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    World War 2 In Review No. 37: Curtiss P-40 Warhawk
    World War 2 In Review No. 37: Curtiss P-40 Warhawk
    World War 2 In Review No. 37: Curtiss P-40 Warhawk
    Ebook399 pages57 minutes

    World War 2 In Review No. 37: Curtiss P-40 Warhawk

    By Merriam Press

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    Merriam Press World War 2 In Review Series. Pictorial history of the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk, an American single-engined, single-seat, all-metal fighter and ground-attack aircraft that first flew in 1938. The Warhawk was used by most Allied powers during World War II, and remained in frontline service until the end of the war. It was the third most-produced American fighter, after the P-51 and P-47; by November 1944, when production of the P-40 ceased, 13,738 had been built. History with photos and illustrations covering development, operational history, variants and more, in service with the USAAF, RAF, RCAF, RAAF, RNZAF, NEIAF, Finland, France, Russia, Turkey, Brazil, Japan. 562 B&W/color photos/illustrations.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherLulu.com
    Release dateJan 18, 2018
    ISBN9781387525492
    World War 2 In Review No. 37: Curtiss P-40 Warhawk

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      Book preview

      World War 2 In Review No. 37 - Merriam Press

      World War 2 In Review No. 37: Curtiss P-40 Warhawk

      World War 2 In Review No. 37: Curtiss P-40 Warhawk

      F:\Working Data\Merriam Press Logo CS.jpg

      Hoosick Falls, New York

      2018

      First eBook Edition

      Copyright © 2018 by Ray Merriam

      Additional material copyright of named contributors.

      All rights reserved.

      No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

      The views expressed are solely those of the author.

      ISBN 9781387525492

      This work was designed, produced, and published in the United States of America by the Merriam Press, 489 South Street, Hoosick Falls NY 12090.

      Notice

      The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to five years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

      Mission Statement

      This series presents articles and pictorials on topics covering many aspects of World War 2. In addition to new articles and pictorials on topics not previously covered, future volumes may include additional material on the subjects covered in this volume. The volumes in this series will comprise a single source for innumerable articles and tens of thousands of images of interest to anyone interested in the history and study of World War 2. While no doubt some of these images and other materials could be found online, countless hours could be spent searching thousands of web sites to find at least some of this material.

      The Images

      These photos are seventy-plus years old, were taken under less than ideal conditions, and some were taken by individuals who were neither professional photographers nor using professional equipment. Thus the quality of the original image may be less than perfect. While Merriam Press tries to obtain the best quality images possible, the quality of the images in this publication will no doubt vary greatly.

      This series of publications utilizes the editor’s collection of tens of thousands of photographs and other illustrative material acquired since 1968. Hundreds of sources over the years have been searched for material on every subject.

      Photographs Needed

      Merriam Press welcomes any contributions of photographs

      of this or any subject for future volumes in this series.

      How to Use This Publication

      To get the best viewing experience, the use of the Adobe Digital program is highly recommended. This free program is available from Adobe.

      This publication was designed to allow for larger images than most eReaders will accommodate. When the publication was created, the images were inserted in a fixed size (6.2 inches wide and up to 8 inches high), and cannot be resized in the program. The text, of course, can be enlarged and reduced as desired.

      Viewing on a computer or other device with a large enough screen will allow viewing of the photos and other illustrations in their entirety. Viewing this publication on most eReaders will result in the images not being shown in their entirety.

      To view the images properly, adjust the program’s viewing window’s right side edge accordingly. If the viewing window is too wide, images may overlap, and moving the right side edge will fix this.

      •

      Welcome to No. 37 of the World War 2 In Review Series

      The following articles are in this issue of World War 2 In Review:

      (1) On the Cover

      (2) Curtiss P-40 Warhawk

      with 562 B&W and color photographs and illustrations.

      Watch for future issues of this series with more articles on the history of World War II.

      On the Cover

      F:\Working Data\WW2 In Review\WR Published\WR - 037 - P-40 - WORKING\WR037_LE1_files\image004.jpg

      Curtiss P-40 Warhawks, 3rd Squadron, Hell’s Angels, Flying Tigers, over Salween Gorge, China, 28 May 1942, photographed by AVG pilot Robert T. Smith. Squadron Leader Arvid Olsen in Chuck Older’s 68.

