Curtiss P-40 Warhawk

tommaso messina, e-mail, 04.07.2012 01:28 Messrs.Company I ask you to know,if is possible to have the original building plans of the P-40 KITTYHAWK MK-1a,such wingribs,fuselage formers,gear struts and tailwheel etcc,because I wish to build a smaller all metal replica.Hoping in your kind reply. Best Regards Tommaso Messina reply

Sven, 06.05.2012 04:13 Sorry to rain on your parade but the P51s laminar flow wing is the answer. Put a better engine into the P40 and you still have a drag bucket with a big engine, the benefit of which decreases with speed.the wing is everything. reply

Jim Jenkins, e-mail, 05.05.2012 19:00 Does anyone have pictures of the P40 at Harris Neck, Ga? reply

Klaatu83, e-mail, 31.03.2012 22:18 An interesting point. There is no question that the Merlin-powered P-40F definitely did offer a big improvement in performance over the Allison-powered P-40 versions, particularly at higher altitudes. However, one thing the P-51 had over the P-40 was range. The Merlin-powered P-51 could escort bombers from Britain to Germany and back, something no P-40 could have done. In the Desert Campaign P-40s proved themselves to be capable tactical fighters (dive bombing, strafing and ground attack) and, in the hands of experienced pilots, were able to hold their own against Me-109Fs at low to medium altitudes. However, they invariably initiated combat at a disadvantage because the Me-109Fs were always able to attack the P-40s from above. "What if the P-40 was given the same engine as the P-51? it would've been better than the P-51 was." "The P-40F was given a rolls-royce engine, but it was only a single staged supercharger engine. On the other hand the P-51 was given a two-staged supercharger engine." reply

Red Baron, e-mail, 05.01.2012 03:51 -Grey Neely Jr. & Norm. Whats so special about the P-51? all it had was speed and range over most of the other planes. It sucked until the british gave it the rolls-royce engine. What if the P-40 was given the same engine as the P-51? it would've been better than the P-51 was. The P-40F was given a rolls-royce engine, but it was only a single staged supercharger engine. On the other hand the P-51 was given a two-staged supercharger engine. reply

Steven, 03.12.2011 17:36 It had 6 miller, which means it had the same amount of gun power as the P-51D. reply

Dennis, e-mail, 01.06.2011 07:58 It was the most used fighter during WWII, serving on all fronts and in all Allied Air forces. The Russians had many noteable aces. And to top it all off it is the most fighter looking thing to come out of the U.S. during WWII reply

Steve, e-mail, 27.05.2011 19:20 If the USAAF wanted a low-altitude /close support fighter, why did they also want a liquid-cooled engine? Fitting the P-36 airframe with the R-2600 would seem to have been the proper solution to that problem with the available hardware. reply

ken miller, USAF. class 61E, e-mail, 06.05.2011 16:35 How many 50 cal. machine guns did the P-40 have? reply

a.machiaverna, e-mail, 09.04.2011 04:23 The P-40 design was not fully developed until 1944. The Allison V1710 lacked a turbosupercharger. The P-40Q with a turbosupercharged engine would have been one of aviations elite fighters. More manueverable than a P-51, even in its early versions, the P-40 was a great airplane in the hands of a seasoned pilot, despite its shortcomings. reply

Ben Beekman, e-mail, 23.02.2011 03:43 Some interesting information is provided by Wm. Green in his book "Famous Fighters of the Second World War" (Hanover House, 1960). According to Green, the American Volunteer Group (AVG) started out with 90 P-40B's, making up three squadrons plus spares. From Dec. 1941 to July 1942 the AVG destroyed 286 Japanese planes for a loss of 8 pilots KIA, 2 pilots and 1 crew chief killed during an air attack and 4 pilots missing. Top scorer was Robert H. Neale who destroyed 16 enemy aircraft. Eight other pilots claimed 10 or more victories. The AVG was down to 20 P-40B's by March 1942 when 30 P-40E's were ferried to China from Accra, Africa. As Green says, this is a good indication of "the P-40's capabilities in resolute hands". reply

Greg, e-mail, 12.12.2010 21:32 @ Norm, every production P-40 had a supercharger. what they lacked was a 2-stage supercharger. also, the P-40K Allison V-1710 made more horsepower the ANY Packard-Merlin put into a P-40. the P-40K was faster then the P-40F /L, and just as fast as the stripped down P-40N. reply

Norm, e-mail, 12.12.2010 04:56 The main problems with both the p-39 and the P-40 was that they were built to the specifications of INFANTRY OFFICERS. These guys had no use for a plane that could duke it out at 25,000 feet. They wanted planes to SUPPORT INFANTRY! If it could fit into the foxhole that was a winner. As a result the supercharged versions of both of these planes did not see combat until well after the start of the war. Had both been put into action from the start with supercharged engines the P-47 etc would have been in the background. By the way, the P-40F had a rolls-royce engine. Curtiss got screwed when the engines were sent to, guess who?-North American for its P-51. So they had to revert back to the Allison engine. As an aside, Claire Chenult didn't get a P-36, as a gift from the chinese, it was a P-26. I submit that if the Brits had put the early P-40s, that they had on hand in 1940, into combat for the Battle of Britian, they would have torn the Germans a new one. reply

Aaron, e-mail, 01.11.2010 18:31 Walter, The Bendix B-16 was a very popular compass durring WW2. It was used on a many different aircraft. The P-40 and P-51 just to name a very few. To know exactly what aircraft that particular compass came from, you would have to check with manufacturing records using the serial number. reply

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