Flying P-40's

Thanks for the info guys.

……..which appears to be printed on pure Unobtanium as far as the Northern hemisphere is concerned! 😉

Fussy aren’t you! There’s a two-and a half year old online listing you can see, or an upto date listing in a magazine you can’t get! Waddya want? 😀

We aim to satisfy the Australian domestic market, and don’t push the overseas stuff. (There’s subscription info for Flightpath on the web, and I’ve PMed PhantomII…) Yes, Mike, you are going to get sorted out on Monday. Don’t go down any alleys. 😉

Don’t want much do you? 😀 But you are lucky. We’ve just done a round-up covering all that in the latest issue of the Australian magazine Flightpath (Other listing magazines with Fly in the title are available…) Vol 18 No.3, which also has several P-40 articles in it. It would be impolitic of me to provide a link… 😉

Here’s the rarest restoration: Judy Pay of the Old Aeroplane Co, Tyabb, Vic, Aus has a rebuild of the Merlin-engined P-40F 41-14112 ‘Bone Crusher’ VH-HWK under rebuild to fly.

RE: Flying P-40’s

Hey Buddy,
We’ve got four down here, with another ten amost ready, most of them usually fly to Wanaka for the event over there!

NZ has about six over there

Anyway here’s a pic of the first to refly, yes it is an old pic (As you can see by the date) but it still flies and still looks the same!

“We the unknowing who have been doing so much for so long with so little, now attempt to do the impossible with nothing”!

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RE: Flying P-40’s

Does anyone know who the highest scoring P-40 Ace is?

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How many P-40’s are currently being rebuilt to flying conditions?

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Oh well…… 🙂

RE: Flying P-40’s

Kabir, it wasn’t necessary to put all the background info, but I appreciate it. Kinda like I do with the F-4, I’ve done a LOT of research on the Warhawk. I just love it. Even though it wasn’t ever the greatest performing plane, I still consider it one of the “great” fighters of WWII. I’d hope you guys would too. It deserves a lot more credit than it gets. The P-40 in good hands was actually quite a potent fighter. Oh yeah, and Kabir, one thing I noticed about your specs. Early P-40N’s were powered by V-1710-81’s, but those were 1,200 hp. The later P-40N’s were powered by V-1710-115’s and those were the 1,360 hp engines. I think the P-40N is able hands is quite a match for the Zero and probably superior to later marks of Hurricane and Wildcat. Roughly 380 mph top speed, pretty decent range (was verified by several P-40 groups in the Pacific. In fact, that 1,500 pound bombload that Kabir mentioned is actually quite higher than was originally thought. The P-40 could actually sling warloads of up to 2,600 pounds. The two wing hardpoints were rated at up to 1,000 pounds each, while the centerline could hold up to 600 pounds. Several P-40 groups began performing ground attack missions with a pair of 1,000 pounds bombs and a centerline 75-gallon tank. Surprisingly the aircraft still flew well and they could still get very good range out of it. The P-40N is my favorite model and was undoubtedly the best of the P-40’s that went operational. The XP-40Q and its 422 mph top speed was the ultimate Warhawk but sadly it never went into service as the USAAF already had enough P-51’s and P-47’s. I don’t think I will be able to make it to Europe this year unfortunately, but I intend to make to a big show sometime. So, there are 19 P-40’s left flying. That is great news as I thought it was a lot smaller. Wonderful pictures Ashley. Something about the P-40 just gives it character. I think it is the deep engine cowling. Thanks again guys.

