Geoffrey Sinclair
Staff Sergeant
- 926
- Sep 30, 2021
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No.Most of the Tomahawks and many of the early (i.e. P-40D/E) Kittyhawks they got were ones that had already 'seen action' with the British, such as in North Africa, and this no doubt meant that the engine time was already substantially reduced. Some were noticeably 'clapped out' when they arrived.
Running military power for an hour, you'd better be defending your home base or you'll run out of gas on the way home.
Remember that US fighters didn't have automatic boost control until later, so exceeding Allison's boost guidelines (and by how much) was completely up to the pilot -- whether through negligence, desperation, or ... willful disobedience.
The only model that could get close to 3,000 FPM in a climb at low altitude was the original P-40, no suffix, which pre dated the P-40B.
The RAAF operated the P-40E, P-40N and Spitfire Vs during 1943-45 in Papua New Guinea.
The Spitfires were seen as the premier fighter - and much superior to the P-40E at altitudes above about 15,000 ft. As a result, Spitfires were generally assigned roles as interceptors and flew top cover for bombers/fighter-bombers or roaming escort for bombers.
The P-40s were more used in roles at low level intruders, including as intruders, close bomber escorts for mediums (less common for heavies), and as fighter bombers.
The RAAF did a lot of fighter-bomber operations with P-40s in 1942 through 1945. There are accounts of them operating P-40Ns with four guns and payloads of 1 x 500 and 2 x 300 lb bombs, and P-40Es with as many as 6 x 250 lb or 3 x 500 lb bombs.
Somewhat counter-intuitively, the P-40s were used for standing combat air patrols more than the Spitfires (at least in 1943/1944). The P-40s were seen as too slow to get to 20,000 ft and so needed a bit of a headstart if they were to intercept Japanese bombers at 25,000 ft or above. The Spitfires were seen as a bit fragile with too few spares available to be used up on standing patrols.
The RAAF had some notable reliability problems with their Kittyhawks.
The .50s were prone to stoppages. The P-40Es had manual clearing handles in the cockpit so the problem wasn't so bad. However, the 'lightweight' P-40N deleted this feature. The RAAF official history notes that on some missions, Kittyhawks often came home with more guns jammed than working. The issues were attributed to a combination of poor gun heating (already a familiar story with the Hispanos on the RAAF's Spitfires) and the lubricating oil becoming fouled and heavy (likely by the combination of dust, humidity, salt air and the poor heating).
The P-40's electrical system did not get on well with the hot, humid, wet climate of PNG and had a tendency to fail or short out. The instruments, gunsights and lighing system, along with the hydraulics for the landing gear, flaps & trim and automatic propeller govenor on the P-40 were all driven by an electric pump (most other aircraft had a motor driven pump). On the P-40N, only the landing gear had a back-up hand pump, which meant if the electrics stopped working the aircraft would have become incredibly difficult to fly.
P-40E and some P-40Ns had fuel system quirks. The linings of the fuel tanks on P-40Es and some P-40Ns delivered to the RAAF broke down when using high octane fuel. So, lots of RAAF Kittyhawks were plauged with leaky fuel tanks after a certain amount of time.
Over 330 mph top speed, six .50 cal mgs with cockpit armour, working radios, and competitive agility - a good start.
View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bG8kP3TAYBw&pp=ygUMcC00MCB3YXJoYXdr
In early Dec 1941 around 74 Curtiss P-40 Warhawk fighters were stationed at various airfields on the island of Oahu. Give them sufficient warning of the incoming IJN strike so that all/most can get to altitude on an intercept course and we'll see how well the P-40 does. Nagumo's first strike will face six or more ready and briefed formations like the below.
View attachment 759818
Zeros will be tough, especially as the USAAC pilots have no knowledge of its agility, but the Vals and Kates will suffer.
The P-40 was kept in production, like the Hurricane because it was a rugged and dependable aircraft, even though its performance was lacking by 1943/1944 standards, this is despite continuous improvement through different models. Against Japanese aircraft in the Pacific at that time, P-40s could hold their own as a fighter ground attack aircraft. The RAAF and RNZAF made good use of them and the Aussies had over 800, while the Kiwis received more than 300. Gotta keep Curtiss in business somehow...
