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Curtiss P-40 Warhawk

The P-40 was the primary US fighter early in the war and served throughout with several countries. Although considered inferior to contemporary fighters, it was available in useful numbers early in the war, when the P-51 (p.W110) and P-47 (p.W:DF112) were still years from production, Despite being surpassed by other American fighters during the war, it was produced until 1944 and served until 1945. The Warhawk was a 1938 development of the P-36 Hawk (pW.MP104), replacing the radial Pratt & Whitney with a more streamlined inline Allison engine. Originally, the radiator was located behind the wings, but the Curtiss sales department told the engineers to move it forward; the distinctive P-40 'chin' was born and the rear-mounted radiator was left for the P-51.

The P-40 first saw service with the British in North Africa in June 1941.It also saw significant service in the South Pacific and , most famously and successfully, China with the American Volunteer Group (from December 1941 to August 1942, flying -C models built to the -B standard). It was also used in most other theaters (including the Aleutian campaign), the most notable exception being Western Europe. Aside from  Britain and China, numbers were also used by Russia. In addition to use as an air-superiority fighter, it was used in ground-attack and interdiction roles. Some 2,300 of the P-40E were built out of a total production run of over 13,700 planes.

The main limitation of the P-40 was it's Allison engine, which lacked a two-stage supercharger. While reliable and easy to maintain, it lacked high-altitude (over 15,000 feet) performance. It also had a poor climb rate. The P-40 has long had a poor reputation as a fighter, mainly due to combat with the Mitsubishi Zero (p.W112) in 1942. However, this reputation is not deserved. While it is true the P-40 was easily out-turned by the Zero at low speed (~250 mph), so were virtually all other allied fighters. If a P-40 pilot refused to get into a low-speed dogfight with the Zero, however, the advantage was his. The P-40 was faster in level flight (20-30 mph), much faster in a dive (120+ mph) and considerably more resistant to battle damage. One little known fact is that if the planes were at top speed. the P-40 could actually out-turn the Zero. Against German fighters, the problem was less about agility and more about the poor high-altitude performance. The preferred method of using the P-40 in combat, especially against the Japanese, was to dive on an enemy formation from high altitude and keep on diving to get away after firing.

The P-40E uses 38.5 gallons of aviation fuel per hour.

Subassemblies: Medium Fighter Body with Good streamlining +3, Heavy Fighter Wings +2, three retractable wheels +0
P&P: 858 kW aerial HP gasoline engine with 858-kW propeller, 159 gallons aviation gasoline in self-sealing fuel tanks (Body and Wings)
Occ: 1 CS Cargo: 2.5 Body

Armor
All: 3/5
Cockpit: FBU 0/+30

Weaponry
6*Long Aircraft MG/Browning M-2 [Wing:F] (233 rounds each) *
* Linked

Equipment
Body: long range radio transmitter and receiver, bombsight, autopilot. 1,000-lb hardpoint. Wings: 500-lb hardpoint each.

Statistics

HT: 11
HP:  240 [body], 180 [each wing], 24 [each wheel]

Hardpoints loaded

Hardpoints empty

Design Notes
Design speed was 381 mph. The historical value has been used, as well as the historical wing area (236 sf). Chassis cost, weight and HP were doubled. Loaded weight was decreased by 4%. Loaded weight includes 1,000 pounds of bombs.

Although the plane has hardpoints for 2,000 pounds of bombs, it seldom f;ew with more than 1,000 pounds.

Variants
The P-40 (1940) was armed with only one .30-cal and one .50-cal MG in nose and, optionally, one .30-cal MG in each wing. Bomb load was six 20-lb bombs under the wings. Top speed 347 mph. Called the 'Tomahawk' by the British, who took over a French order. Just under 350 were built, with 142 used by the British.

The P-40B/Tomahawk IIA (1941) had two .30-cal Browning M-2's in each wing (Aircraft LMGs), replaced the nose .30-cal with a .50-cal, and introduced crude self-sealing tanks and basic pilot armor (DR 15). It had no provisions for bombs or drop tanks. sSpeed 352. 131 built for the US, 110 for the British and 23 for Russia.

The P-40C/Tomahawk IIB (1941) added the underbelly hardpoint for a bomb or drop tank, and had full self-sealing tanks and better pilot armor (DR 20 F/B). aSpeed 345. Some 190 were built for the US, over 900 for Great Britain (some going to Egypt and Turkey, and nearly 200 transferred to Russia after June 1941) and 23 for Russia.

The P-40D/(1941) Kittyhawk Mk I removed the nose guns and had two .50-cal MGs in each wing and a 500-lb bomb rack was added under the fuselage and six 20-lb racks under the wings. Armor was the same as the -E. Top speed 354 mph with a more powerful engine. 22 were built for the US and 560 for the British.

The P-40F (the first to be called Warhawk in American service) used the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine, giving it aSpeed 364. The fuselage was lengthened 18 inches during this series to correct stability problems, so there were short and long P-40Fs. Along with higher top speed, high altitude performance was improved. Only around 2,000 built, however as the P-51 Mustang was given priority for the engine.

Some 1,300 P-40K (1942) were built, similar to the -E but with a more powerful engine (aSpeed 362).192 Went tp Britain, 25 to Brazil and an unknown number to the Chinese Air Force.

The P-40L was the same as the -F, except most were lightened by the removal of two wing guns and 37 gallons of wing tanks; aSpeed was only 368 mph The British referred to it as the "Gypsy Rose Lee" after a famous stripper of the era.

The P-40M (1942) was built for Lend-Lease and was similar to the -K. Nineteen went to  Brazil; the rest of the 480 built went to British and Commonwealth forces.

The P-40N/Kittyhawk Mk IV (1943) was the most numerous version, with some 5,200 built. It could reach 378 mph. Many were armed with only four MGs.

The P-40Q (1944) was a  very clean design capable of 422 mph. Unfortunately, most top fighters by then were nearing 500 mph and the 'Q' model ended its days as a civilian racer after the war.

Several other improvements of the P-40 were offered by Curtis (XP-46, XP-60, etc) but none were accepted for service.