P40 Model

Once again, the New Garden Festival of Flight was a big success with big crowds and two thrill-packed days of exhibits and exhibitions. This P-40 was just one of many vintage war aircraft on display.

The two-day air show offered many aerial displays such as aerobatics from wing-walker Jane Wicker, stunt-flying by Matt Chapman in a CAP 580, the flight of the C-54 Spirit of Freedom, and demonstrations from the Commemorative Air Force (CAF) including those of the P-40 Warhawk and the P-51D Mustang.

“The CAF was originally formed in 1957 by two WWII bomber pilots who purchased some old planes from the war,” said Stan Musick, CAF pilot of the P-51. Dedicated to the preservation of WWII-era aircraft, the CAF endeavours to acquire and maintain their aircraft in an operational state in order to provide the public with firsthand knowledge of the capabilities and the history of these vintage war planes. The largely volunteer-staffed organization has roughly 130-functional WWII aircraft from both the Allied and Axis sides.

Vintage aircraft were not the only ones to be present at the festival, however: an Air Force B-2 stealth bomber made a flyby during the festival on Saturday, providing the crowd with a look at the current generation of military airpower.

This year’s festival also drew a wide variety of patrons, including some veterans. “I used to be a B-25 pilot in the South Pacific during World War II,” Joseph Miller said, dressed in his original Army Air Corps uniform. The York, PA native is the owner of an L-3B Grasshopper housed at New Garden and travels “all over the country” to air shows. “I think these events are important for the general public, and especially the younger generations, to learn about the Second World War,” he said.

Source: The Unionville Times

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.

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.

Source: Warbird Alley, Flickr

Flying season begins at the Museum of Flight with rides in the Liberty Foundation’s Boeing B-17 bomber and Curtiss P-40 fighter on April 30 and May 1. Both aircraft are part of the Liberty Foundation’s “Salute to the Veteran’s Tour.”

The B-17 has arrived Monday and be on view at the Museum Ramp. The P-40 will arrive on Friday for weekend rides.

Rides on both planes will be available April 30 and May 1 hourly from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., followed by ground tours of the planes from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Flight experiences in the bomber last about 45 minutes, with 30 minutes in the air; P-40 flights are about 20 minutes in the air.

The Cavanaugh Flight Museum (CFM) will fly many of its treasured WWII, Korean and Vietnam-era airplanes, including: the P-51 Mustang,FM2 Wildcat, T-28B Trojan, OV1D Mohawk and “FiFi” the world’s only flyable Boeing B-29 Superfortress.

Along with these great warbirds is the P-40 Warhawk. The Cavanaugh Flight Museum’s P-40N (serial number 44-7369) was constructed at the Curtiss-Wright plant in Buffalo, New York and was delivered to the Army Air Force (AAF.) On May 26,1944. The plane was sent in June 1944 to Peterson Army Air Field, Colorado Springs, Colorado and served with the 268th AAF Base Unit (Combat Crew Training Station-Fighter, Second Air Force).

In March 1945, the P40 aircraft was transferred to the 232nd AAF Base Unit (2nd A.F.), stationed at the Dalhart Army Air Field (Texas). In June 1945, the plane was disposed as surplus.

The P-40N was purchased by the museum in 1995 from Joseph Mabee, who had owned the aircraft since 1978. Today, the aircraft is painted in the scheme of Major General Charles R. Bond, Jr.’s No. 5 and is representative of P-40Bs and P-40Es flown by the Flying Tigers in the early days of World War II. The aircraft often appears at air shows across the country.

Source: prlog.org, cavanaughflightmuseum.com

Robert Fairbairn graduated in the class of 43F (June, 1943) from Craig Field Alabama and with 7 ½ hours P-40 time, was the sent to the 30th Fighter Squadron, 57th Fighter Group, 6th Air Force, Panama where he flew P-40s, P-40Bs and C’s. Upon completion of 35 flying hours he was then assigned to the 43rd tactical fighter squadron, 16th Fighter Group, 26th Fighter Command, 6th Air Force until May, 1945.

After graduating as a 2nd Lieutenant from flying school in June of 1943, he arrived in Panama and realized the Panama Canal was a prime target for the enemy, it was protected by a four fighter squadron flying P-39‘s , barrage balloons, and elements of the U.S. Navy. Everything entering the canal zone was intercepted, identified, and reported to central command.

