Curtiss P-40 Warhawk

I have obtained a B-16 aviation compass from the estate of a WWII combat photographer. This was said to have been used on a P-40 Warhawk during the war. I would appreciate any info on this device

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I would like to get in touch with Rick Bartlett, USCG Ret. who wrote one of the comments above. is there any way you can contact him and ask him to get in touch with me at my e-mail address? I was with RCAF 111(F)Squadron that was stationed at Elmendorf from June 14 1942. On July 16 1942, a flight of seven RCAF P40 Kittyhawks were en route from Cold Harbour to Umnak (on the last leg of a flight from Elmendorf to Umnak) when fog, poor radio reception and inaccurate navigation resulted in four of that flight crashing into the mountains on Umnak. One of the seven managed to find Umnak in the sea level fog; one got back safely to Dutch Harbour; one other was never found (it was presumed he went down into the Bering Sea on the north side of the chain or into the Pacific on the south side).
When i read the comments about the recovery of the last P40 that had crashed on Umnak Island, I began to wonder if by any chance it was one of those RCAF Kittyhawks of 111(F) Squadron.
Lou Wise, DonMills(Toronto), Ontario, Canada CFXCO@Rogers.com PS-- CFXCO is the registration of my Piper Cherokee that I still get to fly at 89 1 /2!

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I always found it interesting that the radial engined FW-190 was the fastest rolling of the Focke-Wolf family and the inline engined P-40 was the fastest rolling of the P-36 /P-40 family. Who knew? Just an FYI, I once read in an pilots interview, when asked how he would describe the true maneuverability of the P-40, his answer was like the Spitfire.

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The P-40N-1 was the best performing of the P-40 family to see combat. From what I have read to this date, most of the P-40 family could turn with a Spitfire. The P-40N turned the best of all. In a National Advisory Commmittes for Aeronautics Report No. 86S a P-40F could out roll a standard Spitfire at speeds above 248mph. The P40N could outturn a Ki.61 Tony. I read another article that stated the against such adversaries as the Ki.84 that the P-40N would have to depend on turning tactics and mutual support.
Eric Shilling (ex-Flying Tiger) stated in an interview that under 275mph the Zero would outmaneuver you. Over 275mph the P-40 could outmaneuver the Zero (or Oscar and Nate).
The P-40N-1, at war emergency power, had the following performance: 314mph /SL. 335mph /5000ft. 352mph /9200ft. 378mph /10,550ft. 362mph /15,000ft. 340mph /20,000ft. 328mph /25,000ft. 307mph /30,000ft. CLIMB: 3100fpm /SL. 3370fpm /6800ft. 5,000ft. /5.1min. 10,000ft. /3.1min. 15,000ft. /4.72min. 20,000ft. /6.89min. Climb rate at 38,200ft. was 100fpm. Test weight was 7,400lbs. and range was 875mls. clean. The engine was the Allison V-1710-81 and war emergency power was 1,480hp at 57inches boost.
I have read several reports and articles that stated the P-40 had slow acceleration compared to most other fighters but its turning radius and roll rate compensated somewhat.

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top speed, climb ,dive , roll rate became more important then turn radius, this kept p40 in the fight. not a high flyer or a great climber ,the roll rate and dive kept.it competitive with the me109. ground attack, also germany still flew older model 109s. 109 lost its roll rate so p40 could change coarse at high speed and save its ass. sure keep p40 out of high allitude, which was why it was often used as troop souport or ground attack in africa or italy tough plane under rated

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Tom,
In 1940 when the P-40 was ordered by France and Great Britain its performance actually surpassed the Spitfire. Yea I'll probably get some static on that. The production version Mk.I and II had a top speed in the neighberhood of 355-360 range at high altitude. The P-40 tested in Australia had a recorded top speed of 365 at a much lower altitude. This P-40, like the early spitfires did not have armor or self sealing gas tanks. The P-36 could easily turn inside a Spitfire and the first P-40 was very light weight and very maneuverable also. As armor and weight was increased on the P-40B and C maneuverability fell off but so did the Spitfires. Initial climb of the original P-40 was in the 3000fpm range, much like the Spit II. From the P-40B on weight was increased greatly and power wasn't at first. Oh, and as far as the P-39, it was right there (underpowered also) right beside the P-40s.
Just an FYI, I believe the P-40 was underrated by most also but not as much as the P-39. The USAAF needed fighters with range and the P-39's design limited this. That's why in 1941 the P-40 was their first choice.
Grey, I have great admiration for men like your father. Together with men like Robt. Van Ausdall and Bob Pierce we are able to live the life that we have today.
Bob Rodgers, say a prayer for Donavan and Bill for me. Because of men like these we were able to hold the line early in the war.

