US Pilots reached Ace status flying the P-40 in the CBI.
The American Volunteer Group (Flying Tigers) was integrated into the USAAF as the
23rd Fighter Group. The unit continued to fly newer model P-40s until the end of the war, racking up a high kill-to-loss ratio.
[29]Mediterranean theater
Top to Bottom: P-40 F/L, P-40K Warhawk
Some of the first USAAF P-40s used in this theater took off from
aircraft carriers during
Operation Torch, to land on newly-captured Vichy French airfields.
Though the P-40 suffered heavy loses in the
Mediterranean Theater of Operations (MTO), many US P-40 units had good combat records in the theater, racking up high kill-to-loss ratios against Axis planes. For example the
324th Fighter Group scored better than a 2:1 ratio in the MTO.
[30] In all, 23 US pilots became aces in the MTO while flying the P-40, most of them during the first half of 1943.
[31] As in the Pacific, success in combat seemed to largely be a matter of experience and effective tactics.
It was also in this theater that the much-lightened P-40L was most heavily used, primarily by U.S. pilots. Many US pilots stripped down their P-40s even further to improve performance, often removing two or more of the wing guns from the P-40F/L.
The 99th Fighter Squadron, better known as a famous
African American fighter unit, the
Tuskegee Airmen, flew P-40s in stateside training and for their initial eight months in the MTO. The first time that African American fighter pilots engaged enemy airplanes was on
9 June,
1943, when 99th FS planes were over
Pantelleria, Italy. A single
Focke Wulf Fw 190 was reported damaged by Lieutenant Willie Ashley Jr. On
2 July the squadron claimed its first verified kill; a Fw 190 destroyed by Captain Charles Hall. The 99th would continue to score with P-40s until February 1944, when they were assigned P-39s.
[32][33]
The
57th Fighter Group was equipped with the Curtiss fighter until early 1944, during which time they were credited with at least 140 air-to-air kills. The 57th was the main unit involved in the "Palm Sunday Massacre", of
18 April, 1943. De-coded
Ultra signals had given away a plan for a large formation of German
Junkers Ju 52 transport planes to cross the Mediterranean, escorted by Bf 109s. An ambush was planned, using three squadrons of the 57th, a P-40 squadron from the 324th FG and a small group of Desert Air Force Spitfires. They intercepted the German formation and shot down at least 70 planes, with only six or seven Allied airplanes being downed.
The
325th Fighter Group (also known as the "Checkertail Clan"), also flew P-40s in the MTO. The 325th was credited with at least 133 air-to-air kills in April-October 1943, of which 95 were Bf 109s and 26 were Macchi C.202s, for the loss of only 17 P-40s in combat.
[34]
One anecdote, concerning the 325th FG, indicates what could happen if Bf 109 pilots made the mistake of trying to out-turn the P-40. According to 325th FG historian Carol Cathcart: "on
30 July, 20 P-40s of the 317th [Fighter Squadron] ... took off on a fighter sweep ... over
Sardinia. As they turned to fly south over the west part of the island, they were attacked near
Sassari... The attacking force consisted of 25 to 30 Bf 109s and Macchi C.202s... In the brief, intense battle that occurred ... [the 317th claimed] 21 enemy aircraft."
[35] Cathcart states that Lt Robert Sederberg — who assisted a comrade being attacked by five Bf 109s — destroyed at least one German plane, and may have shot down as many as five. Sederberg was shot down in the dogfight and became a prisoner of war.
Royal Australian Air Force
The Kittyhawk was the main fighter used by the RAAF in World War II, in greater numbers than the Spitfire. Two RAAF squadrons serving with the Desert Air Force,
No. 3 and
No. 450 Squadrons, were the first Australian units to be assigned P-40s. Other Australians served with RAF Squadrons in the theater.
Many RAAF pilots achieved high scores in the P-40, some while serving in British or South African squadrons in the Desert Air Force (see above). At least five reached "double ace" status: Clive Caldwell (22 kills),
Nicky Barr,
John Waddy,
Bob Whittle (11 kills each) and
Bobby Gibbes (ten kills) in the Middle East, North African and/or
New Guinea campaigns. In all, 18 RAAF pilots became aces while flying P-40s.