      Curtiss P-40 Warhawk

      The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk was an American single-engined, single-seat, all-metal fighter and ground-attack aircraft that first flew in 1938. The P-40 design was a modification of the previous Curtiss P-36 Hawk which reduced development time and enabled a rapid entry into production and operational service. The Warhawk was used by most Allied powers during World War II, and remained in frontline service until the end of the war. It was the third most-produced American fighter, after the P-51 and P-47; by November 1944, when production of the P-40 ceased, 13,738 had been built, all at Curtiss-Wright Corporation’s main production facilities at Buffalo, New York.

      P-40 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 and the unit was the first Allied military aviation unit to feature the shark mouth logo, copying similar markings on some Luftwaffe Messerschmitt Bf 110 twin-engine fighters. Inspired by 112 Squadron’s usage of them in North Africa, and by the Luftwaffe’s earlier use of it, both via Allied wartime newspaper and magazine article images, the shark mouth logo on the sides of the P-40’s nose was most famously used on those of the Flying Tigers in China. The Bf 110s were from II Gruppe/Zerstörergeschwader 76. Shilling, an AVG pilot indicated, I was looking through a British magazine one day and saw a photo of a Messerschmitt-110 with a shark face on it.

      The P-40’s lack of a two-stage supercharger made it inferior to Luftwaffe fighters such as the Messerschmitt Bf 109 or the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 in high-altitude combat and it was rarely used in operations in Northwest Europe. Between 1941 and 1944, the P-40 played a critical role with Allied air forces in three major theaters: North Africa, the Southwest Pacific and China. It also had a significant role in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, Alaska and Italy. The P-40’s performance at high altitudes was not as important in those theaters, where it served as an air superiority fighter, bomber escort and fighter-bomber. Although it gained a postwar reputation as a mediocre design, suitable only for close air support, recent research including 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 of enemy aircraft, especially when flown against the lightweight and maneuverable Japanese fighters like the Oscar and Zero in the manner recommended in 1941 by General Claire Chennault, the AVG’s commander in southern China. The P-40 offered the additional advantage of low cost, which kept it in production as a ground-attack aircraft long after it was obsolete as a fighter. In 2008, 29 P-40s were airworthy.

      On 14 October 1938, Curtiss test pilot Edward Elliott flew the prototype XP-40, on its first flight in Buffalo. The XP-40 was the 10th production Curtiss P-36 Hawk, with its Pratt & Whitney R-1830 (Twin Wasp) 14-cylinder air-cooled radial engine replaced at the direction of Chief Engineer Don R. Berlin by a liquid-cooled, supercharged Allison V-1710 V-12 engine. The first prototype placed the glycol coolant radiator in an underbelly position on the fighter, just aft of the wing’s trailing edge. USAAC Fighter Projects Officer Lieutenant Benjamin S. Kelsey flew this prototype some 300 miles in 57 minutes, approximately 315 miles per hour (507 km/h). Hiding his disappointment, he told reporters that future versions would likely go 100 miles per hour (160 km/h) faster. Kelsey was interested in the Allison engine because it was sturdy and dependable, and it had a smooth, predictable power curve. The V-12 engine offered as much power as a radial engine but had a smaller frontal area and allowed a more streamlined cowl than an aircraft with radial engines, promising a theoretical 5% increase in top speed.

      Curtiss engineers worked to improve the XP-40’s speed by moving the radiator forward in steps. Seeing little gain, Kelsey ordered the aircraft to be evaluated in a NACA wind tunnel to identify solutions for better aerodynamic qualities. From 28 March to 11 April 1939, the prototype was studied by NACA. Based on the data obtained, Curtiss moved the glycol coolant radiator forward to the chin; its new air scoop also accommodated the oil cooler air intake. Other improvements to the landing gear doors and the exhaust manifold combined to give performance that was satisfactory to the USAAC. Without beneficial tail winds, Kelsey flew the XP-40 from Wright Field back to Curtiss’s plant in Buffalo at an average

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