RE: Flying P-40’s

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 15-03-02 AT 06:19 PM (GMT)]Hi PhantomII…nice to meet you 🙂 I’m Ashley the Spitfire Polisher/Sr-71 Fluffer/official (well I designated myself that but never mind ;)) Duxford correspondent…I work for the Imperial War Museum here at Duxford…the warbird mecca of Europe…

As Mark has already mentioned, we have two airworthy P40s in the UK, both based here at Duxford…the Old Flying Machine Company’s example has a new paint scheme this season…the colours of the Fighting Tigers…

From the OFMC website…here’s some great pics 🙂

http://www.ofmc.co.uk/gallery/p40kittyhawk.asp

Hmmm…could have sworn there were some pics of her in her new colours on that site but must be mistaken…

Oh and PhantomII…I saw on AFM that you are thinking of coming over to Europe for an airshow…well I can certainly recommend Flying Legends here at Duxford in July…two whole days of unadulterated fun…I mean lots of piston engined aircraft filling the skies 😉 😉 😉

RE: Flying P-40’s

cheers for the rating steve (another one to the list) , my head will soon expolode 🙂

OH BTW – on topic great plane

rabie :9

RE: Flying P-40’s

Cheers Rabie. If he was UK-based I was going to say about TFC and OFMC, but Mark beat me to it anyway! 🙂

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PII is lousian or mississippi or something like that -just did a big article on himself on airliner whatever forum.

rabie :9

RE: Flying P-40’s

Hi,
I’m a P40 fan myself. We’re luck to have two on the UK Airshow circuit in recent years, an E and a M model.

Try the following sites for info on restored/flying P40s and history etc:

http://www.warbirdsresourcegroup.org/registry/p40registry/p40registry.h…

http://www.p-40.com

http://www.danford.net/avg.htm

Cheers,
Mark

RE: Flying P-40’s

PhantomII – where are you located?

RE: Flying P-40’s

History: The P-40 fighter/bomber was the last of the famous “Hawk” line produced by Curtiss Aircraft in the 1930s and 1940s, and it shared certain design elements with its predecessors, the Hawk and Sparrowhawk. It was the third-most numerous US fighter of World War II. An early prototype version of the P-40 was the first American fighter capable of speeds greater than 300 mph. Design work on the aircraft began in 1937, but numerous experimental versions were tested and refined before the first production version of the P-40, the Model 81, appeared in May 1940. By September of that year, over 200 had been delivered to the Army Air Corps. 185 more were delivered to the United Kingdom in the fall of 1940, where they were designated the Tomahawk Mk I.

Early combat operations pointed to the need for more armor and self-sealing fuel tanks, which were included in the P-40B (called the Tomahawk Mk IIA in the UK). These improvements came at price: a significant loss of performance due to the extra weight. Further armor additions and fuel tank improvements added even more weight in the P-40C (Tomahawk Mk IIB). Curtiss addressed the airplane’s mounting performance problems with the introduction of the P-40D (Kittyhawk Mk I), which was powered by a more powerful version of the Allison V-1710 engine, and had two additional wing-mounted guns. The engine change resulted in a slightly different external appearance, which was the reason the RAF renamed it from the Tomahawk to the Kittyhawk. Later, two more guns were added in the P-40E (Kittyhawk Mk IA), and this version was used with great success by General Claire Chenault’s American Volunteer Group (The Flying Tigers) in China.

Some additional models, each with slight improvements in engine power and armament, were the P-40F (with a 1300 hp Rolls-Royce Merlin engine), the P-40G, P-40K (Kittyhawk Mk III), P-40L, P-40M and finally, the P-40N, of which 5200 were built (more than any other version.) While it was put to good use and was certainly numerous in most theaters of action in WWII, the P-40’s performance was quickly eclipsed by the newer aircraft of the time, and it was not considered one of the “great fighters” of the war.

Nicknames: Gipsy Rose Lee (UK nickname for the P-40L)nice nick 🙂

Specifications: (P-40N):
Engine: 1360hp Allison V-1710-81 inline piston engine
Weight: Empty 6,000 lbs., Max Takeoff 11,400 lbs
Wing Span: 37ft. 4in.
Length: 33ft. 4in.
Height: 12ft. 4in.
Performance:
Maximum Speed at 10,000ft: 378mph
Ceiling: 38,000ft
Range: 240 miles (with no external tanks)
Armament:
Six 12.7mm (0.5-inch) wing-mounted machine guns
Up to 1,500lbs of bombs on three wing hardpoints

Number Built: Approximately 15,000

Number Still Airworthy: 19

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