Evidence of the P-40's durability:in 1944
F/O T. R. Jacklin (pictured) flew this
No. 75 Squadron RAAF P-40N-5 more than 200 miles (320 km) after the loss of the port aileron and 25% of its wing area. The fighter was repaired and served out the war.
At the same time as the heaviest fighting in North Africa, the
Pacific War was also in its early stages, and RAAF units in Australia were completely lacking in suitable fighter aircraft. Spitfire production was being absorbed by the war in Europe; P-38s and P-39s were trialled, but were regarded as unsuitable and were also difficult to obtain; Mustangs had not yet reached squadrons anywhere, and Australia's tiny and inexperienced aircraft industry was geared towards larger planes. USAAF P-40s and their pilots — originally intended for the
U.S. Far East Air Force in the Philippines, but diverted to Australia as a result of Japanese naval activity — were the first suitable fighter aircraft to arrive in substantial numbers. By mid-1942, the RAAF was able to obtain some USAAF replacement shipments; the P-40 was given the RAAF designation A-29.
RAAF Kittyhawks played a crucial role in the
South West Pacific theater. They fought on the front line as fighters during the critical early years of the Pacific War, and the durability and bomb-carrying abilities (1,000 lb/454 kg) of the P-40 also made it ideal for the
ground attack role. For example,
75, and
76 Squadrons played a critical role during the
Battle of Milne Bay,
[36] fending off Japanese aircraft and providing highly effective close air support for the Australian infantry, negating the initial Japanese advantage in light tanks and sea power.
The RAAF units which made the most use of Kittyhawks in the South West Pacific were: 75, 76,
77,
78,
80,
82,
84 and
86 Squadrons. These squadrons saw action mostly in the New Guinea and
Borneo campaigns.
Late in 1945, RAAF fighter squadrons in the South West Pacific began converting to P-51Ds. However, Kittyhawks were in use with the RAAF until the very last day of the war, in Borneo. In all, the RAAF acquired 841 Kittyhawks (not counting the British-ordered examples used in North Africa), including 163 P-40E, 42 P-40K, 90 P-40 M and 553 P-40N models.
[37] In addition, the RAAF ordered 67 Kittyhawks for use by
No. 120 (Netherlands East Indies) Squadron (a joint Australian-
Dutch unit in the South West Pacific). The P-40 was retired by the RAAF in 1947.
Royal Canadian Air Force
In mid-May 1940, the
Royal Canadian Air Force had its first look at the Curtiss P-40. At that time a party of American officers flew to Uplands Airport near Ottawa where they saw the XP-40 and a Spitfire flown in comparative tests. When Canadian Army requirements for France were drawn up, one of the units was to have been an Army Co-operation Wing (No. 101) consisting of three squadrons:
No. 400 (previously No. 110) Squadron and
No. 414, equipped with P-40 Tomahawk aircraft, formed No. 39 (Army Co-operation) Wing (RCAF). By January 1943, all three squadrons had converted to the Mustang Mk I. In all, the RCAF received 72 Kittyhawk I, 12 Kittyhawk Ia, 15 Kittyhawk III and 35 Kittyhawk IV aircraft, for a total of 134 aircraft, plus the loan of nine P-40Ks in the Aleutians, all in lieu of the 144 P-39 Airacobras originally allotted to Canada and rejected.
P-40E in Aleutian "Tiger" markings.
One of the most significant uses of the RCAF P-40s occurred in the 1942
Aleutians campaign. When the Imperial Japanese Navy moved to
attack Midway, it sent a diversionary battle group to attack the Aleutian Islands. The RCAF sent
No. 111 Squadron RCAF, flying the Kittyhawk I, to a forward base on Adak Island, Alaska. During the drawn-out campaign, 12 Canadian Kittyhawks operated on a rotational basis from a new, more advanced base on
Amchitka, 75 miles southeast of
Kiska. Two RCAF fighter squadrons, No. 111 and
No. 14, took "turn-about" at the base. During the deployment, one
Nakajima A6M2-N seaplane was shot down by Squadron Leader Ken Boomer. After the Japanese threat diminished, the RCAF units returned to Canada and eventually transferred to England without their Kittyhawks.