In November, Robert’s squadron was assigned P-40N-5s. As time passed, the threat to the canal lessened and squadrons were reassigned out of the area leaving the 24th and 43rd and continue the mission. At the same time they were relocated to La Cherrera, a dirt fighter strip just west of the city.

“The P-40N’s were a stable, effective fighter below 15,000ft.. I believe they were the last model mass produced and engineer’s did all they could to reduce weight and wing loading including removing starters so that the airplane had to be hand cranked by the ground crew.”

“In a contest with a fellow pilot, the highest I could coach the plane to was 27,500ft.. and so much as the P-39‘s and P-40‘s were all we had operational at the beginning of the war, they did a magnificent job, only with the introduction of the supercharger and the ability to fly much higher were they superseded. The Merlin engine in the P-51, the placement of the supercharger in the rear of the P-47 and the P-38′s twin engines allowed the supercharged planes to fly higher and faster, yet below 15,000ft. The P-40 Warhawk could hold its own with any of them.”

 

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Read Complete Article and View Photos: Memories Of A P-40 Pilot

The P-40 Warhawk was a remarkable fighter bomber and the last of the famous “Hawk” line produced by Curtiss Aircraft during the 1930s-1940s. The Warhawk also features 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 P40, 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.

- airforcemodelworks

This P-40 inspired bike is owned by Bill Armstrong.

Ever since he was a kid, Bill has been fascinated by airplanes and was in fact an aircraft enthusiast. He thinks he might have taken it from his grandfather who flew with the Navy in WWII. Aside form airplanes, Bill’s other passion is racing motorcycles.

He then decided to merge these two hobbies when he wanted to race America’s sportbike, the Buell XB9R for 2005 with a P-40 Warhawk paint scheme.

“Since the performance of the XB9R can be compared to the Curtiss P-40 I decided to use the same scheme.”

Bill is one lucky guy. He not only owns a P-40 Bike, he also lives 10 minutes away from an airworthy P-40 that makes a number of flights in the spring and summer right over his house!

A racing shot by John Owens

Child, pictured here in his flying costume.

Testing a Curtiss Hawk pursuit plane at Buffalo before its delivery to France, Child began a dive at 22,000 and before levelling off a 4,00 feet had attained a speed of 575 mileas an hour. It was believed that his speed reached more than 600 miles an hour.

• Henry Lloyd Child was chief test pilot at Curtis at the time of the development of the P40 and was famous for his test flight that sold many of them to the French Air Force.

The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk was an American single-engine, single-seat, all-metal fighter and ground attack aircraft that first flew in 1938. It was used by the air forces of 28 nations, including those of most Allied powers during World War II, and remained in front line service until the end of the war.

• He was reported to have set a new speed record of 547 mph in a vertical dive during that test flight.

• He was known at the time as the fastest man alive. It is unlikely that that speed was reached in a prop plane.

• In the 1944 report of the Joint Fighter Conference, Lloyd comments on the movies of the control surfaces on the tail of the SB2C showed “bulging terribly” and spoke of not allowing the pilots to see these films.

First Lady of the USA, Eleanor Roosevelt meets Lloyd Child during a visit to the Curtiss plant.

- diggerhistory.com
- Wikipedia.org

What many of us don’t know is that the legendary P-40 plane not only looks stunning in the sky but also on the different parts of the body… as a tattoo.

Yes, aviation junkies have taken it to another level. Tattoos In Flight is a website dedicated to flight-themed tattoos. According to the site’s description, “Tattoos in Flight is an ongoing gallery of aviation, flying, aerospace and flight-related tattoos collected from around the web — displaying the passion for the sky exhibited by the wearer. We feature the most skilled artists from around the world who excel in tattooing this unique subject matter, allowing aviation and aerospace enthusiasts to make more informed decisions in choosing a tattoo artist.”

One of the popular choices for flight-themed tattoo designs is the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk plane as shown in the image below.

The P-40 tattoo was done by artist Pat B. of Green Man Tattoo in West Hartford, Connecticut. The beauty of the P-40 plane is truly captured in such an amazing tattoo.

- tattoosinflight.com

The popularity of the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk aircraft still lives on as aviation enthusiasts set up a Facebook fan page for the said airplane.

Currently, only a number of people are fans or “like” the page on Facebook, a popular social networking site. The fan page updates news and stories about the legendary fighter plane. So P-40 fans might want to log-in or sign up on Facebook and be updated. Fans may post any related material or information, too.

Let the P-40 Warkhawk’s legend live, too,even in social networking websites!