The RAAF operated the P-40E, P-40N and Spitfire Vs during 1943-45 in Papua New Guinea.
Not much escort apparently and the Spitfires rarely got any air to air victories, other than at Darwin, because they were generally not encountering enemy fighters.
....
As I said, if you go through all the RAAF victory claims in the Pacific in WW2, you'll find the majority by far were made in P-40s / Kittyhawks.
The issue with gun stoppages seems to have been common with the Spitfires as well, and other Allied aircraft.
I think the Spifire's role when compared to that of the P-40's was the primary reason behind the Spitfire's lack of claims. P-40s were simply that much more likely to encounter enemy opposition. That and the larger numbers of P-40 squadrons operating.
Gun stoppages were an issue everywhere, to a greater or lesser degress. And they varied wildly from type to type and theater to theater.
However, the M2 Browning was generally considered a reliable weapon. So it surprised me to read in the RAAF official history about the air war against Japan to read about stoppage issues with the Brownings in the P-40. There's one reference to a squadron coming home after a ground attack mission with 41 of their guns unable to fire. As someone who had spent some time researching the topic of gun/cannon reliability and usually, that really stuck out. And the causes - inadequate or absent gun heating, congealed lubricants and dry/dusty conditions - reads exactly like a rehash of the Spitfire's problems in 1943.
On reliability generally, the RAAF experienced Hispano jam/stoppage every 180 to 200 rounds with their Spitfires in early 1943, improving to about 1 in 400 rounds by the end of the year. That compares to about 1 in 650 rounds for the Hispanos in the Beaufighter in the same area. At the same time, the RAF in the ETO were experiencing stoppages at a rate of about 1 in 600 rounds. By 1944/1945, this was 1 in 1560 rounds.
There's a story - which may be true or may be false - about Clive Caldwell having a Spitfire refitted with .50s recoverd from a crashed P-40. Reportedly due to his disgust with the Hispano's lack of reliability over Darwin. Only to have the brass get upset and ordering the aircraft returned to standard.
The tank changed a bit depending on model. However it was fair sized tank. For the P-40D & E the tanks were (in US gallons)There was a smallish internal tank in the fuselage, behind the pilot, I forgot how many gallons. It was often not filled during shorter missions, because it posed some of the same stability problems as the fuselage tank in the P-51. If it was filled (either for a longer ranged mission or an anticipated long-duration patrol flight) they would try to use that fuel first, even before the external tank.
The key factor though was that they would rarely fight with that tank full.
Yes it means the external tank. If the pilots kept the tank due to supply problems (few if any at the base?) the speed and climb both took a hit even if empty.This means with the external tank? Maybe that is what the Wikipedia numbers are based on.
Most of the over 75 gallon tanks were ferry tanks, sometimes they used a pair of tanks out on the wings? Sometimes the guns were removed for ferrying.There was a 52 gallon external tank then a 75 gallon and then some others.
I am not sure if the P-40 didn't adopt the belly tank from the P-39?I guess that is another thing I need to go look up, but I thought the 75 gallon was the standard P-40 drop tank that ended up being adopted for so many other planes...?
View attachment 760603
It's important to remember that the 20mm ammunition used over Darwin was Australian made and woefully out of spec as it was made in a brand new factory and rushed into service before the quality control standards were in place.There's a story - which may be true or may be false - about Clive Caldwell having a Spitfire refitted with .50s recoverd from a crashed P-40. Reportedly due to his disgust with the Hispano's lack of reliability over Darwin. Only to have the brass get upset and ordering the aircraft returned to standard.
I think in Australia there was also a serious issue with the local 20mm ammunition manufacturing, which required gunners and helpers to sift through every round before it got put into a belt. Eventually they corrected many of these problems.
St Mary's in Sydney.I not sure if Australia was manufacturing 20mm ammunition at that point (1943).