Curtiss P-40 Warhawk

The Curtiss P-40 was an American single-engine, single-seat, low-wing, all-metal fighter and ground attack aircraft that first flew in 1938. It was used in great numbers in World War II. The P-40 was a direct adaptation of the existing P-36 airframe to enable mass production of front line fighters without significant development time. When production ceased, in November 1944, 13,738 P-40s had been produced. P-40s were used by the air forces of 28 nations and remained operational throughout the war.

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. British Commonwealth air forces gave the name Tomahawk to models equivalent to the P-40B and P-40C and the name Kittyhawk to models equivalent to the P-40D and all later variants.

The P-40's lack of a two-stage supercharger made it inferior to Luftwaffe fighters in high altitude combat and it was rarely used in operations in Northwest Europe. Between 1941 and 1944, however, the P-40 played a critical role with Allied air forces in five major theaters around the world: China, the Mediterranean Theater, the South East Asian Theater, the South West Pacific Area and in Eastern Europe. The P-40's poor performance at high altitudes was not as critical in these theaters, where its bomb load, durability and good range were beneficial.

P-40s first saw wartime service with the British Commonwealth squadrons of the Desert Air Force in August 1941. The Royal Air Force's No. 112 Squadron RAF was among the first to operate Tomahawks and the unit copied the "shark mouth" nose markings used by Luftwaffe Bf 110 Zerstörer units. The logo was much more famously used on P-40s by the Flying Tigers in China .

Design and development

The prototype XP-40 was the tenth production Curtiss P-36 Hawk with its Pratt & Whitney R-1830 (civilian name, Twin Wasp) 14-cylinder radial engine replaced by a liquid-cooled, supercharged Allison V-1710 V-12 engine. The V-12 engine offered no more power than the radial but its smaller frontal area reduced drag.

XP-40 flying.

Performance characteristics

The P-40 had good agility, especially at high speed. It was one of the tightest-turning monoplane fighters of the war, although at lower speeds it was not comparable to highly maneuverable Japanese fighters such as the A6M Zero and Ki-43.

Allison V-1710 engines were not powerful by the standards of the time (about 1040 hp at sea level and at 14,000 ft) and the P-40's speed was average. Its climb performance was fair to poor, depending on the subtype. Dive acceleration was good and dive speed excellent. However the single-stage, single-speed supercharger meant that it could not compete with modern enemy or Allied planes as a high-altitude fighter.

The P-40 was a fairly simple aircraft, lacking such sophisticated innovations as boosted ailerons or automatic leading edge slats, but it had a very strong structure including a seven-longeron wing which enabled P-40s to survive several documented partial mid-air collisions with enemy aircraft (some of which were recorded as victories by the RAF and VVS).

Operational range was good by early war standards, almost double that of the Supermarine Spitfire or Bf 109 for example, though inferior to the A6M Zero and the Ki-43, or the late-war P-38 Lightning and P-51 Mustang.

Visibility was adequate, although hampered by an overly complex frame and completely blocked to the rear in early models. Poor ground visibility and the relatively narrow landing gear track led to many losses due to accidents on the ground.

Curtiss P-40, 3/4 front view, in flight.

Fairly heavily armed and armored, the P-40 could carry a moderately effective air-to-ground load (although it was never fitted with rockets), was semi-modular and thus easy to maintain in the field, and tolerated harsh conditions, fighting everywhere from the deserts of North Africa, the jungles of New Guinea and the Dutch East Indies to the Arctic climes of the Soviet Union and Alaska.

As with the P-39 Airacobra, many Army Air Force officials considered the P-40 inferior. It was unpopular with some United States pilots in the Pacific. Its gradual replacement by the turbo-supercharged P-38 was greeted with relief. However, the bulk of the fighting conducted by the USAAF during the height of Axis power in 1942–1943 was borne by the P-40 and the P-39. It was these two fighters, along with the Navy's F4F Wildcat, that contributed most, among U.S. types, to breaking Axis air-power during this critical period, especially in the Pacific. In this stop-gap role, fighting in nearly every theater and under every Allied flag, the P-40 offered the additional advantage of a low price-tag that kept it in production as a tactical (ground-attack) fighter long after it was obsolete as an air-superiority type.

In theaters where the high-altitude characteristics were less important the P-40 proved considerably effective as a fighter. Although it gained a postwar reputation as a mediocre type suitable only for close air support, more recent data, from Allied squadrons in particular, indicate that the P-40 performed surprisingly well as an air-superiority fighter, at times suffering severe losses, but also taking a very heavy toll on enemy aircraft.

Operational history

In April 1939, the Army Air Corps, witnessing the new sleek, high-speed, in-line-engined fighters of the European air forces, placed the largest single fighter order it had ever made for fighters: 524 aircraft.

French Air Force

An early order came from the French Armée de l'Air, which was already operating P-36s. The Armée de l'Air ordered 140 as the Hawk 81A-1 but the French military had been defeated before the aircraft had left the factory, consequently, the aircraft were diverted to British Commonwealth service (as the Tomahawk I), in some cases, complete with metric instruments.

In late 1942, as French forces in North Africa split from the Vichy government to side with the Allies, U.S. forces transferred P-40Fs to the GC II/5, a squadron that was historically associated with the Lafayette Escadrille. GC II/5 used its P-40Fs and Ls in combat in Tunisia and, later, for patrol duty off the Mediterranean coast until mid-1944 when they were replaced by P-47Ds.

Royal Air Force/Desert Air Force

Service history

Armourers working on a Tomahawk from No. 3 Squadron RAAF in North Africa, 23 December 1941.

The British Air Ministry deemed the P-40 Tomahawk unsuitable for combat in North West Europe, and it was relegated to service with the Desert Air Force (DAF) in North Africa and the Middle East. The P-40 entered service in August 1941. Tomahawk and Kittyhawk squadrons bore the brunt of the Luftwaffe and the Regia Aeronautica onslaught in the North African campaign. Tomahawks initially proved quite effective against Axis aircraft and contributed to a slight shift of momentum in the Allied favor. Its appearance and gradual replacement of Hawker Hurricanes led to the Luftwaffe accelerating retirement of the Messerschmitt Bf 109E ("Emil") and introducing the newer Bf 109F ("Friedrich") to North Africa.

Over Alexandria, No. 250 Squadron, Royal Air Force (RAF) claimed the first air combat victory for the P-40 on 8 June 1941, when Sgt Tom Paxton and F/O Jack Hamlyn destroyed a CANT Z.1007 bomber from 211^a Squadriglia of the Regia Aeronautica. Several days later, the Tomahawk was in action in the Syria-Lebanon campaign with No. 3 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), which claimed 19 aerial victories over Vichy French aircraft in June and July 1941, for the loss of one P-40 (as well as one lost to ground fire). The claims included five Dewoitine D.520 fighters considered by many as France's best pre-war production fighter.

A Kittyhawk Mk III of No. 112 Squadron, Royal Air Force, taxiing at Medenine, Tunisia, in 1943. A ground crewman on the wing is directing the pilot, whose view ahead is hindered by the aircraft's nose.

When they converted to the P-40, DAF pilots found that landing required a flatter, slower approach than Spitfires and Hurricanes, due to the P-40's rear-folding landing gear, which was prone to collapse in harder landings. The most prominent Australian ace of the war, Clive Caldwell later said that he found the Tomahawk's armament of two .50 calibers firing through the prop and two .303 Brownings in each wing to be inadequate. This was rectified with the P-40E Kittyhawk, which had three .50 calibers in each wing. Caldwell was impressed with other characteristics; he said the P-40 "would take a tremendous amount of punishment — violent aerobatics as well as enemy action." He said the P-40 had "almost no vices", although "it was a little difficult to control in terminal velocity". Caldwell said that the type was "faster down hill than almost any other aeroplane with a propellor." He believed that Operational Training Units did not properly prepare pilots for the air combat in the P-40, and as a commander, stressed the importance of training novice pilots properly.

The Tomahawk was superseded by the more powerful Kittyhawk ("D"-mark onwards) types from early 1942, though Tomahawks remained in service until 1943. Kittyhawks included many major improvements, and were the DAF's air superiority fighter for the first few months of 1942, until "tropicalized" Spitfires were available. From 26 May, all Kittyhawk units operated primarily as fighter-bomber units. DAF units received few of the speedier Packard Merlin-engined P-40F/L models (Kittyhawk IIA), most of which went to the USAAF. The later P-40M/N versions arrived after, but were also used mostly in the fighter-bomber role.

In all, 12 British RAF squadrons, as well as two RAAF squadrons and two South African Air Force (SAAF) squadrons serving with the DAF, used 930 P-40s. The British government also donated 23 P-40s to the Soviet Air Force.

Combat performance

Most of the air combat in North Africa took place well below 16,000 feet, the altitude at which the performance of P-40s tapered off. And in the hands of competent pilots the P-40 proved effective against even the best of the Luftwaffe and Regia Aeronautica. It was considered markedly superior to the older Hurricane, which it replaced as the primary fighter of the Desert Air Force, the P-40 was deadly against Axis bombers in the theater, as well as the Bf 110 and early Italian fighter types, such as the Fiat G.50 and the Macchi C.200, though the Bf 109 proved a greater challenge, particularly the later F and G variants. The P-40 was superior to the Bf 109 in maneuverability and structural strength, and was roughly equal to it in firepower, but was inferior in speed and rate of climb.

As DAF P-40 squadrons began to fly more bomber escort and close air support missions, losses rose dramatically. In addition, from 1942, the Kittyhawk was also used by the DAF as a fighter-bomber, giving rise to the nickname "Kittybomber". As a result of this change in role, many Desert Air Force P-40 pilots were caught low and slow by marauding Bf 109s, flown by the veteran pilots of elite Luftwaffe units such as Jagdgeschwader 27 (JG27). The leading expert in North Africa, Hans-Joachim Marseille, may have destroyed as many as 70 P-40s in his career.

North Africa, c. 1943. A P-40 "Kittybomber" of No. 450 Squadron RAAF, loaded with six 250 lb bombs. (Photographer: William Hadfield.)

Some Commonwealth units, in particular the SAAF squadrons, reportedly utilized poor defensive tactics — such as the Lufbery circle — and suffered even higher attrition rates as a result. The superior climb rate of the Bf 109 enabled fast, swooping attacks, to which pilots in Lufbery circles had no answer. Various other defensive formations were tried by DAF units in 1941-42, including: "fluid pairs" (similar to the German rotte); one or two "weavers" at the back of a squadron in formation, and whole squadrons bobbing and weaving in loose formations. Werner Schroer, who would be credited with destroying 114 Allied planes in only 197 combat missions, referred to the latter formation as "bunches of grapes", because he found them so easy to pick off. However, it should be noted that German pilots in North Africa may have significantly over-reported kills; DAF squadron records suggest that German units over-claimed by a margin exceeding 200% on some occasions. In addition, Marseille is believed to have destroyed only three bombers — all of them unescorted — a testament to the performance of escort duties by DAF pilots.

It is clear that a capable and experienced P-40 pilot, could fare well against the best Luftwaffe pilots flying the Bf 109. A total of 46 British Commonwealth pilots reached ace status in P-40s, including seven double aces. Caldwell scored 22 of his 28.5 victories flying P-40s in North Africa. On one occasion in August 1941, while flying alone, he was attacked by two Bf 109s, one of them piloted by Schroer. Although Caldwell was wounded three times, and his Tomahawk was hit by more than 100 7.9 mm bullets and five 20 mm cannon shells, he survived the encounter and shot down Schroer's wingman. Some sources also claim that Caldwell killed a German expert, Erbo Graf von Kageneck (69 kills) while flying a P-40. Caldwell's victories in North Africa included ten Bf 109s and two Macchi C.202s. Jack Frost, the highest scoring member of any SAAF unit, scored most of his 15 kills in P-40s. Canadian pilot James "Stocky" Edwards, who achieved 13 kills in the P-40 in North Africa, shot down German ace Otto Schulz (51 kills) while flying a Kittyhawk. Edwards and Caldwell were only two of at least a dozen pilots of several different Allied nations who achieved ace status twice over while flying the P-40.

Chinese Air Force — Flying Tigers (American Volunteer Group)

The Flying Tigers known officially as the American Volunteer Group, were a unit of the Republic of China Air Force, and were led by a retired USAAF officer and US military observer, Claire Chennault. From late 1941, the P-40 was the fighter used by the Flying Tigers.

Compared to opposing Japanese fighters, the P-40's strengths were that it was very sturdy, heavily armed, generally faster in a dive and possessed a good rate of roll. While the P-40 could not match the maneuverability of the Japanese Nakajima Ki-27 and Nakajima Ki-43 monoplanes they were facing, Chennault trained the AVG pilots to use the performance advantage the P-40 held over the Japanese fighters to gain the upper hand in combat. The P-40 had a higher dive speed than the Japanese fighters, for example, and would often be used with so-called "boom-and-zoom" tactics. The AVG was highly successful, and accordingly, their exploits were widely published in order to boost the morale of the American public. According to the American count, the Flying Tigers were credited with destroying 297 aircraft in the air and on the ground for the loss of only 21 pilots and their aircraft. Alternative counts have been as low as 115-21, but never any lower.

United States Army Air Forces

A P-40C of the 33rd Fighter Squadron, flown by 2nd Lt. Joseph D. Shaffer and based at Reykjavík, Iceland, shared credit for the first victory over a German aircraft by the USAAF in World War II. A Fw 200C-3 bomber overflew the base on 14 August 1942 and was engaged and partially damaged by Shaffer and then destroyed by a P-38F of the 1st Fighter Group.

Pacific Theater

P-40s on the flight line in the Pacific during World War II.

The P-40 was the main USAAF fighter in the Pacific during 1941-42. In the first major battles at Pearl Harbor, the Philippines and in the Dutch East Indies campaign, USAAF P-40 squadrons suffered crippling losses on the ground and air to Japanese fighters like the Ki-43 "Oscar" and the A6M Zero. In later battles, improved tactics and training allowed the strengths of the aircraft to be more effectively utilized and the P-40 played a key role in the defense of Darwin, Australia and Port Moresby, New Guinea.

Due to aircraft fatigue, spare parts and replacement problems, the Royal Australian Air Force and US Fifth Air Force created a joint P-40 management and replacement pool on 30 July 1942, and many P-40s went back and forth between both air forces.

The 49th Fighter Group was one of the most important US fighter groups in the South West Pacific, in action from the beginning of the war. Robert Marshall DeHaven was an ace with the 49th FG, scoring ten kills in the P-40, 14 kills overall. He compared the P-40 to the P-38:

"If you flew wisely, the P-40 was a very capable aircraft. In many conditions, it could outturn a P-38, a fact that some pilots didn't realize when they made the transition between the two aircraft. The P-40 kept me alive and allowed me to accomplish my mission. The real problem with it was lack of range. As we pushed the Japanese back, P-40 pilots were slowly left out of the war. So when I moved to P-38s, an excellent aircraft, I did so not because I believed that the P-40 was an inferior fighter, but because I knew the P-38 would allow us to reach the enemy. I was a fighter pilot and that was what I was supposed to do." The 49th flew P-40s until they were replaced by P-38s in 1944.

China-Burma-India theater

The P-40 performed extremely well in this theater, scoring high kill ratios against Japanese Army types such as the Nakajima Ki-43 Hayabusa ("Oscar" to the Allies), Nakajima Ki-44 Shoki ("Tojo" to the Allies) and even Navy types like the A6M Zero throughout the war. The P-40 remained in use in the CBI until 1944 and was reportedly preferred over the P-51 Mustang by some US pilots flying in China.

At least 40 US Pilots reached Ace status flying the P-40 in the CBI.

The American Volunteer Group (Flying Tigers) were integrated into the USAAF as the 23rd Fighter Group. The unit continued to fly newer model P-40s until the end of the war, racking up a high kill-to-loss ratio.

Mediterranean theater

Top to Bottom: P-40 F/L, P-40K Warhawk

Though the P-40 suffered heavy loses in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations (MTO), many US P-40 units had good combat records in the theater, racking up high kill to loss ratios against the Germans and Italians. For example the 324th Fighter Group scored better than a 2:1 ratio while fighting in the (MTO). In all, 23 US pilots became aces in the MTO while flying the P-40, most during a fairly short period during the first half of 1943. As in the Pacific, success in combat seemed to largely be a matter of experience and effective tactics. It is also worth noting that like the Soviets, many United States pilots stripped down their P-40s to improve performance, often even removing two or more of the wing guns from the P-40F/L. It was also in this theater that the lightened P-40L was most heavily used, primarily by U.S. pilots.

Some of the first Army Air Force P-40s used in this theater took off from aircraft carriers during Operation Torch, to land on newly-captured Vichy French airfields.

The 99th Fighter Squadron, also known as the Tuskegee Airmen, first connected with the enemy flying P-40 Warhawks on June 9, 1943 in support of Allied operations over Pantelleria. A single Fw 190 was reported damaged by Lt. Willie Ashley, Jr.; this was the first time that American negro pilots had engaged enemy airplanes. Two more June missions resulted in two damaged enemy and one probable kill. On July 2, 1943 the squadron claimed its first verified kill; a Fw 190 destroyed by Capt. Charles Hall. The 99th would continue to score with P-40s until February 1944 when they transitioned briefly to P-39s.

The 57th Fighter Group was equipped with the Curtiss fighter until early 1944, during which time they were credited with at least 140 air-to-air kills. It was the 57th that took part in the "Palm Sunday Massacre" which took place on 18 April 1943. On this day, decoded Ultra ciphers had given away a Luftwaffe plan to cross the Mediterranean Sea with a large formation of German transport planes (Junkers Ju 52) and their escorts (Bf 109s). An ambush was laid for them with three squadrons of the 57th, one squadron from the 324th Fighter Group (also flying P-40s) and a small group of British Spitfires intercepting the German formation and shooting down at least 70 German planes with only six or seven Allied airplanes being downed.

The 325th Fighter Group, better known as the "Checkertail Clan", also fought in the MTO. While flying the P-40, the three squadrons of the 325th were credited with at least 133 air-to-air kills while flying the P-40 from April to October 1943, of which 95 victories were Bf 109s and 26 were the superior Macchi C.202, for the loss of only 17 P-40s in combat. One incident with the 325 FG indicates what could happen if Bf 109 pilots made the mistake of trying to turn-fight with the P-40.

On 30 July, 20 P-40s of the 317th and 16 P-40s of the 319th Squadron took off on a fighter sweep, to rendezvous over Sardinia. As they turned to fly south over the west part of the island, they were attacked near Sassari and 20 miles north of the rendezvous point where they were to meet the 319th coming from the east. The attacking force consisted of 25 to 30 Bf 109s and Macchi C.202s, bringing the estimated total of enemy aircraft engaged to between 40 and 50 planes. Radio communications with the other squadron was poor and repeated inquiries received no answers, so the 319th was unable to locate the battle. In the brief, intense battle that occurred, 20 P-40s engaged and destroyed 21 enemy aircraft. General observations on the encounter show that in addition to the 21 victories and four probables reported, there may have been many more. It is believed that Lt. Robert Sederberg, who singly went to the aid of a fellow pilot who was being attacked by five Bf 109s, in addition to destroying one Me-109 for sure, scored at least four victories. Lt. Sederberg was last seen engaged in combat with five Bf 109s. Many months later, he was reported a prisoner of war in Germany.

As combat waned in North Africa, the 325th moved on to Sardinia, then Sicily and finally Italy, transitioning to P-47 Thunderbolts and later to P-51 Mustangs, continuing to increase their excellent victory totals against the Luftwaffe.

Royal Australian Air Force

A P-40E-1 piloted by the ace Keith "Bluey" Truscott, commander of No. 76 Squadron RAAF, taxis along Marsden Matting at Milne Bay, New Guinea in September 1942.

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. Other Australians served with RAF Squadrons in the theater.

Many RAAF pilots achieved high scores in the P-40 (some while flying for the RAF early in the war), at least five reaching double ace status: Caldwell (22 kills), Barr (11 kills) and Gibbs (ten kills) in North Africa, Whittle and Waddy (11 kills each) in North Africa and New Guinea. In all, 18 RAAF pilots became aces while flying P-40s.

Evidence of the P-40's durability:in 1944 F/O T. R. Jacklin (pictured) flew this No. 75 Squadron RAAF P-40N-5 more than 200 miles (320 km) after the loss of the port aileron and 25% of its wing area. The fighter was repaired and served out the war.

At the same time as the heaviest fighting in North Africa, the Pacific War was also in its early stages, and RAAF units in Australia were completely lacking in suitable fighter aircraft. Spitfire production was being absorbed by the war in Europe; P-38s and P-39s were trialled, but were regarded as unsuitable and were also difficult to obtain; Mustangs had not yet reached squadrons anywhere, and Australia's tiny and inexperienced aircraft industry was geared towards larger planes. USAAF P-40s and their pilots — originally intended for the U.S. Far East Air Force in the Philippines, but diverted to Australia as a result of Japanese naval activity — were the first suitable fighter aircraft to arrive in substantial numbers. By mid-1942, the RAAF was able to obtain some USAAF replacement shipments; the P-40 was given the RAAF designation A-29.

RAAF Kittyhawks played a crucial role in the South West Pacific theater. They fought on the front line as fighters during the critical early years of the Pacific War, and the durability and bomb-carrying abilities (1,000 lb/454 kg) of the P-40 also made it ideal for the ground attack role. For example, 75, and 76 Squadrons played a critical role during the Battle of Milne Bay, fending off Japanese aircraft and providing highly effective close air support for the Australian infantry, negating the initial Japanese advantage in light tanks and sea power.

P-40N-15 "Black Magic", flown by No. 78 Squadron RAAF. F/L Denis Baker scored the RAAF's last aerial victory of the New Guinea campaign in this fighter on 10 June 1944. It was later flown by W/O Len Waters.

The RAAF units which made the most use of Kittyhawks were: No. 75 Squadron RAAF, No. 76 Squadron RAAF, 77, 78, 80, 82, 84 and 86. They saw action predominantly in the New Guinea and Borneo campaigns.

Late in 1945, RAAF fighter squadrons in the South West Pacific began converting to P-51Ds. However, Kittyhawks were in use with the RAAF until the very last day of the war, in Borneo. In all, the RAAF acquired 841 Kittyhawks (not counting the British-ordered examples used in North Africa), including 163 P-40E, 42 P-40K, 90 P-40 M and 553 P-40N models. In addition, the RAAF ordered 67 Kittyhawks for use by No. 120 (Netherlands East Indies) Squadron (a joint Australian-Dutch unit in the South West Pacific). The P-40 was retired by the RAAF in 1947.

Royal Canadian Air Force

RCAF Kittyhawk Mark I at the Canada Aviation Museum in Ottawa, Canada.

In mid-May 1940, the Royal Canadian Air Force had its first look at the Curtiss P-40. At that time a party of American officers flew to Uplands Airport near Ottawa where they saw the XP-40 and a Spitfire flown in comparative tests. When Canadian Army requirements for France were drawn up, one of the units was to have been an Army Co-operation Wing (No. 101) consisting of three squadrons: No. 400 (previously No. 110) Squadron and No. 414, equipped with P-40 Tomahawk aircraft, formed No. 39 (Army Co-operation) Wing (RCAF). By January 1943, all three squadrons had converted to the Mustang Mk I. In all, the RCAF received 72 Kittyhawk I, 12 Kittyhawk Ia, 15 Kittyhawk III and 35 Kittyhawk IV aircraft, for a total of 134 aircraft, plus the loan of nine P-40Ks in the Aleutians, all in lieu of the 144 P-39 Airacobras originally allotted to Canada and rejected.

P-40E in Aleutian "Tiger" markings.

One of the most significant uses of the RCAF P-40s occurred in the 1942 Aleutians campaign. When the Imperial Japanese Navy moved to attack Midway, it sent a diversionary battle group to attack the Aleutian Islands. The RCAF sent No. 111 Squadron RCAF, flying the Kittyhawk I, to a forward base on Adak Island, Alaska. During the drawn-out campaign, 12 Canadian Kittyhawks operated on a rotational basis from a new, more advanced base on Amchitka, 75 miles southeast of Kiska. Two RCAF fighter squadrons, No. 111 and No. 14, took "turn-about" at the base. During the deployment, one Nakajima A6M2-N seaplane was shot down by Squadron Leader Ken Boomer. After the Japanese threat diminished, the RCAF units returned to Canada and eventually transferred to England without their Kittyhawks.

Royal New Zealand Air Force

A total of 301 P-40s were allocated to the Royal New Zealand Air Force under lend lease, 297 seeing service, (the remaining 4 being lost on delivery). These aircraft equipped 14 Squadron, 15 Squadron, 16 Squadron, 17 Squadron, 18 Squadron, 19 Squadron and 20 Squadron. Some RNZAF pilots in North Africa and Italy also flew British P-40s while serving with RAF squadrons.

RNZAF P-40s were successful in air combat against the Japanese during intense fighting in the Pacific theatre from 1942 until 1944. New Zealand pilots claimed 99 aerial victories in P-40s, losing 20 aircraft in aerial combat. Geoff Fisken, the Commonwealth's highest scoring flying ace in the Pacific, flew P-40s with 15 Squadron, although half his victories came with the Brewster Buffalo.

From late 1943 and 1944, RNZAF P-40s were increasingly used against ground targets. The last front line RNZAF P-40s were replaced by F4U Corsairs in 1944. The P-40s were relegated to use as advanced pilot trainers.

Remaining RNZAF P-40s, excluding the 20 shot down and 154 written off, were mostly scrapped at Rukuhia in 1948. At least six RNZAF P-40s have survived. Fisken's machine is owned by The Old Stick and Rudder Company (OSRC) and is currently being restored in New Zealand. Three are currently airworthy: NZ3009 with the OSRC, whilst NZ3094 and NZ3125 are flying in Australia. Other New Zealand P-40s are on display at the Museum of Transport and Technology in Auckland and under restoration at the Royal New Zealand Air Force Museum in Christchurch. The remains of two others are part of a private collection in New Zealand.

Soviet Union

This P-40B Tomahawk, at the US National Museum of Naval Aviation, is shown in the colors of the Flying Tigers, but never actually served with them; it began life with the RAF and was later transferred to the Soviet Union.

Though only moderately popular with the Soviets, the Soviet Air Force used the relatively few P-40s they had been given quite extensively against the Germans on the Eastern front; most Soviet P-40 squadrons had good combat records. The Warhawk provided close air support as well as air-to-air capability for the Soviet Air Force, with many Soviet pilots becoming aces on the P-40 (although not as many as on the P-39 Airacobra, which was the most popular American fighter used by the Soviet Air Force).

The Soviets stripped down their P-40s significantly for combat, in many cases removing the wing guns altogether in P-40B/C types, for example. Soviet pilots interviewed in the 1990s reported that they considered the type quite capable of handling the Messerschmitt Bf 109 using "turn and burn" tactics, since it could out-turn the Bf 109 though not follow one into a climb. and many squadrons racked up good kill ratios against the 109 and the early Fw 190 variants. Soviet Air Force reports state that they liked the range and fuel capacity of the P-40 which were superior to most of the Soviet fighters, though they still preferred the P-39. Their biggest complaint was its poor climb rate and problems with maintenance, especially with burning out the engines. VVS pilots usually flew the P-40 at War Emergency Power settings while in combat, this would bring the acceleration and speed performance closer to that of their German rivals, but could burn out engines in a matter of weeks. They also had difficulty with the more demanding requirements for fuel quality and oil purity of the Allison engines. A fair number of burnt out P-40s were re-engined with Soviet Klimov engines but these performed relatively poorly and were relegated to rear area use.

The P-40 saw the most front-line use in Soviet hands in 1942 and early 1943. It was used in the northern sectors and played a significant role in the defense of Leningrad. The most numerically important types were P-40B/C, P-40E and P-40K/M. By the time the better P-40F and N types became available, production of superior Soviet fighters had increased sufficiently so that the P-40 was replaced in most Soviet Air Force units by the Lavochkin La-5 and various later Yakovlev types.

Japan

The Japanese Army captured some examples of Curtiss P-40 Warhawks for tests and later operated a number based in Burma. The Japanese appear to have had as many as ten flyable P-40Es. For a brief period, during 1943, a few of them were actually used operationally by 2 Hiko Chutai, 50 Hiko Sentai (2nd Air Squadron, 50th Air Regiment) in the defense of Rangoon. Testimony to this fact is given by Yasuhiko Kuroe, a member of the 64th Hiko Sentai. In his memoirs, he says one Japanese Warhawk was shot down by mistake by a friendly Mitsubishi Ki-21 "Sally" over Rangoon.

Other nations

The P-40 was used by over two dozen countries during and after the war. The P-40 was used by Brazil, China, Chile, Egypt, Finland, Netherlands East Indies, South African Air Force and Turkey. The last P-40s in military service were serving with the Brazilian Air Force (FAB) when they were finally retired as late as 1958.

In the air war over Finland, several Soviet P-40s were shot down or had to crash land due to other reasons. The Finns, short of good aircraft, collected these and managed to repair one Warhawk, although it was mistakenly believed to be a Kittyhawk. This aircraft was attached to an operational squadron of the Finnish Air Force, but lack of spares kept it on the ground, with the exception of a few evaluation flights.

Variants and development stages

P-40 Kittyhawk - Australian War Memorial

See also: Comparison of P-40 variants

• Departing from normal USAAC convention, there was no P-40A. Some records indicate this might have been reserved for a reconnaissance variant that was briefly in development by Curtiss, but quickly discarded.
• Revised versions of the P-40 soon followed: the P-40B or Tomahawk IIA had extra .30 cal (7.62 mm) US, or .303 British (7.7 mm) machine guns in the wings and self-sealing tanks; the P-40C or Tomahawk IIB added underbelly drop tank and bomb shackles, as well as improved self-sealing fuel tanks and other minor revisions, but the extra weight did have a negative impact on aircraft performance. (All versions of the P-40 had a relatively low power-to-weight ratio compared to contemporary fighters.)
• Only a small number of P-40D or Kittyhawk Mk Is were made—less than 50. With a new, larger Allison engine, slightly narrower fuselage, redesigned canopy, and improved cockpit, the P-40D eliminated the nose-mounted .50 cal guns and instead had a pair of .50 cal (12.7 mm) guns in each wing. The distinctive chin airscoop grew larger in order to adequately cool the large Allison engine.
• Retrospective designation for a single prototype. The P-40A was a single camera-carrying aircraft.
• The P-40E or P-40E-1 was very 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. Some aircraft also had small underwing bomb shackles. Supplied to the Commonwealth air forces as the Kittyhawk Mk IA. The P-40E was the variant that bore the brunt of air to air combat by the type in the key period of early to mid 1942, for example with the first US squadrons to replace the AVG in China (the AVG was already transitioning to this type from the P-40B/C), the type used by the Australians at Milne Bay, by the New Zealand squadrons during most of their air to air combat, and by the RAF / Commonwealth in North Africa as the Kittyhawk IA.

File:P-40-peeling.JPG

In the vicinity of Moore Field, Texas. The lead ship in a formation of P-40s is peeling off for the "attack" in a practice flight at the Army Air Forces advanced flying school. Selected aviation cadets were given transition training in these fighter planes before receiving their pilot's wings. 1943.

• P-40F and P-40L, which both featured a Packard Merlin engine in place of the normal Allison, and thus did not have the carburetor scoop on top of the nose. Performance for these models at higher altitudes was better than their Allison-engined cousins. The L in some cases also featured a fillet in front of the vertical stabilizer, or a stretched fuselage to compensate for the higher torque. The P-40L was sometimes nicknamed "Gypsy Rose Lee," after a famous stripper of the era, due to its stripped-down condition. Supplied to the Commonwealth air forces under the designation Kittyhawk Mk II, a total of 330 Mk IIs were supplied to the RAF under Lend-Lease. The first 230 aircraft are sometimes known as the Kittyhawk Mk IIA. The P-40F/L was extensively used by US fighter groups operating in the Mediterranian 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 Force. 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 like the P-40L and powered by an Allison V-1710-81 engine giving better performance at altitude (compared to previous Allison versions). It had some detail improvements and it was characterized by two small air scoops just before the exhaust pipes. Most of them were supplied to Allied countries (mainly UK and USSR), while some others remained in the USA for advanced training. It was also supplied to the Commonwealth air forces as the Kittyhawk Mk. III.
• P-40N (manufactured 1943-44), the final production model. The P-40N featured a stretched rear fuselage to counter the torque of the larger, late-war Allison engine, and the rear deck of the cockpit behind the pilot was cut down at a moderate slant to improve rearward visibility. A great deal of work was also done to try and eliminate excess weight to improve the Warhawk's climb rate. Early N production blocks dropped a .50 cal (12.7 mm) gun from each wing, bringing the total back to four; later production blocks reintroduced it after complaints from units in the field. Supplied to Commonwealth air forces as the Kittyhawk Mk IV. A total of 553 P-40Ns were acquired by the Royal Australian Air Force, making it the variant most commonly used by the RAAF. Subvariants of the P-40N ranged widely in specialization from stripped down four-gun hot rods which could reach the highest top speeds of any production variant of the P-40 (up to 378 mph), to overweight types with all the extras intended for fighter-bombing or even training missions.

Curtiss P-40N-5-CU "Little Jeanne"

• 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 was tested, but its performance was not enough of an improvement to merit production when compared to the contemporary late model P-47Ds and P-51Ds pouring off production lines. The XP-40Q was, however, the fastest of the P-40 series with a top speed of 422 mph as a result of the introduction of a high-altitude supercharger gear. (No P-40 model with a single-speed supercharger could even approach 400 mph or 640 km/h.) With the end of hostilities in Europe, the P-40 came to the end of its front line service.
• P-40R : The designation of P-40F and P-40L aircraft, converted into training aircraft in 1944.
• RP-40 : Some American P-40s were converted into reconnaissance aircraft.
• TP-40 : Some P-40s were converted into two-seat trainers.

Famous P-40 pilots

• Gregory "Pappy" Boyington: American Volunteer Group (Flying Tigers), Chinese Air Force. (Boyington was later leader of the US Marine Corps' "Black Sheep Squadron".)
• Clive "Killer" Caldwell: RAAF, Australia's greatest World War II ace and the pilot with the highest number of victories in P-40s, from any air force. (Caldwell scored 20.5 of his 28.5 kills while flying Tomahawks in North Africa.)
• Daniel H. David, later known as TV/film comedian/actor Dan Rowan: USAAF, Southwest Pacific theater. Scored two kills against Japanese aircraft before being shot down and seriously wounded.
• James Francis Edwards: RCAF, 15.75 kills (12.5 on the P-40). (He wrote two books about Commonwealth Kittyhawk pilots in World War II.).
• Geoff Fisken: RNZAF, the highest scoring British Commonwealth ace in the Pacific theater. Five of his 11 victories were claimed in Kittyhawks.
• John Everitt "Jack" Frost, SAAF, the highest scoring air ace in a South African unit, with 15 kills (7 on the P-40). Missing in action,16 June 1942 after combat with JG 27 Bf 109s; his body was never found.
• John Gorton: RAAF, later Prime Minister of Australia, 1968-71. (Gorton survived two serious crashes. One required him to undergo extensive plastic surgery, with his face being changed significantly as a result. When asked in later life what his most memorable flight had been, Gorton replied: "The one in which I got my face mixed up with the instrument panel of a Kittyhawk.")
• John F. Hampshire, Jr.: USAAF. Tied for top-scoring USAAF ace on the type with 13 victories.
• Bruce K. Holloway: USAAF. Tied for top-scoring USAAF ace on the type with 13 victories.
• Nikolai F. Kuznetsov: VVS, ace, twice Hero of the Soviet Union. (Most of his 22 kills were scored in the P-40.)
• Stepan Novichkov: VVS, top scoring Soviet ace on the P-40, with 19 of his 29 total personal victories being scored while flying the type.
• Petr Pokryshev: VVS, ace, twice Hero of the Soviet Union, scored 22 personal victories.
• Robert Lee Scott, Jr.: Flying Tigers/USAAF, later commander of the US 23rd Fighter Group, in the Fourteenth Air Force. (Scored ten+ kills in the P-40.)
• Kenneth M. Taylor: USAAF, one of two US pilots to get airborne in a P-40 during the Pearl Harbor raid, Taylor shot down two Japanese aircraft on 7 December 1941, and was wounded in the arm.
• Len Waters: RAAF, the only Australian Aboriginal fighter pilot of World War II.
• George Welch: USAAF, one of two US pilots to get airborne in a P-40 during the attack on Pearl Harbor of 7 December 1941. Welch shot down three Japanese aircraft that day.

Operators

Australia

Brazil

Canada

Chile

China

Egypt

Finland

Free France

Japan

Netherlands

New Zealand

Philippines

Poland

South Africa

Soviet Union

Turkey

United Kingdom

United States

Specifications (P-40E)

Jackie Cochran in the cockpit of a P-40 fighter plane, she was head of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP).

General characteristics

• Crew: 1

Performance Armament

• Guns: 6× .50 in (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine guns, 281 rounds per gun
• Bombs: 1,500 lb (680 kg) on three hardpoints

Popular culture

• In the John Wayne movie: Flying Tigers, (1942) real P-40s are featured, along with some inaccurate studio models.
• Ronald Reagan appears in the Identification Of The Japanese Zero (Training Film) (1942) as a young pilot learning to recognize the difference between a P-40 and a Japanese Zero. In this film Reagan mistakes a friend's P-40 for a Japanese Zero and tries to shoot it down. In the end, Reagan gets a chance to shoot down a real Zero.
• In the film, God is My Co-Pilot (1945) about the Flying Tigers and the USAAF pilots who replaced them in the Republic of China and Burma, real P-40s are featured.
• In the play written by Arthur Miller, All My Sons (first performed in 1947), Joe Keller and his partner, Steve Deever, knowingly sold cracked cylinder heads to the Army Air Force. As a result, 21 P-40s crashed in Australia. For this, Keller and Deever served time in prison, although Keller was released shortly after when he was found innocent. At the beginning of the play, his partner is still in prison.
• In Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970), P-40s are depicted at the attack on Pearl Harbor, both being shot up on the ground and shooting down Zeros.
• Steven Spielberg's comedy 1941(1979) features a P-40E in the less-than-capable hands of John Belushi's character, "Wild Bill" Kelso.
• In the film: Pearl Harbor (2001) P-40Es are the main aircraft seen in the film besides Japanese Zeros. Rafe Macauley and Danny Walker fly P-40s during the raid on Pearl Harbor being the only two pilots able to get in the air, recreating the actual event where George Welch and Ken Taylor operated from a satellite field. A P-40N and a P-40E in this movie came from the Warhawk Air Museum in Nampa, Idaho.
• The alternative history/science fiction pastiche, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004), has a computer-generated twin-seat fighter aircraft patterned after the P-40 performing amazing feats, including doubling as a submarine.

References

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• Alexander, Kristin. Clive Caldwell: Air Ace. Crows Nest, NSW: Allen & Unwin, 2006. ISBN 1-74114-705-0.
• Bowers, Peter M. and Angellucci, E. The American Fighter. New York: Orion Books, 1987. ISBN 0-517-56588-9.
• Brown, Russell. Desert Warriors: Australian P-40 Pilots at War in the Middle East and North Africa, 1941-1943. Maryborough, Australia: Banner Books, 1983. ISBN 1-875-59322-5.
• Higham, Robin. Flying American Combat Aircraft of WW II. Manhattan, Kansas: Sunflower University Press, 2004. ISBN 0-8117-3124-3.
• Horn, Alex. Wings Over the Pacific: The RNZAF in the Pacific Air War. Auckland: Random House New Zealand, 1992. ISBN 1-86941-152-8.
• Johnsen, F.A. P-40 Warhawk (Warbird History). St. Paul, Minnesota: Motorbooks International, 1999. ISBN 0-7603-0253-7.
• Lavigne, J.P.A. Michel and Edwards, James F. Kittyhawk Pilot. Battleford, Saskatchewan : Turner-Warwick, 1983. ISBN 0-919899-10-2.
• Mellinger, George. Soviet Lend-Lease Fighter Aces of World War 2 (Osprey Aircraft of the Aces No. 74). Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing, 2006. ISBN 1-84603-041-2
• Molesworth, Carl. P-40 Warhawk Aces of the MTO (Osprey Aircraft of the Aces No. 43). London: Osprey Publishing, 2002. ISBN 1-84176-288-1.
• ________. P-40 Warhawk Aces of the Pacific (Aircraft of the Aces). London: Osprey Publishing, 2003. ISBN 1-84176-536-8.
• ________. P-40 Warhawk Aces of the CBI (Osprey Aircraft of the Aces No. 35). Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing, 2000. ISBN 1-84176-079-X
• Scott, Robert L. Damned to Glory. New York: Scribner's, 1944. No ISBN.
• Shores, Christopher and Ring, Hans. Fighters over the Desert. London: Neville Spearman Limited, 1969. ISBN 0-668-02070-9.
• Thomas, Andrew. Tomahawk and Kittyhawk Aces of the RAF and Commonwealth. London: Osprey Books, 2002. ISBN 1-84176-083-8.

External links

• Captured P-40E Warhawk in Japanese markings
• RCAF Kittyhawk - AK803/1034
• Annals of the Flying Tigers
• The P-40 is Soviet Aviation
• Curtiss P-40N-CU
• Joe Baugher's American Military Aircraft website
• The P-40 Warhawk
• P-40.com
• The Hawk's Nest - home of the P-40 Warhawk
• Warbird Alley: P-40 page - Information about P-40s still flying today
• P-40 in flight An excellent video on YouTube of a P-40 flying flat out and performing several maneuvers
• Curtiss P-40 Warhawk: One of World War II's Most Famous Fighters: A detailed overview of the history of the P-40 on TheHistoryNet.com

Related content

Related development

• P-36 Hawk
• Curtiss XP-46

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

• P-39 Airacobra
• P-51 Mustang
• A-36 Apache
• Focke-Wulf Fw 190
• Hawker Hurricane
• Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Goudkov LaGG-3
• Kawasaki Ki-61
• Macchi MC.202
• Messerschmitt Bf 109
• Dewoitine D.520
• Supermarine Spitfire
• Yakovlev Yak-1

Related lists

• List of military aircraft of the United States
• List of fighter aircraft