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hi

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My father loved the P-40. He was in the 33rd Pursuit Group and "launched" into North Africa from the deck of the USS Ranger. He went through North Africa, Sicily, and Italy flying the P-40. He had three victories (2 Me-109's and 1 FW-190) and three probables.

He often said that the ME-109 and the FW-190 were faster at altitude; but below 10,000 feet the P-40 held a "back seat" to no aircraft. Even the Germans respected the P-40. (I note that "Leo" above speaks of Hans Marseille and his many victories over the P-40. But the German "doctrine" was different than American "doctrine". The Germans kept flying their top aces until they eventually were killed. The Americans withdrew their top flyers from combat to train more pilots.)

The P-40 was no P-51. But...neither was the ME-109 an ME-262.

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I have never met anyone who had more P40 hours than I. Somewhere around 800 hrs. I flew in the first group of Air Corps planes ever to fly off an aircraft carrier (The Wasp) in June 1941 in to Iceland. 31 missions against the Germans from Iceland and 80 missions against the Japanese in China. I was a Sqdn C.O> and our unit was the last one flying the P-40 by the USAF in WWII. All the other sqdns in my group got the P-51 and kept giving me their old P-40's which by thi time was the P-40 M and N. We flew for Ge. Chennault and were designated the Flying Tigers, taking over from the American Volunteer Group. I got 2 1 /2 aerial victories against the Japanese but I led the mission which caught 87 Japanese fighters on the ground at Paluichi Air Base on the Yangtze River and we burned 31 of them using parafrags and our 50 cal.guns.....

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I had the honor back in Sept 1998 of retrieving the remains of the last P-40 from it's original crash site on Unalaska Island, west of Dutch Harbor in the Aleutians. At the request of the Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum, our HH-60J crew from CG Air Station Kodiak spent nearly a week rigging the airframe and engine for a short external sling load across the channel to the old Ft Glenn airstrip on Umnak Island. Thanks to the Army riggers from Ft Richardson and the WWII USAAC vets who accompanied us, the lift went without a hitch, excepting the typical delays due to Aleutian weather. One of the greatest memories of my flying career.

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Dive performance was another plus for the P-40. If the Luftwaffe fighters could dive faster it was with more difficulty and the P-40 could stay close enough in a sustained dive to catch them on pull-out. If the P-40s were red-lined at 480 mph, many went up to 510 terminal velocity.
The F model had the rudder placed further aft to enhance dive stability (also, this would help as a more stable platform for wing-mounted gunfire).
The Japanese considered the P-40 to be the most dangerous low level U.S. fighter.

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Roll rate is 95 degrees /second for the F, better than the P-39 or F4F; also better than the A6M2 (above 130 mph) or Bf 109 roll.
360 turn was 18 seconds for the P-40C and 19.2 for the E.
This was competitive for Europe at least.

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Roll rate is 95 degrees /second for the F, better than the P-39 or F4F; also better than the A6M2 (above 130 mph) or Bf 109 roll.
360 turn was 18 seconds for the P-40C and 19.2 for the E.
This was competitive for Europe at least.

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We could go on for ever about the way military brass and political leaders made policy that hampered aircraft design. The P-40 and all U.S. military planes at the time where what the army and navy were funded to buy.
The kind of things said in 1940 quoting nobody.
"Bombers with adequate defensive firepower will always get through. We don't need escort fighters,"
"Waves of B-17s raining down bombs will force the enemy to mail in his surrender."
"Fighters are defensive weapons. They don't need much range or high altitude capability. Their job intercepting bombers and keeping enemy recon planes away. As for enemy high altitude recon spies, we have the P-38 with it's marvelous turbocharged engines."
What about that turbocharger we were so proud of? Nobody else wanted it, not even our own navy. The Brits took airplanes with the things, mostly B-24s. The same for the USN.
Now I ramble. Enough.
By the way Leo, I ain't no Yankee, I'm from Mississippi.

