Curtiss P-40 cover

Description

A definitive technical guide to the long-nosed Curtiss P-40 Warhawk variants.

The initial version of the Curtiss P-40, designated by the manufacturer as the Hawk H-81, combined the established airframe of the earlier radial-powered H-75 (P-36) fighter with the Allison V-1710 liquid-cooled engine. The year was 1939, and the marriage was one of expediency. With the threat of war in Europe growing by the day, the US Army Air Corps brass wanted a modern fighter that would combine the sterling handling qualities of the P-36 with a boost in performance that would make it competitive with the new types emerging in Germany and England, and the generals wanted the new plane immediately.

As this book details, the P-40 delivered admirably, and though it never reached the performance levels of the Bf 109 or Spitfire, the sturdy fighter nevertheless made a place in history for itself as the Army's frontline fighter when the US entered World War II. Long-nosed P-40s initially saw combat in North Africa, flying in Royal Air Force squadrons. They also fought in the skies over Pearl Harbor and the Philippines. But the long-nosed P-40 is best known as the shark-faced fighter flown by the American Volunteer Group – the legendary "Flying Tigers" – over Burma and China during 1941–42.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Design and development
Technical specifications
Operational history
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index

Product details

Published 20 May 2013
Format Ebook (Epub & Mobi)
Edition 1st
Extent 64
ISBN 9781472802828
Imprint Osprey Publishing
Series Air Vanguard
Short code AVG 8
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Author

Carl Molesworth

Carl Molesworth is a former newspaper and magazine…

Illustrator

Adam Tooby

Adam Tooby is an internationally renowned digital…

Illustrator

Richard Chasemore

Richard Chasemore completed a four-year course in…

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