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Curtiss P-40 Warhawk

P-40 Warhawk

Billed as the greatest workhorses of World War II the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk proved itself over and over again. Like Rodney Dangerfield (I get no respect) the P-40 proved to be less agile than some of its enemy fighters. But its sturdiness more than made up for its faults.

In its day it was the plane of choice for American and British squadrons in North Africa and the primary choice for Soviet flyers in the east. The P-40 was a low-wing monoplane of all metal construction with a pair of machine guns in the wings. During war-time production reached over 16,000 Curtiss P-40’s. Between 1940 and 1942 more P-40’s were built than all the other fighter planes combined.

P-40 Warhawk’s served on almost every front in World War II for the U.S. Army Air Force. The America single-engine, single-seat all-metal ground attack and fighter aircraft had its first flight in 1938. The Curtiss P-40 was used by air forces of 28 nations and most of the Allied powers and remained in front line service until the end of the war.

The United States Army Air Corps adopted “Warhawk” as the name for all models of the P-40 for the United States. British and Soviet air forces adopted the name “Tomahawk” for models equivalent to the P-40B and P-40C and for models equivalent to the P-40D and later the name “Kittyhawk” was chosen.

The P-40’s were not used in high-altitude combat in Northwest Europe or rarely used. The reason for this was its lack of a two-stage supercharger kind of made it hawk bate for the Luftwaffe fighter like the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 and the Messerschmitt bf 190. The P-40’s played a critical role in three major theaters; China, North Africa and the Southwest Pacific. It had major roles to play in Alaska, Eastern Europe and Italy. It served as an air supremacy fighter, bomber escort and fighter bomber.

P-40 Flight Operation Manual, Pin-Up Girl, Warbird History and much more Try Here!

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