Royal New Zealand Air Force
A total of 301 P-40s were allocated to the
Royal New Zealand Air Force under lend lease, 297 seeing service, (the remaining 4 being lost on delivery). These aircraft equipped
14 Squadron,
15 Squadron,
16 Squadron,
17 Squadron,
18 Squadron,
19 Squadron and
20 Squadron. Some RNZAF pilots in North Africa and Italy also flew British P-40s while serving with RAF squadrons.
RNZAF P-40s were successful in air combat against the Japanese during intense fighting in the
Pacific theatre from 1942 until 1944.
New Zealand pilots claimed 99 aerial victories in P-40s, losing 20 aircraft in aerial combat.
Geoff Fisken, the
Commonwealth's highest scoring
flying ace in the Pacific, flew P-40s with 15 Squadron, although half his victories came with the
Brewster Buffalo.
From late 1943 and 1944, RNZAF P-40s were increasingly used against ground targets. The last front line RNZAF P-40s were replaced by
F4U Corsairs in 1944. The P-40s were relegated to use as advanced pilot trainers.
[38][39][40]
Remaining RNZAF P-40s, excluding the 20 shot down and 154 written off, were mostly scrapped at
Rukuhia in 1948. At least six RNZAF P-40s have survived. Fisken's machine is owned by The Old Stick and Rudder Company (OSRC) and is currently being restored in New Zealand.
[41] Three are currently airworthy: ''NZ3009'' with the OSRC, whilst ''NZ3094'' and ''NZ3125'' are flying in Australia. Other New Zealand P-40s are on display at the
Museum of Transport and Technology in Auckland and under restoration at the
Royal New Zealand Air Force Museum in
Christchurch. The remains of two others are part of a private collection in New Zealand.
Soviet Union
This P-40B Tomahawk, at the US National Museum of Naval Aviation, is shown in the colors of the Flying Tigers, but never actually served with them; it began life with the RAF and was later transferred to the Soviet Union.
Though only moderately popular with the Soviets, the Soviet Air Force used the relatively few P-40s they had been given quite extensively against the
Germans on the Eastern front; most Soviet P-40 squadrons had good combat records. The Warhawk provided close air support as well as air-to-air capability for the Soviet Air Force, with many Soviet pilots becoming aces on the P-40 (although not as many as on the
P-39 Airacobra, which was the most popular American fighter used by the Soviet Air Force).
The Soviets stripped down their P-40s significantly for combat, in many cases removing the wing guns altogether in P-40B/C types, for example. Soviet pilots interviewed in the 1990s reported that they considered the type quite capable of handling the
Messerschmitt Bf 109 using "turn and burn" tactics, since it could out-turn the Bf 109 though not follow one into a climb.
and many squadrons racked up good kill ratios against the 109 and the early Fw 190 variants. Soviet Air Force reports state that they liked the range and fuel capacity of the P-40 which were superior to most of the Soviet fighters, though they still preferred the P-39. Their biggest complaint was its poor climb rate and problems with maintenance, especially with burning out the engines. VVS pilots usually flew the P-40 at ''War Emergency Power'' settings while in combat, this would bring the acceleration and speed performance closer to that of their German rivals, but could burn out engines in a matter of weeks.
They also had difficulty with the more demanding requirements for fuel quality and oil purity of the Allison engines. A fair number of burnt out P-40s were re-engined with Soviet Klimov engines but these performed relatively poorly and were relegated to rear area use.
The P-40 saw the most front-line use in Soviet hands in 1942 and early 1943. It was used in the northern sectors and played a significant role in the defense of Leningrad. The most numerically important types were P-40B/C, P-40E and P-40K/M. By the time the better P-40F and N types became available, production of superior Soviet fighters had increased sufficiently so that the P-40 was replaced in most Soviet Air Force units by the
Lavochkin La-5 and various later Yakovlev types.
Japan
The
Japanese Army captured some P-40s and later operated a number in
Burma. The Japanese appear to have had as many as ten flyable P-40Es.
[42] For a brief period, during 1943, a few of them were actually used operationally by ''2 Hiko Chutai'', ''50 Hiko Sentai'' (2nd Air Squadron, 50th Air Regiment) in the defense of
Rangoon. Testimony to this fact is given by
Yasuhiko Kuroe, a member of the ''64 Hiko Sentai''. In his memoirs, he says one Japanese-operated P-40 was shot down in error by a friendly
Mitsubishi Ki-21 "Sally", over Rangoon.
Other nations
The P-40 was used by over two dozen countries during and after the war. The P-40 was used by Brazil, China, Chile, Egypt, Finland, Netherlands East Indies,
South African Air Force and Turkey. The last P-40s in military service were serving with the
Brazilian Air Force (FAB) when they were finally retired as late as 1958.
In the air war over Finland, several Soviet P-40s were shot down or had to crash land due to other reasons. The Finns, short of good aircraft, collected these and managed to repair one Warhawk, although it was mistakenly believed to be a Kittyhawk. This aircraft was attached to an operational squadron of the
Finnish Air Force, but lack of spares kept it on the ground, with the exception of a few evaluation flights.
Variants and development stages
P-40 Kittyhawk - Australian War Memorial
★ Departing from normal
USAAC convention, there was no 'P-40A'. Some records indicate this might have been reserved for a reconnaissance variant that was briefly in development by Curtiss, but quickly discarded.
★ Revised versions of the P-40 soon followed: the 'P-40B' or 'Tomahawk IIA' had extra .30 cal (7.62 mm) US, or
.303 British (7.7 mm) machine guns in the wings and self-sealing tanks; the 'P-40C' or 'Tomahawk IIB' added underbelly drop tank and bomb shackles, as well as improved self-sealing fuel tanks and other minor revisions, but the extra weight did have a negative impact on aircraft performance. (All versions of the P-40 had a relatively low power-to-weight ratio compared to contemporary fighters.)
★ Only a small number of 'P-40D' or 'Kittyhawk Mk I's were made—less than 50. With a new, larger Allison engine, slightly narrower fuselage, redesigned canopy, and improved cockpit, the P-40D eliminated the nose-mounted .50 cal guns and instead had a pair of .50 cal (12.7 mm) guns in each wing. The distinctive chin airscoop grew larger in order to adequately cool the large Allison engine.
★ Retrospective designation for a single prototype. The 'P-40A' was a single camera-carrying aircraft.
★ The 'P-40E' or 'P-40E-1' was very similar in most respects to the P-40D, except for a slightly more powerful engine and an extra .50 in (12.7 mm) gun in each wing, bringing the total to six. Some aircraft also had small underwing bomb shackles. Supplied to the Commonwealth air forces as the 'Kittyhawk Mk IA'. The P-40E was the variant that bore the brunt of air to air combat by the type in the key period of early to mid 1942, for example with the first US squadrons to replace the AVG in China (the AVG was already transitioning to this type from the P-40B/C), the type used by the Australians at Milne Bay, by the New Zealand squadrons during most of their air to air combat, and by the RAF / Commonwealth in North Africa as the Kittyhawk IA.
In the vicinity of
Moore Field, Texas. The lead ship in a formation of P-40s is peeling off for the "attack" in a practice flight at the Army Air Forces advanced flying school. Selected aviation cadets were given transition training in these fighter planes before receiving their pilot's wings. 1943.
★ 'P-40F' and 'P-40L', which both featured a Packard Merlin engine in place of the normal Allison, and thus did not have the
carburetor scoop on top of the nose. Performance for these models at higher altitudes was better than their Allison-engined cousins. The L in some cases also featured a fillet in front of the
vertical stabilizer, or a stretched fuselage to compensate for the higher torque. The P-40L was sometimes nicknamed "
Gypsy Rose Lee," after a famous stripper of the era, due to its stripped-down condition. Supplied to the Commonwealth air forces under the designation 'Kittyhawk Mk II', a total of 330 Mk IIs were supplied to the RAF under Lend-Lease. The first 230 aircraft are sometimes known as the 'Kittyhawk Mk IIA'. The P-40F/L was extensively used by US fighter groups operating in the Mediterranian Theater.
★ 'P-40G' : 43 P-40 aircraft fitted with the wings of the Tomahawk Mk IIA. A total of 16 aircraft were supplied to the Soviet Union, and the rest to the US Army Air Force. It was later redesignated 'RP-40G'.
★ 'P-40K', an Allison-engined P-40L, with the nosetop scoop retained and the Allison configured scoop and cowl flaps. Supplied to the Commonwealth air forces as the 'Kittyhawk Mk III', it was widely used by US units in the CBI.
★ 'P-40M', version generally similar to the P-40K, with a stretched fuselage like the P-40L and powered by an Allison V-1710-81 engine giving better performance at altitude (compared to previous Allison versions). It had some detail improvements and it was characterized by two small air scoops just before the exhaust pipes. Most of them were supplied to Allied countries (mainly UK and USSR), while some others remained in the USA for advanced training. It was also supplied to the Commonwealth air forces as the 'Kittyhawk Mk. III'.
★ 'P-40N' (manufactured 1943-44), the final production model. The P-40N featured a stretched rear fuselage to counter the torque of the larger, late-war Allison engine, and the rear deck of the cockpit behind the pilot was cut down at a moderate slant to improve rearward visibility. A great deal of work was also done to try and eliminate excess weight to improve the Warhawk's climb rate. Early N production blocks dropped a .50 cal (12.7 mm) gun from each wing, bringing the total back to four; later production blocks reintroduced it after complaints from units in the field. Supplied to Commonwealth air forces as the 'Kittyhawk Mk IV'. A total of 553 P-40Ns were acquired by the Royal Australian Air Force, making it the variant most commonly used by the RAAF. Subvariants of the P-40N ranged widely in specialization from stripped down four-gun hot rods which could reach the highest top speeds of any production variant of the P-40 (up to 378 mph), to overweight types with all the extras intended for fighter-bombing or even training missions.
Curtiss P-40N-5-CU "Little Jeanne"
★ 'P-40P' : The designation of 1,500 aircraft ordered with V-1650-1 engines, but actually built as the P-40N with V-1710-81 engines.
★ 'XP-40Q' with a 4-bladed prop, cut-down rear fuselage and
bubble canopy, supercharger, squared-off wingtips and tail surfaces, and improved engine with two-speed supercharger was tested, but its performance was not enough of an improvement to merit production when compared to the contemporary late model 'P-47D's and 'P-51D's pouring off production lines. The XP-40Q was, however, the fastest of the P-40 series with a top speed of 422 mph as a result of the introduction of a high-altitude supercharger gear. (No P-40 model with a single-speed supercharger could even approach 400 mph or 640 km/h.) With the end of hostilities in Europe, the P-40 came to the end of its front line service.
★ 'P-40R' : The designation of P-40F and P-40L aircraft, converted into training aircraft in 1944.
★ 'RP-40' : Some American P-40s were converted into reconnaissance aircraft.
★ 'TP-40' : Some P-40s were converted into two-seat trainers.
Famous P-40 pilots
★
Nicky Barr: RAAF ace (11 kills) and member of the
Australian national rugby team
★
Gregory "Pappy" Boyington: American Volunteer Group (Flying Tigers), Chinese Air Force. (Boyington was later leader of the US Marine Corps' "
Black Sheep Squadron".)
★
Clive "Killer" Caldwell: RAAF, Australia's greatest World War II ace and the pilot with the highest number of victories in P-40s, from a
Western Allied air force. (Caldwell scored 20.5 of his 28.5 kills while flying P-40s in North Africa.
[43])
★
Daniel H. David, later known as TV/film comedian/actor 'Dan Rowan': USAAF, Southwest Pacific theater. Scored two kills against Japanese aircraft before being shot down and seriously wounded.
★
James Francis "Stocky" Edwards: RCAF, 15.75 kills (12.5 on the P-40). (He wrote two books about Commonwealth Kittyhawk pilots in World War II.).
[44]
★
Geoff Fisken: RNZAF, the highest scoring British Commonwealth ace in the Pacific theater. Five of his 11 victories were claimed in Kittyhawks.
★
John Everitt "Jack" Frost, SAAF, the highest scoring air ace in a South African unit, with 15 kills (7 on the P-40). Missing in action,16 June 1942 after combat with JG 27 Bf 109s; his body was never found.
[44]
★
John Gorton: RAAF, later
Prime Minister of Australia, 1968-71. (Gorton survived two serious crashes. One required him to undergo extensive
plastic surgery, with his face being changed significantly as a result. When asked in later life what his most memorable flight had been, Gorton replied: "The one in which I got my face mixed up with the instrument panel of a Kittyhawk.")
★
John F. Hampshire, Jr.: USAAF. Tied for top-scoring USAAF ace on the type with 13 victories.
★
Bruce K. Holloway: USAAF. Tied for top-scoring USAAF ace on the type with 13 victories.
★
Nikolai F. Kuznetsov: VVS, ace, twice
Hero of the Soviet Union. (Most of his 22 kills were scored in the P-40.)
