The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia: P-40 Warhawk, U.S. Fighter (original) (raw)

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National Museum of the USAF

CurtissP-40E Warhawk

Specifications:

Although generally regarded as outclassed by the Zero, the P-40 was the best fighter the U.S. Army Air Force had available in any quantity at the start of the Pacific War. It reflected an American design philosophy that called for heavily armed, rugged, fast fighter aircraft with self-sealing fuel tanks and armor for the pilot. The most serious defect of the earlier models was the lack of any kind of supercharger, which severely limited the high altitude performance. At the time, turbochargers were in short supply and all were reserved forbomberconstruction. The P-40 was much tougher than the Zero, and slightly faster at sea level, but it was also much less maneuverable at low speeds and had a poor climb rate.

The P-40 had its roots in the P-36 Hawk, which was an excellent aircraft in its day, but distinctly obsolescent by 1939. Curtiss designer Donovan Berlin redesigned the aircraft around the Allison V-1710 inline engine, which was just coming into production in 1938, and the first prototype XP-37 achieved a speed of 340 mph (550 km/h). However, the engine proved mechanically unreliable and the cockpit had dismal visibility, and the design was abandoned. Berlin tried again with the XP-40, doing away with the super-turbocharging system of the XP-37 based on the Air Corps' belief that maximum performance was needed at just 15,000 feet (4600 m). The new aircraft was built around an improved V-1710 with ordinary supercharging, greatly simplifying the design. The prototype flew on 14 October 1938. In spite of a disappointing top speed of 340 mph (550 km/h), the Air Corps liked its handling and dive rate. More important, the aircraft would relatively cheap to manufacture using existing P-36 jigs and could be available relatively quickly in considerable numbers. In 1939, the Air Corps was desperate to get new fighters quickly and in large numbers, and more promising designs such as the P-38 were at least two years away from production.

The first production aircraft were delivered in early 1940 and proved able to reach 357 mph (575 km/h) at 15,000 feet (4600 m). However, this model lacked armor or self-sealing fuel tanks and was relatively lightly armed, with two cowling 0.50 machine guns and two wing 0.30 machine guns. Pilot armor and self-sealing tanks were added in the P-40B, at significant cost in speed and climb rate. By the time war broke out in the Pacific, Curtiss was producing the P-40E, which used an improved Allison engine, gave better cockpit 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-40 almost always had to surrender the initiative to higher-flying opponents. Here its ruggedness and protection were critical to allowing it to survive the enemy's first pass. Pilots who understood its strengths and weaknesses, such as AustralianClive Caldwell (20.5 kills), were able to make good use of the aircraft; 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 as Tomahawks or Kittyhawks.

About 63% of P-40 squadrons were deployed to the Pacific, and the P-40 continued in service in China until the surrender.

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References

Bergerud (2000)

Gunston (1988)
Molesworth (2008)

Romanus and Sunderland (1953)

The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia © 2007, 2009, 2014 by Kent G. Budge. Index

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