FIGHTER
1941 Curtiss P-40E “Kittyhawk”
Being one of the most popular and successful American aircraft of World War II, it’s no surprise that the Curtiss P-40 flew on the front lines of the war and remained there until the very end. The model was crafted from the Curtiss P-36 that first flew in 1935. Its new and improved design boasted a much faster development time as well as an Allison liquid-cooled V-12 engine that would boost achievable airspeeds to over 300 miles per hour. By 1944, it had become the third most-produced American fighter with more than 13,500 having been built.
Engine: Allison V1710-39 Horsepower: 1,150 hp Max Speed: 360 mph Range: 650 miles Ceiling: 29,000 ft Wing Span: 37 ft, 3.5 in Armament: 6 x .50 caliber Browning machine guns; 2,000 lbs of bombs
came to a successful end with a small subcontracted company in New Zealand, and the P-40E took to the skies after more than 50 years, once again chomping at the clouds like it had done so many years before. Don’t forget to ask one of the museum docents if you can see “Tex” Hill’s signature on the inside of the compartment door on the fuselage. It’s not every day you get to see a heroic plane and a heroic signature together!
Unfortunately, by the time the war actually kicked off, the P-40 was already behind the times in Europe. It proved obsolete against their standards of contemporary aircraft and began working more effectively in other areas of the war. Most notably, it played a critical role in North Africa, the Southwest Pacific and China. Although it was considered out-of-date, it still demonstrated itself admirably wherever it flew, including Pearl Harbor. The P-40 was also supplied throughout the war to England, China, Russia, and many other Allies in need of air support through the Lend-Lease Program. Some of the most widely known P-40 operations are those of the Flying Tigers, the American Volunteer Group (AVG) in Burma. They may be widely known now, but the group was originally recruited in secret by President Roosevelt. With tensions growing and war on the horizon, the AVG needed to stop the advance of the Japanese in Southeast Asia and therefore cut the supplies being provided through Burma to the Chinese army fighting Japanese troops. In just 6 months, the Flying Tigers and their P-40’s destroyed 286 Japanese airplanes and lost a mere 12 of their own. The museum’s P-40E is painted to replicate the colors of the plane flown by the great AVG fighter pilot, David Lee “Tex” Hill. Long been considered a hero of the war, “Tex” and his fellow fighters managed to trap Japanese troops at the Salween Gorge and end their advance into Kimming, China. And the memorable shark teeth found chomping at the clouds as it flies came from the British P-40 airplanes that operated in North Africa. Manufactured in Buffalo, New York during 1941, this Curtiss P-40E made its way to the United States Army Air Corps, then to Great Britain through the Lend-Lease program, and finally off to the Soviet Union to defend the homeland from a Nazi invasion launched out of Norway. Lost in action, the airplane stayed in the Arctic Circle for more than fifty years, slowly losing parts to locals as the years ticked by. Then, in 1992, it was brought state-side and began its restoration in 1996 at Virginia’s Fighter Factory. On April 14, 2003, the restoration 9