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Valid points, Tom. The P40 in the Pacific had speed. In North Africa, it faced the Me109 flown by Hans Marseille,the "star of Afrika" who,on his best day, shot down 18 or 19 planes, 2 hurricanes,1 spit, the rest P40's. His war ended when his engine stopped and he hit the tailplane bailing out. He had 158 victories. Could anything be done about it? The same situation existed with Sherman Tanks vs Panther $ Tiger tanks. The fourth Sherman was toscoot behind a German tank and shoot it in the back while the Tiger blew up the other three. Tough war. It took Curtiss a long time to add length to the tail, correcting the clumsy turn. When I build my time machine,things are gonna change. And my favorite war movie is "God is my Co-pilot" about Col. R.L.Scott in a Peter four-oh. How's that for apples, YYYYANK! Kinda sour, Joe, Kinda sour, and don't call me yank, I'm from Georgia.

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I believe the most interesting thing about the P-40 is the way most everybody that claims to know anything all about the plane knows it was the last place World War Two fighter on everybody's list. The only exceptions being those men that flew the plane in combat. Somehow they never got the message and thought it was good war bird.
Why?
I think the experts compare the airplanes as they were on 3 September 1945, the day after the war ended. They do not consider them year by year, what was available on all sides and all around conditions.
1 September 1939. WW-2 begin. No P-51s or P-47s, they didn't fly until 1940 and '41. Airplanes that aren't there are no good at all. America's best fighter available in strength was the Curtiss P-36. Some P-36s were sold to France and saw combat.
By mid 1940 the P-40 was in full production. France and Great Britain had ordered hundreds. The U.S. Army was filling a few squadrons but so many were sold overseas American airmen were waiting in line while many Hawks were entering the war in North Africa and saw combat for the first time. The first of those planes did have problems and the RAF said so bluntly in plain English. The Tomahawk needed more fire power, cockpit armor and self sealing fuel tanks. Curtiss heard, understood and acted.
7 Dec 1941. The United States enters the war when Perl Harbor is bombed. The P-36 and P-40 are there and get into the fight, even score a few kills, some help. There are no P-47s or P-51s, no help at all. Within a month the P-40 was fighting in Burma with the AVG, "Flying Tigers." The P-36 was withdrawn from war zones, it's fighting time had passed.

First Flights
P- 36 May 1935
P-38 27 January 1939
P-39 6 April 1938
P-40 1938
P-51 26 October 1940 as Mustang 1 - Allison engine
P-51 B April 1942 - Merlin engine
P-47 6 May 1941
F4F 2 September 1937
F6F 26 June 1942
F4U 29 May 1940

Many seem to find a date for first flight and assume mass production begins right away. Within months, a year at most there were hundreds of war ready planes on their way to the front. Not so.
P-38s fired their first shots in anger in August 1942.
The P-39 got into the fight about Easter '42 winning few fans while making the P-40 look very good.
The first P-47 combat mission was flown 10 March 1943, four years and eight months after the war begin in Poland. Two years and five months after Pearl Harbor. There were no P-51s in the high altitude role. When the
P-47 went to work as a bomber escort the Luftwaffe suffered enough to lay off the bombers until the Jugs reached their combat radius and had to turn back.
The Allison P-51 got into the shooting war as part of the RAF in May 1942 proving to be a great low altitude fighter but given little credit as a war winner. In Oct. of '42 the A-36 and P-51A went to war as part of the USAAF in North Africa. It seems the planes did rather well but the P-40 maintained great respect.
The Merlin powered P-51B was a different airplane than the Allison powered Mustangs preceding it, comparing them is like comparing the P-36 and P-40, the different engines made them different airplanes. The P-51B started showing up in small numbers in England in late 1943, some have referred to it as the U.S. Eighth Air Force's best Christmas present. It was about the first of March of 1944 before there were enough to fully rearm any P-47 groups. About a year after the P-47 had begin establishing air superiority within its operational range. Twelve to fourteen months later the war in Europe was over.
At most the Merlin powered P-51 fought in significant numbers for the last year and a quarter of a war that lasted five years and eight months for Europe and gets all the credit for winning. The P-51 was a great fighter but over rated. I think.
The P-40 started fighting in mid 1940 and probably did the most to give the mighty P-51 time to be born, grow up and grow horns to fight with. What appreciation does it get? The Warhawk is constantly berated as a waste of money, manpower and materials that did little or nothing for the war effort. Hooray for all those WW-2 air war experts. - Tom

