Curtiss P-40 Warhawk

[David]

The P-40 Warhawk will forever be associated with the exploits of many an airmen over the skies of Burma, flying for the famed "Flying Tigers" American Volunteer Group. With dreams of living the airman life overseas, American flyboys at home were pushing one another away for a chance to head to China and face the Japanese head on in their new Curtiss P-40's. What they found when they got there, however, was far from ideal living conditions for their liking. The P-40 Warhawk would forever be attached to such war lore: the famed Flying Tigers, with the woefully outclasses sharks teeth-laced Warhawks meeting the Japanese onslaught and helping to preserve the nation of China.
At its core, the P-40 Warhawk was a fighter developed from experience gained in American aircraft design from a decade earlier. The Curtiss company would deliver their most famous addition to the pantheon of Classic American Warbirds and it would effectively be their only true long-lasting aircraft legacy. The system arrived too underpowered with dated and conservative design features that offered up very little to the incoming pilot. These men would have to take their skills and amplify them into something more to get the most out of their little Warhawks, Kittyhawks and Tomahawks.
Everything changed for the United States of America when the Japanese suprise-attacked the port city of Pearl Harbor. Of the nearly 90 (P-40B's and C's) Warhawks stationed there that day, all but two survived the attack intact and ready to fight - the rest were destroyed unarmed and unfueled in their pretty daytime arrangements. Standard practice dictated it as such so espionage would not allow a single explosion to destroy all the aircraft in one row. The Japanese had other plans than espionage that day, raking the still formations with cannon, machine gun and bomb fire from above.
Based on their early success with the P-36 Hawk series, the XP-40 was seen as the ultimate successor. Flying as early as 1938, the major issue with the P-40 series would be the underpowered engine. The Warhawk itself was originally designed with an air scoop under the rear fuselage, just behind the cockpit. This arrangement netted a woeful 299 miles per hour out of the Allison V-1710-19 1,160 horsepower engine. With the air scoop moved forward in the more identifiable position of later P-40's the XP-40 could now achieve a much higher and respectable 340 miles per hour. Facing off at the US Air Corps "fly off" event, the XP-40 prototype stood with early versions of the P-38 Lightning, P-39 Airacobra, the Seversky AP-4, a Hawk 75R and the P-37. While some of the mentioned aircraft would later find their own stories written during the war, the Warhawk would net a 524 aircraft contract and solidify Curtiss' contribution to the war effort.
Due to the similarities in inherent in the P-36 Hawk and the P40 Warhawk along assembly line routes, the Buffalo, New York plant was more than ready to handle the call of Curtiss' new offering. The P-40 was officially airborne by 1940, with an initial batch of 199 produced of the 524 scheduled. Early versions were amazingly produced sans armor protection, self-sealing fuel tanks and reinforced glass for the canopy. Couple this with the fact that the early Warhawk was armed with a simple array of 2 x 12.5mm (.50 caliber) machine guns and you have a recipe for disaster from the point of view of pilots and warplanners alike.
From the outset, the US Army was not happy with the rollout P-40's arriving. France placed orders for the aircraft when it was at war with Germany. Subsequently when France fell to Germany, the order went to Britain with the designation of P-40 Tomahawk. Once in British service, the P-40 project was being battle testing. Almost immediately, the armament issue was addressed with an array of 4 x 7.62mm (.30 caliber) machine guns in the wings and additional 2 x 12.7mm (.50 caliber machine guns in the nose. These Tomahawks would become the Tomahawk I series mark in the English inventory. Other modifications for the British followed in the form of addressing the aforementioned deficiencies in the system (sealing fuel tanks, armor, etc...).
Once the British Tomahawk II series models began to roll off of the assembly lines, the US Army designated up to 100 of these for service with General Chennault's American Volunteer Group in China. Chennault's group of airmen would popularly be called the "Flying Tigers" for the shark-like teeth that were so commonly identifiable with the aircraft type. In fact, this decoration was already in use with British forces utilizing P-40's in North Africa, though more commonly associated with the American use in the States.
The Flying Tigers, quick to learn that their forward operating bases lacked the comforts of home and a good supply and parts depot, were forced to rely on make shift fixes to go along with their honed tactics in the skies. Where Japan was used to air superiority, leaving their bomber formations unprotected, the P-40's would swoop in unveiling a rude surprise for the invaders. Though outclassed by their Japanese counterparts in terms of aircraft capability, the P-40 Warhawk pilots relied on a single-attack approach from an elevation advantage - dogfighting with Japanese warplanes was not an option for the old-school Warhawk.
The later P-40D model would field a more impressive armament array of 4 x 12.7mm machine guns in the wings, eliminating the nose mounts altogether. With a redesigned nose assembly, the P-40 took on a different look, if subtle, but enough for aviation buffs to take notice. With other updates and modifications, the P-40D was finally up to the task of warfighting for the first time in the series. A 6 x 12.7mm machine gun array in the wings was added with the P-40E Warhawk, and this series model would also feature a centerline underfuselage provision for a single 500lb bomb or external fuel tank for increased range.
With the P-40 fighting in the Pacific, the Aleutians, throughout Europe and North Africa, the Warhawk truly became a global fighter. Be it Warhawks, Tomahawks or Kittyhawks, the system - though outclassed in many ways at the start of the war - was produced in the thousands (over 16,800) and saw action on nearly every major front possible. Though noted for their pilot's exploits over Burma against the Japanese, the Warhawk would go on to serve capably anywhere in the world under the worst of weather conditions.
Specifications for the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk:

Designation: P-40F Warhawk
Manufacturer: Curtiss
Powerplant: 1 x Packard V-1650-1 engine generating 1,300 horsepower
Length: 33.3 feet
Wing Span: 37.3 feet
Weight: 6,590lbs (empty); 9,350lbs (Maximum Take-Off Weight)
Maximum Speed: 364 mph
Maximum Range: 575 miles
Armament: 6 x .50 caliber (12.7mm) machine guns in wings; 1 x 500lb bomb or fuel tank in centerline underfuselage area.
Crew: 1
Models: XP-40CU; P-40; P-40A; P-40B; P-40C; P-40D; P-40E; XP-40F; YP-40F; P-40F; XP-40G; P-40G; P-40K; P-40L; P-40M; P-40N; XP-40Q; P-40R.
Export Variant Model Designations used by the British, Australian and New Zealand forces are as follows: H81A-1; H81A-2; H81-A2; H81-A2; H81-A3; H87-A2; H87-A3; H87-A4; H87-B3; Kittyhawk MK I; Kittyhawk Mk II; Kittyhawk Mk III; Kittyhawk Mk IV; H87-V; H87-W; Tomahawk Mk I; Tomahawk Mk IIA; Tomahawk Mk IIB.
More Pictures of the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk Fighter

Photo courtesy of www.MilitaryFactory.com taken at the USAF Museum in Dayton, Ohio.		Photo courtesy of www.MilitaryFactory.com taken at the USAF Museum in Dayton, Ohio.
A P-40 Warhawk replica on display.
		Photo by William D. Moss of the Department of Defense.
Photo courtesy the United States Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio.