Between 1630 and 1830 hours, all wings of the group were engaged in an intensive effort against the enemy air transports.
Curtiss Aircraft, 1907–1947.
Military aircraft, 1919–1945: An Illustrated History of their Impact.
120 (Netherlands East Indies) Squadron RAAF against the Japanese before being used during the fighting in Indonesia until February 1949. ==Variants and development stages== 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.
{| |} The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk is an American single-engined, single-seat, all-metal fighter and ground-attack aircraft that first flew in 1938.
The P-40 offered the additional advantages of low cost and durability, which kept it in production as a ground-attack aircraft long after it was obsolete as a fighter. ==Design and development== ===Origins=== On 14 October 1938, Curtiss test pilot Edward Elliott flew the prototype XP-40 on its first flight in Buffalo.
Pearl Harbor survivor P-40 Curtiss P-40 Single-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1938 World War II aircraft of Finland
From 28 March to 11 April 1939, the prototype was studied by NACA.
Further tests in December 1939 proved the fighter could reach . An unusual production feature was a special truck rig to speed delivery at the main Curtiss plant in Buffalo, New York.
Poor ground visibility and relatively narrow landing gear track caused many losses on the ground. Curtiss tested a follow-on design, the Curtiss XP-46, but it offered little improvement over newer P-40 models and was cancelled. ==Operational history== In April 1939, the U.S.
Der Bombenkrieg 1939–1945 (in German).
In the Skies of Europe: Air Forces Allied to the Luftwaffe, 1939–1945 Ramsbury, Marlborough, UK: The Crowood Press, 2005.
The P-40 was retired by the RAAF in 1947. ===Royal Canadian Air Force=== A total of 13 Royal Canadian Air Force units operated the P-40 in the North West European or Alaskan theaters. In mid-May 1940, Canadian and US officers watched comparative tests of a XP-40 and a Spitfire, at RCAF Uplands, Ottawa.
It was the third most-produced American fighter of World War II, 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 gave the plane, and after June 1941, the USAAF adopted the name for all models, making it the official name in the U.S.
The British Commonwealth and Soviet air forces used the name Tomahawk for models equivalent to the original P-40, P-40B, and P-40C, while 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.
However, 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.
The first units to convert were Hawker Hurricane squadrons of the Desert Air Force (DAF), in early 1941.
When the Tomahawk was used by Allied units based in the UK from February 1941, this limitation relegated the Tomahawk to low-level reconnaissance with RAF Army Cooperation Command and only No.
Against its lack of high-altitude performance, the P-40 was considered to be a stable gun platform, and its rugged construction meant that it was able to operate from rough front line airstrips with a good rate of serviceability. The earliest victory claims by P-40 pilots include Vichy French aircraft, during the 1941 Syria-Lebanon campaign, against Dewoitine D.520s, a type often considered to be the best French fighter of the war.
In June 1941, Caldwell, of No.
3 Squadron RAAF, which claimed 19 aerial victories over Vichy French aircraft during June and July 1941, for the loss of one P-40 (and one lost to ground fire). Some DAF units initially failed to use the P-40's strengths or used outdated defensive tactics such as the Lufbery circle.
Various new formations were tried by Tomahawk units from 1941 to 1942, 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.
In August 1941, Caldwell was attacked by two Bf 109s, one of them piloted by German ace Werner Schröer.
Some sources also claim that in December 1941, Caldwell killed a prominent German Experte, Erbo von Kageneck (69 kills), while flying a P-40.
Navy, Marines and Army aviators. Chennault received crated Model Bs which his airmen assembled in Burma at the end of 1941, adding self-sealing fuel tanks and a second pair of wing guns, such that the aircraft became a hybrid of B and C models.
These were assigned to squadrons of the 4th Air Group. ===United States Army Air Forces=== A total of 15 USAAF pursuit/fighter groups (FG), along with other pursuit/fighter squadrons and a few tactical reconnaissance (TR) units, operated the P-40 during 1941–45.
types to breaking Japanese air power during this critical period. ====Pacific theaters==== The P-40 was the main USAAF fighter aircraft in the South West Pacific and Pacific Ocean theaters during 1941–42.
I was a fighter pilot and that was what I was supposed to do." The 8th, 15th, 18th, 24th, 49th, 343rd and 347th PGs/FGs, flew P-40s in the Pacific theaters between 1941 and 1945, with most units converting to P-38s from 1943 to 1944.
400 Squadron used Tomahawks operationally, conducting a number of armed sweeps over France in the late 1941.
In fact, the Curtiss P-40 Tomahawk / Kittyhawk was the first Allied fighter supplied to the USSR under the Lend-Lease agreement. The USSR received 247 P-40B/Cs (equivalent to the Tomahawk IIA/B in RAF service) and 2,178 P-40E, -K, -L, and -N models between 1941 and 1944.
In late September 1941, the first 48 P-40s were assembled and checked in the USSR.
The regiment entered action on 12 October 1941.
By 15 November 1941, that unit had shot down 17 German aircraft.
During the winter of 1941, the 126 IAP (Fighter Aviation Regiment) suffered from cracked radiators on 38 occasions.
Taylor: USAAF; one of only two US pilots to get airborne (in a P-40) during the attack on Pearl Harbor (7 December 1941), during which he shot down two aircraft and was wounded in the arm. Keith Truscott: RAAF; pre-war star of Australian football; became an ace flying Spitfires in the UK during 1941, before flying Kittyhawks over New Guinea and Australia; commanded 76 Sqn RAAF at the Battle of Milne Bay (1942); killed in an accident while flying a P-40 (1943). Clinton D.
Desert Warriors: Australian P-40 Pilots at War in the Middle East and North Africa, 1941–1943.
Flying Tigers: Claire Chennault and His American Volunteers, 1941–1942.
Red Phoenix: The Rise of Soviet Air Power 1941–1945.
The Armée de l'Air ordered 100 (later the order was increased to 230) as the Hawk 81A-1 but the French were defeated before the aircraft had left the factory and the aircraft were diverted to British and Commonwealth service (as the Tomahawk I), in some cases complete with metric flight instruments. In late 1942, as French forces in North Africa split from the Vichy government to side with the Allies, U.S.
UK P-40 squadrons from mid-1942 re-equipped with aircraft such as Mustangs The Tomahawk was superseded in North Africa by the more powerful Kittyhawk ("D"-mark onwards) types from early 1942, though some Tomahawks remained in service until 1943.
Kittyhawks included many improvements and were the DAF's air superiority fighter for the critical first few months of 1942, until "tropicalised" Spitfires were available.
In 2012, the virtually intact remains of a Kittyhawk were found; it had run out of fuel in the Egyptian Sahara in June 1942. DAF units received nearly 330 Packard V-1650 Merlin-powered P-40Fs, called Kittyhawk IIs, most of which went to the USAAF, and the majority of the 700 "lightweight" L models, also powered by the Packard Merlin, in which the armament was reduced to four .50 in (12.7 mm) Brownings (Kittyhawk IIA).
From July 1942 until mid-1943, elements of the U.S.
Various new formations were tried by Tomahawk units from 1941 to 1942, 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.
The leading German expert in North Africa, Hans-Joachim Marseille, claimed as many as 101 P-40s during his career. From 26 May 1942, Kittyhawk units operated primarily as fighter-bomber units, giving rise to the nickname "Kittybomber".
According to its official records, in just months, the Flying Tigers destroyed 297 enemy aircraft for the loss of just four of its own in air-to-air combat. In the spring of 1942, the AVG received a small number of Model E's.
These planes were used in the battle of the Salween River Gorge in late May 1942, which kept the Japanese from entering China from Burma and threatening Kunming.
The bulk of the fighter operations by the USAAF in 1942–43 were borne by the P-40 and the P-39.
Due to aircraft fatigue, scarcity of spare parts and replacement problems, the US Fifth Air Force and Royal Australian Air Force created a joint P-40 management and replacement pool on 30 July 1942 and many P-40s went back and forth between the air forces. The 49th Fighter Group was in action in the Pacific from the beginning of the war.
The American Volunteer Group (Flying Tigers) was integrated into the USAAF as the 23rd Fighter Group in June 1942.
They were able to establish air superiority over free China, northern Burma and the Assam valley of India in 1942, and they never relinquished it." The 3rd, 5th, 51st and 80th FGs, along with the 10th TRS, operated the P-40 in the CBI.
pilots reached ace status while flying the P-40 in the CBI. ====Europe and Mediterranean theaters==== On 14 August 1942, the first confirmed victory by a USAAF unit over a German aircraft in World War II was achieved by a P-40C pilot.
pilots became aces in the MTO on the P-40, most of them during the first half of 1943. P-40 pilots from the 57th FG were the first USAAF fliers to see action in the MTO, while attached to Desert Air Force Kittyhawk squadrons, from July 1942.
RCAF pilots also flew Tomahawks or Kittyhawks with other British Commonwealth units based in North Africa, the Mediterranean, South East Asia and (in at least one case) the South West Pacific. In 1942, the Imperial Japanese Navy occupied two islands, Attu and Kiska, in the Aleutians, off Alaska.
During a major attack on Japanese positions at Kiska on 25 September 1942, Squadron Leader Ken Boomer shot down a Nakajima A6M2-N ("Rufe") seaplane.
The aircraft equipped 14 Squadron, 15 Squadron, 16 Squadron, 17 Squadron, 18 Squadron, 19 Squadron and 20 Squadron. RNZAF P-40 squadrons were successful in air combat against the Japanese between 1942 and 1944.
Ridnyy (Hero of Soviet Union), remarked that he had to shoot half the ammunition at 50–100 meters (165–340 ft) to shoot down an enemy aircraft. In January 1942, some 198 aircraft sorties were flown (334 flying hours) and 11 aerial engagements were conducted, in which five Bf 109s, one Ju 88, and one He 111 were downed.
On 18 January 1942, Lieutenants S.
A fair number of burned-out P-40s were re-engined with Soviet Klimov M-105 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.
Deliveries over the Alaska-Siberia ALSIB ferry route began in October 1942.
Gorton survived a near-fatal crash in a Hurricane IIb at Singapore in 1942; later flew Kittyhawks with No.
Hampshire: USAAF; equal top-scoring US P-40 pilot (13 victory claims), all over China with the 75th FS (23rd FG), 1942–1943; killed in action. David Lee "Tex" Hill: AVG/USAAF, 2nd Squadron AVG and 23rd FG USAAF, 12¼ P-40 victories (18¼ total). Bruce K.
UK P-40 squadrons from mid-1942 re-equipped with aircraft such as Mustangs The Tomahawk was superseded in North Africa by the more powerful Kittyhawk ("D"-mark onwards) types from early 1942, though some Tomahawks remained in service until 1943.
The "lightweight" P-40Ns (Kittyhawk IV) arrived from early 1943 and were used mostly as fighter-bombers.
the AVG was lucky to get a few tires and spark plugs with which to carry on its daily war." ====4th Air Group==== China received 27 P-40E models in early 1943.
I was a fighter pilot and that was what I was supposed to do." The 8th, 15th, 18th, 24th, 49th, 343rd and 347th PGs/FGs, flew P-40s in the Pacific theaters between 1941 and 1945, with most units converting to P-38s from 1943 to 1944.
pilots became aces in the MTO on the P-40, most of them during the first half of 1943. P-40 pilots from the 57th FG were the first USAAF fliers to see action in the MTO, while attached to Desert Air Force Kittyhawk squadrons, from July 1942.
The 57th was also the main unit involved in the "Palm Sunday Massacre", on 18 April 1943.
On 23 February 1943, during Operation Torch, the pilots of the 58th FG flew 75 P-40Ls off the aircraft carrier to the newly captured Vichy French airfield, Cazas, near Casablanca, in French Morocco.
The aircraft supplied the 33rd FG and the pilots were reassigned. The 325th FG (known as the "Checkertail Clan") flew P-40s in the MTO and was credited with at least 133 air-to-air kills from April–October 1943, of which 95 were Bf 109s and 26 were Macchi C.202s, for the loss of 17 P-40s in combat.
On 9 June 1943, they became the first African-American fighter pilots to engage enemy aircraft, over Pantelleria, Italy.
After the Japanese threat diminished, these two RCAF squadrons returned to Canada and eventually transferred to England without their Kittyhawks. In January 1943, a further Article XV unit, 430 Squadron was formed at RAF Hartford Bridge, England and trained on obsolete Tomahawk IIA.
The only confirmed twin engine claim, a Ki-21 "Sally" (misidentified as a G4M "Betty") fell to Fisken in July 1943. From late 1943 and 1944, RNZAF P-40s were increasingly used against ground targets, including the innovative use of naval depth charges as improvised high-capacity bombs.
A fair number of burned-out P-40s were re-engined with Soviet Klimov M-105 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.
In spring 1943, Lt D.I.
For a brief period in 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.
III. P-40N (manufactured 1943–44), the final production model.
It was the third most-produced American fighter of World War II, 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 gave the plane, and after June 1941, the USAAF adopted the name for all models, making it the official name in the U.S.
However, 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.
I was a fighter pilot and that was what I was supposed to do." The 8th, 15th, 18th, 24th, 49th, 343rd and 347th PGs/FGs, flew P-40s in the Pacific theaters between 1941 and 1945, with most units converting to P-38s from 1943 to 1944.
The P-40 remained in use in the China Burma India Theater (CBI) until 1944 and was reportedly preferred over the P-51 Mustang by some US pilots flying in China.
The 57th FG was equipped with the Curtiss fighter until early 1944, during which time they were credited with at least 140 air-to-air kills.
The 99th continued to score with P-40s until February 1944, when they were assigned P-39s and P-51 Mustangs. The much-lightened P-40L was most heavily used in the MTO, primarily by U.S.
The aircraft equipped 14 Squadron, 15 Squadron, 16 Squadron, 17 Squadron, 18 Squadron, 19 Squadron and 20 Squadron. RNZAF P-40 squadrons were successful in air combat against the Japanese between 1942 and 1944.
The only confirmed twin engine claim, a Ki-21 "Sally" (misidentified as a G4M "Betty") fell to Fisken in July 1943. From late 1943 and 1944, RNZAF P-40s were increasingly used against ground targets, including the innovative use of naval depth charges as improvised high-capacity bombs.
The last front line RNZAF P-40s were replaced by Vought F4U Corsairs in 1944.
In fact, the Curtiss P-40 Tomahawk / Kittyhawk was the first Allied fighter supplied to the USSR under the Lend-Lease agreement. The USSR received 247 P-40B/Cs (equivalent to the Tomahawk IIA/B in RAF service) and 2,178 P-40E, -K, -L, and -N models between 1941 and 1944.
"These spectacular markings gave rise to the erroneous belief that the P-40 series had been used by all 28 countries." Since the P-40N was by 1944 used mainly as a ground attack aircraft in Europe, it was nicknamed B-40 by pilots.
New York: Scribner's, 1944.
I was a fighter pilot and that was what I was supposed to do." The 8th, 15th, 18th, 24th, 49th, 343rd and 347th PGs/FGs, flew P-40s in the Pacific theaters between 1941 and 1945, with most units converting to P-38s from 1943 to 1944.
In 1945, the 71st Reconnaissance Group employed them as armed forward air controllers during ground operations in the Philippines, until it received delivery of P-51s.
These squadrons saw action mostly in the New Guinea and Borneo campaigns. Late in 1945, RAAF fighter squadrons in the South West Pacific began converting to P-51Ds.
The squadron converted to the Mustang I before commencing operations in mid-1943. In early 1945 pilots from No.
The last interception took place on 20 April 1945 when Pilot Officer P.V.
The P-40 was retired by the RAAF in 1947. ===Royal Canadian Air Force=== A total of 13 Royal Canadian Air Force units operated the P-40 in the North West European or Alaskan theaters. In mid-May 1940, Canadian and US officers watched comparative tests of a XP-40 and a Spitfire, at RCAF Uplands, Ottawa.
The P-40s were relegated to use as advanced pilot trainers. The remaining RNZAF P-40s, excluding the 20 shot down and 154 written off, were mostly scrapped at Rukuhia in 1948. ===Soviet Union=== The Soviet Voyenno-Vozdushnye Sily (VVS; "Military Air Forces") and Morskaya Aviatsiya (MA; "Naval Air Service") also referred to P-40s as "Tomahawks" and "Kittyhawks".
Survivors redesignated as ZF-40N in June 1948. 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 : Three P-40N modified with a 4-bladed prop, cut-down rear fuselage and bubble canopy, four guns, squared-off wingtips and tail surfaces, and improved engine with two-speed supercharger.
120 (Netherlands East Indies) Squadron RAAF against the Japanese before being used during the fighting in Indonesia until February 1949. ==Variants and development stages== 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.
The last P-40s in military service, used by the Brazilian Air Force (FAB), were retired in 1954. In the air war over Finland, several Soviet P-40s were shot down or had to crash-land due to other reasons.
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In 2012, the virtually intact remains of a Kittyhawk were found; it had run out of fuel in the Egyptian Sahara in June 1942. DAF units received nearly 330 Packard V-1650 Merlin-powered P-40Fs, called Kittyhawk IIs, most of which went to the USAAF, and the majority of the 700 "lightweight" L models, also powered by the Packard Merlin, in which the armament was reduced to four .50 in (12.7 mm) Brownings (Kittyhawk IIA).
Warbird Books, 2014 Glancey, Jonathan.
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