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Additional
Information from Online Encyclopedia
The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk was
an American single-engine, single-seat, all-metal fighter and ground attack
aircraft. A total of 13,738 were built, all at Curtiss-Wright
Corporation's main production facilities at Buffalo, New York.
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. The British Commonwealth and Soviet
air forces used the name Tomahawk
for models equivalent to the P-40B and P-40C, and the name Kittyhawk for models equivalent to the
P-40D and all later variants.
P-40s first saw combat with the British Commonwealth squadrons of the
Desert Air Force in the Middle East and North African campaigns, during June
1941. No. 112 Squadron Royal Air Force, was among the first to operate Tomahawks
in North Africa.
Allison V-1710 engines only produced about 1,040 hp. Also, the
single-stage, single-speed supercharger meant that the P-40 could not compete
with contemporary designs as a high-altitude fighter.
The P-40C Tomahawk's armament of two .50 in (12.7 mm) Browning
AN/M2 "light-barrel" dorsal nose-mount synchronized machine guns and
two .303 Browning machine guns in each wing was considered to be inadequate.
The Armée de l'Air
initially ordered 100 as the Hawk 81A-1
but the French military had been defeated before the aircraft had left the
factory.
The Flying Tigers, known officially as the 1st American Volunteer Group
(AVG), were a unit of the Chinese Air Force, recruited from U.S. aviators. From
late 1941, the P-40B was used by the Flying Tigers. They were divided into
three pursuit squadrons, the "Adam & Eves", the "Panda
Bears" and the "Hell's Angels".
The RCAF units that operated P-40s were, in order of conversion: Article XV squadrons serving in the UK under
direct command and control of the RAF, with RAF owned aircraft (403
Squadron, 400 Squadron, 414 Squadron and 430 Squadron; Operational
Squadrons of the Home War Establishment (HWE) (Based in Canada)(111
Squadron and P-40K, 118 Squadron, 14 Squadron, 132 Squadron, 130
Squadron, 163 Squadron, 133 Squadron and 135 Squadron.
Some Royal New Zealand Air FORCE (RNZAF) pilots and New Zealanders in other
air forces flew British P-40s while serving with the RAF Western Desert Air
Force squadrons in North Africa and Italy. The aircraft equipped 14 Squadron,
15 Squadron, 16 Squadron, 17 Squadron, 18 Squadron, 19 Squadron and 20
Squadron.
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. The RAAF units that most
used 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.
XP-40: The original Curtiss XP-40, ordered July 1937, was
converted from the 10th P-36A by replacing the radial engine with a new Allison
V-1710-19 engine.
P-40: (Curtiss
Model 81A-1) was the first production variant
P-40A: One P-40 was modified with a camera installation
in the rear fuselage and re-designated P-40A.
P-40B or Tomahawk IIA had extra .30in in
(7.62 mm) U.S., or .303 in (7.7 mm) machine guns in the wings and a
partially protected fuel system
P-40C or Tomahawk IIB added underbelly drop
tank and bomb shackles, self-sealing fuel tanks.
P-40D or Kittyhawk Mk Is were made with a new,
larger Allison engine, slightly narrower fuselage, redesigned canopy, and
improved cockpit.
The P-40E or P-40E-1 was 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.
P-40F and P-40L, which both featured Packard
V-1650 Merlin engine in place of the normal Allison. The first 230 aircraft are
sometimes known as the Kittyhawk Mk IIA.
The P-40F/L was extensively used by U.S. fighter groups operating in the
Mediterranean 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 Forces. 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
P-40N the final production
model.
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 .
TP-40 : Some P-40s
were converted into two-seat trainers.