★
Stepan Novichkov: VVS, top scoring Soviet ace on the P-40, with 19 of his 29 total personal victories being scored while flying the type.
★
Petr Pokryshev: VVS, ace, twice Hero of the Soviet Union, scored 22 personal victories.
★
Robert Lee Scott, Jr.: Flying Tigers/USAAF, later commander of the US 23rd Fighter Group, in the
Fourteenth Air Force. (Scored ten+ kills in the P-40.)
★
Kenneth M. Taylor: USAAF, one of two US pilots to get airborne in a P-40 during the
Pearl Harbor raid, Taylor shot down two Japanese aircraft on 7 December 1941, and was wounded in the arm.
★
Keith "Bluey" Truscott: RAAF, pre-war star of
Australian football; became an ace on Spitfires in the UK, commanded a Kittyhawk squadron at the
Battle of Milne Bay (1942), in New Guinea; killed in an accident in 1943, while flying a P-40
★
Len Waters: RAAF, the only
Australian Aboriginal fighter pilot of World War II.
★
George Welch: USAAF, one of two US pilots to get airborne in a P-40 during the
attack on Pearl Harbor of 7 December 1941. Welch shot down three Japanese aircraft that day.
Operators
;:
;:
;
Canada:
;:
;:
;
Egypt:
;:
;
Free France:
;:
;:
;:
;
Philippines:
;:
;
South Africa:
;:
;:
;:
;
United States:
Specifications (P-40E)
Popular culture
★ In the
John Wayne movie: ''
Flying Tigers'', (1942) real P-40s are featured, along with some inaccurate studio models.
★ Ronald Reagan appears in the ''Identification Of The Japanese Zero (Training Film)'' (1942) as a young pilot learning to recognize the difference between a P-40 and a Japanese Zero. In this film Reagan mistakes a friend's P-40 for a Japanese Zero and tries to shoot it down. In the end, Reagan gets a chance to shoot down a real Zero.
★ In the film, ''
God is My Co-Pilot'' (1945) about the Flying Tigers and the USAAF pilots who replaced them in the
Republic of China and
Burma, real P-40s are featured.
★ In the play written by
Arthur Miller, ''
All My Sons (first performed in 1947),'' Joe Keller and his partner, Steve Deever, knowingly sold cracked cylinder heads to the Army Air Force. As a result, 21 P-40s crashed in Australia. For this, Keller and Deever served time in prison, although Keller was released shortly after when he was found innocent. At the beginning of the play, his partner is still in prison.
★ In ''
Tora! Tora! Tora!'' (1970), P-40s are depicted at the
attack on Pearl Harbor, both being shot up on the ground and shooting down Zeros.
★
Steven Spielberg's comedy ''
1941''(1979) features a P-40E in the less-than-capable hands of
John Belushi's character, "Wild Bill" Kelso.
★ In the film: ''
Pearl Harbor'' (2001) P-40Es are the main aircraft seen in the film besides Japanese Zeros. Rafe Macauley and Danny Walker fly P-40s during the raid on Pearl Harbor being the only two pilots able to get in the air, recreating the actual event where
George Welch and Ken Taylor operated from a satellite field. A P-40N and a P-40E in this movie came from the
Warhawk Air Museum in
Nampa, Idaho.
★ The
alternative history/
science fiction pastiche, ''
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow'' (2004), has a
computer-generated twin-seat fighter aircraft patterned after the P-40 performing amazing feats, including doubling as a submarine.
References
1. Knaack, Marcelle Size. ''Encyclopedia of US Air Force Aircraft and Missile Systems: Volume 1 Post-World War II Fighters 1945-1973''. Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History, 1978. ISBN 0-912799-59-5.
2. Barass, M.B. ''RAF Timeline 1939 - 1945''. Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organization, 2 December
العربية
中国
Français
Deutsch
Ελληνική
हिन्दी
Italiano
日本語
Português
Русский
Español
![Last Minute Travel Deals: Make Sure You\](images/articles/thumbs/klastminutethumb.jpg "Last Minute Travel Deals: Make Sure You\")
![Walking in Waikiki: The Sauce-erer\](images/articles/thumbs/waikikidrinkumbrellathumb.jpg "Walking in Waikiki: The Sauce-erer\")
