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CurtissP-40E Warhawk
Specifications:
| Crew | 1 |
| Dimensions | 37'4" by 31'9"by 12'4" 11.38m by 9.68m by 3.76m |
| Wing area | 236 square feet 21.9 square meters |
| Weight | 6350-9200lbs 2880-4200 kg |
| Maximum speed | 355 mph at5,000 feet 571 km/h at 1520 meters |
| Cruising speed | 195 mph 314 km/h |
| Landing speed | 96 mph 155 km/h |
| Climb rate | 30 feet per second 9.1 meters per second |
| Service ceiling | 29,000 feet 8800 meters |
| Power plant | 11150 hp (857 kW) Allison V-1710-39 vee-12enginedriving a three-bladed propeller |
| Armament | 6 0.50 fixedwing machine guns with 281 rounds per gun |
| External stores | 1 500 lb (227 kg) or 2 100 lb (45 kg) or 6 20 lb (9 kg) bombs or one 52 gallon (197 liter) droptank |
| Range | 670 miles (1080 km) normal 900 miles (1450 km) with drop tank |
| Fuel | 157 gallons internal 594 liters internal |
| Production | 13,738 from 1940-3 at Curtiss-WrightAirplane Division,Buffalo, NY. 199 P-40 131 P-40B 193 P-40C 140 Tomahawk 1 110 Tomahawk IIA 930 Tomahawk IIB 22 P-40D 820 P-40E 560 Kittyhawk I 1500 Kittyhawk IA 1311 P-40F/Kittyhawk II 700 P-40L/Kittyhawk II 1300 P-40K 600 P-40M 5216 P-40N |
| Variants | TheP-40 was produced in great variety throughout the war. TheP-40B used a a 1040 hp (775 kW)V-1710-33 engine and was armedwith two 0.50 machine guns in the cowling and two 0.30 machine guns inthe wings. The C used a 1040 hp (775 kW) V-1710-33engine andadded two more 0.30s in the wings.Neither the B or C had anyprovisions for bombs, but the C could accommodate a 52 gallon (197liter) drop tank. The F used a 1300 hp (969 kW) Packard V-1650-1 Merlinengine with a two-speed supercharger. This improved the performancesomewhat at high altitude. Most of these aircraft were deployed to theMediterranean. The K used a 1325 hp (988 kW) V-1710-73engine that significantly improved performance. The L was essentially an F with just four0.50 machine guns and other weight saving measures, including areduction in fuel capacity to 120 gallons (450 liters). This failed toimprove performance significantly, and production was halted so thatthe Merlin engines could be diverted to production of the P-51 Mustang. The N used 1200 hp (895 kW) V-1710-81,-99, or -115 engines and could carry three 500 lb (227 kg)bombs. It had a maximum speed of 378 mph (608 km/h) at 15,000 feet(4570 feet), butsacrificed fuel capacity and was armed with just 4 0.50 machine guns.The N-5 later reverted to six machine guns. The –B and –C were known as the Tomahawkandthe later models, which used a new series of Allison engines permittingashorter nose, as the Warhawk. |
Although generally regarded as outclassed bythe Zero,the P-40 was the best fighterthe U.S. Army Air Force had available in any quantity at the startof thePacificWar. It reflected an American design philosophy that called forheavily armed, rugged, fast fighter aircraft with self-sealing fueltanks and armor for the pilot. The mostserious defect of theearlier models was the lack of any kind of supercharger, which severelylimitedthe high altitude performance. Atthetime, turbochargers were in short supply and all were reserved forbomberconstruction. TheP-40 was much tougherthan the Zero, and slightly faster at sea level, but it was also muchlessmaneuverable at low speeds and had a poor climb rate.
The P-40 had its roots in the P-36Hawk, which was an excellent aircraft in its day, but distinctlyobsolescent by 1939. Curtiss designer Donovan Berlin redesigned theaircraft around the Allison V-1710 inline engine, which was just cominginto production in 1938, and the first prototype XP-37 achieved a speedof 340 mph (550 km/h). However, the engine proved mechanicallyunreliable and the co*ckpit had dismal visibility, and the design wasabandoned. Berlin tried again with the XP-40, doing away with thesuper-turbocharging system of the XP-37 based on the Air Corps' beliefthat maximum performance was needed at just 15,000 feet (4600 m). Thenew aircraft was built around an improved V-1710 with ordinarysupercharging, greatly simplifying the design. The prototype flew on 14October 1938. In spite of a disappointing top speed of 340 mph (550km/h), the Air Corps liked its handling and dive rate. More important,the aircraft would relatively cheap to manufacture using existing P-36jigs and could be available relatively quickly in considerable numbers.In 1939, the Air Corps was desperate to get new fighters quickly and inlarge numbers, and more promising designs such as the P-38 were at least two years away fromproduction.
The first production aircraft were delivered in early1940 and proved able to reach 357 mph (575 km/h) at 15,000 feet (4600m). However, this model lacked armor or self-sealing fuel tanks and wasrelatively lightly armed, with two cowling 0.50 machine guns and twowing 0.30 machine guns. Pilot armor and self-sealing tanks were addedin the P-40B, at significant cost in speed and climb rate. By the timewar broke out in the Pacific, Curtiss was producing the P-40E, whichused an improved Allison engine, gave better co*ckpit visibility,improved the armament, and incorporated a number of other refinements. Although it never became an official capability, some U.S. air units in China were improvising bomb racks for 1000lb (454 kg) bombs for the P-40 by 1943.
Because of its poor high-altitude performance, the P-40almost always had to surrender the initiative to higher-flyingopponents. Here its ruggedness and protection were critical to allowingit to survive the enemy's first pass. Pilots who understood itsstrengths and weaknesses, such as AustralianClive Caldwell (20.5 kills), were able to make good use of theaircraft; but the consensus of aviation historians is that the P-40,though it was continually improved, never became a great aircraft.
Those exported to the British were known asTomahawksor Kittyhawks.
About 63% of P-40 squadrons were deployed to thePacific, and the P-40 continued in service in China until the surrender.
Photo Gallery
References
Bergerud(2000)
Gunston(1988)
Molesworth (2008)
Romanus and Sunderland (1953)
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