P40 Model

The name Kittyhawk was given to the models equivalent to the P-40D and all later variants. Gift aviation enthusiasts or pilots with quality P-40 aircraft models only from Showcase Models!

Newssource: telegraph.co.uk

First flew in 1938, the P-40 Warhawk fighters immediately attracted the attention of the United States Army Air Corps, who placed the largest single fighter order it had ever made for fighters for a count of 524 at the total cost of US$13 million. The French and British air forces also placed orders, though deliveries to France never took place due to German occupation.

Later on in the war, a few Warhawk aircraft also made their way to the Russians. The design of the plane was based on the simple but yet sturdy P-36 Hawk design, hence the similar name to reflect family lineage. Warhawk fighters were relatively maneuverable at high speeds, but at lower speeds they were not up to par when compared with their contemporaries. Due to their low-performance superchargers (only single stage), these fighters did not see much combat against the more capable German Luftwaffe fighters; instead, Warhawk fighters were active in North Africa, Southern Europe, China, Southeast Asia, and the South Pacific, where combat situations were more tolerant for their poor climb characteristics, which made them inadequate high altitude fighters. Once they reach high altitude, however, their weight gave them a spectacular diving speed.

The Warhawk first saw combat in Aug 1941 in North Africa under the British banner as pilots of the No. 112 Squadron Royal Air Force flew their P-40 Tomahawk fighters against German and Italian fighters; they noted the P-40 aircraft’s reliability and ability to absorb battle damage as reasons why they prefer them over the Hurricane fighters. P-40 fighters saw a lot of casualties in North Africa, but at the same time, they also delivered heavy damage to their Italian and German counterparts largely due to their sturdy construction.

Against the Japanese, P-40 Warhawk aircraft were also welcomed by many Allied pilots. While they were the main fighters used by the British Commonwealth air forces under the nickname Tomahawk and Kittyhawk, producing many aces, the Flying Tigers‘ use for them was arguably the most famous in popular history. Before the United States officially entered the war, many American pilots went to China as members of the American Volunteer Group to fly for China against the Japanese.

Elsewhere in the war against the Japanese, P-40 Warhawk fighters were overwhelmed by Japanese fighters initially in the war and suffered heavy losses, but as pilots learned to leverage the fighters’ strengths, many Warhawk units remained effective fighter units.

Production ceased on Nov. 30, 1944 and 13,738 P-40 Warhawk fighters had been produced.

-ww2db.com

Along with the P-40 Warhawk and  Kittyhawk, the Tomahawk series of aircraft was the further development of the P-36 Hawk platform. The Warhawk would become synonymous with the American Volunteer Group fighting in China against the Japanese under the identifiable nickname of the “Flying Tigers”. Generally forgotten amongst the cast of American ace-makers in the war, the P-40 series was a capable and proven fighter aircraft in its own right and produced a bevy of famous pilots attached to her name – most notably were American airmen George Welch and Ken Taylor who were able to get their mounts airborne during the Japanese attack on Peral Harbor. Soviet pilots Nikolai Fyodorovich Kuznetsov, Petr Pokryshev and Stephan Novichkov all became aces flying thier Lend-Lease P-40s. The P-40 was a good fighter for its time, however production numbers never seemed to keep pace with the war, allowing technological developments and airborne tactics to evolve past the aircraft’s usefulness and strengths.

Not an overly exceptional aircraft in any one category, the P-40 Warhawk was a deadly fighting machine in trained hands. The formidable armament of 6 x 12.7mm (.50 caliber) machine guns (up to 200 rounds per gun) was complimented by the ability of the aircraft to carry a bombload for an increasingly expanding workload. Warhawks were fitted with a liquid-cooled in-line piston engine as opposed to the air-cooled variety commonly found in the P-36 Hawk.

Though the French placed orders for the P-40 at the outset of the war, the eventual Fall of France forced the order to be diverted to Britain where it was promptly renamed the “Tomahawk”. Some Tomahawk models would eventually end up in the hands of the American Volunteer Group in China which, in turn, offered up an increasing amount of aerial victories against intruding Japanese fighters and bombers.

Further improvements to the P-40 line produced the “D” model which raised performance specifications of the Allison piston engine. By this time, the dual nose-mounted 12.7mm machine guns were dropped from the design, leaving only the four wing-mounted machine guns. The deletion of the machine guns was offset to an extent by the addition of an optional undercarriage bomb rack that allowed for the provision of a single 500lb bomb adding to the versatility of the aircraft. On top of the diverted French Warhawks or Tomahawks, the British also ordered their own P-40D models and assigned the name of “Kittyhawk” to these.

By this time, the entire Warhawk series was becoming out-classed by the up-and-coming next generation piston flyers. Despite this fact, the Warhawk – in every form – continued to find success where ever it was fielded. So much was the impression of the Warhawk that the final “E” model was introduced and used to good effect throughout the North African campaign (as the Kittyhawk under British use) and again in China with the American Volunteer Group. Total production at war’s end would amount to an astounding 16,800 P-40s.

Also, here’s a video of an actual P-40 in flight courtesy of youtube.

-militaryfactory.com

-wikipedia.org

For three months, professionals at Galpin Auto Sports and Airmen from several different technical career fields built a sports car with Air Force technology.

The Air Force’s two “supercars” are a Dodge Challenger and a Ford Mustang that are outfitted with cutting-edge technology. Dubbed “Vapor” and “X-1,” respectively, they serve as recruiting tools that travel the country, appearing at high schools and numerous public events. The Vapor appeared at the last Maxwell Air Show. It is equipped with a computer system, allowing for unmanned remote access. A custom, “stealth” exhaust mode renders the powerful engine nearly silent.

The car also boasts night and thermal vision, projected on a heads-up windshield display via a 360-degree surveillance camera. Other features include 20-inch, carbon fiber rims, a GPS transponder for tracking, dual steering and biometric access to vertical doors.

The P-40, developed from the P-36, was America’s foremost fighter in service when World War II began.

P-40s engaged Japanese aircraft during the attack on Pearl Harbor and the invasion of the Philippines in December 1941. They also were flown in China early in 1942 by the famed Flying Tigers and in North Africa in 1943 by the first Army Air Forces all African-American unit, the 99th Fighter Squadron.

The P-40 served in numerous combat areas – the Aleutian Islands, Italy, the Middle East, the Far East, the Southwest Pacific and Russia.

Though often outclassed by its adversaries in speed, maneuverability and rate of climb, the P-40 earned a reputation in battle for extreme ruggedness. At the end of the P-40′s brilliant career, more than 14,000 had been produced for service in the air forces of 28 nations, of which 2,320 were of the “E” series. The aircraft was also called the “Kittyhawk” and “Tomahawk” in England and Canada.

-maxwell.af.mil