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My grandfather worked for curtiss aircraft company during WWII in Buffalo,NY as a welder. I'm looking for any information about the factory or old pictures anyone may have. I father does not have alot of information about exactly what my Grandfather worked on, only that he help build the P-40

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I would like to know where I could get a set of at least half scale plans for the P-40 Warhawk,Kittyhawk,or tommahawk,as I like this plane and would like to build one.
Yours Truly
Randall Duff Pettie

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My uncle, disabled in his youth from rubella, worked at the Curtis factory in Louisville during the war. He stayed on when the facility transitioned to International Harvester where he worked until he retired.

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hi theres guys ,where ever you might be comeing from ,im come to you from the good old U.S.A.... yes i can tell you quite a bit about this aircraft ,i was born here in louisville ky in the united states of america ,and i lived at 4641,crittEnen drive here in louisville ky ,ok and my parents owned a home where we lived at just right down the street from THE cirtis wrights aircraft company ,witch in years to come after the war, became the grate international harvest farm tractor manufacturer,,but when and while curtis wrights was produceing these little fighter planes , i loved to go down there at the take off runways ,that ran east and west across the airport in those days and the goverment had a huge wheat feild there surounding the curtis aircraft company,and there was a fence devideing the runway for take offs ,and landings of the test pilots thAt tested these fighter planes ,and i would just set back aganst a fence post there sometimes half the day and watch them take off there and land.,and i just loved the beautiful colors they were decerated with and the markings were just beautiful ,and due to different countrys they were going to be working for they were deceratd differently for that country ,i geuss because they had different markings on some of them i know the britts had some going out of there but of couse back then ,i didnt know one from the others sig marks ,,and to me these were some fast little aircraft ,i never seen anything so fast take off there at curtis aircraft runways ,they were very fast ,when those pilots pulled that throtel back when takeing off ,that thing was like a streak of lightening going down that runway, cutis built several different type of aircraft out there at the plant on crittnen drive here in louisville ky ,but they also had a repair hanger and shop there too ,that they fighter pilots flew in with a lots of different kinds of aircraft with a lots of gunfire damage to them ,and they would repair them and send them back out agan ive seen planes come limping in there damaged so badly that you wouldnt think could even fly any longer but they repaired them and you would see those planes take off agan in a few days and back to the war zone ,we also had a grummon aircraft company here also they were a large plane ,two seater ,and had a rear seat gunner and wing guns also and carried bombs under neath them... absolutely gorgius air planes and they were very very fast too,beautiful shiney things .they just glistend in the sun light . ive set there aganst those fence post at the fence that ran across the old stanfords feild airport and seen brand new b-17,s take off there they also had a huge storage feild there too ,for planes built in california and other places they would fly hem to louisville and store them for testing and then fly them out of there ,and we also had an other aircraft plant in the old west end of louisville ky that built big bombers but for the best of me i cant remember what they were ,they might have been b-17,s are b-29,s are b-25,s im not really sure what they were but they also had a ford plant down there in the west end ,,but ive seen planes parked there at the old stanfords feild airport from crittenen drive all the way east to preston street witch i would say is a good mile or mabe 2 miles in distence across there . but guys i can talk on and on about planes because i love them ive even been lucky enough to get to help build the grate hughey cobra in california at the vinice plant there where i live just up the street from hughes aircraft co.in vinice california , i lived at 2801&1 /2 ocean park blvrd in santa minica ,just up the street from vinice where i worked '' me and my oldest brother virgil .that was a mighty chopper guys fast and deadly jesus it was so deadly those guns can rain firer power on you ,ive forgot what the firepower ratio was but they claimed in so few minutes they could fire enough copper rounds to stretch a long copper wire power line for several miles ,and i dont doublt it one bit because this is one chopper you dint want asfter you are laying down its power on you ,this big bird was absolutely awsome and could put on one hell of a show for you when it released all its fire power . when you seen on of these babys stop on a dime in the air and mabe turn one way or the othere and tilt that litle fan blade on the back end up you could just say well some poor devil is geting ready to get hell right now , hey these pilots didnt play no games with anyone they were there to take care of bisuness and thats what they did too these suckersd carried some lethal firepower they were strictly a killin machine first class ,and could sneak up on you before you ...

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