P-40 s/n

[pfm]

Hello,
The very first P-40 were ordered after the Jan. 1940's Wright Field "inspection": how comes that they got a 1939 fiscal year s/n ?
Thanks.
PFM

 

[Snautzer01]

Because budget was set in 1939?

 

[MiTasol]

Good question
I thought because the fiscal year starts 1 October but the following definition shoots that down.

Fiscal Year Versus Calendar Year

Federal Government Fiscal Year
The most important fiscal year for the economy is the federal government's fiscal year. It defines the U.S. government's budget. It runs from October 1 of the budget's prior year through September 30 of the year being described


Maybe un-allocated funds or more likely allocated funds for future purchases. Remember some allocations are for extended periods as in "we will spend $x in the next x years"

Hopefully someone who has studied the issue further can confirm this or shoot it down.

 

[MIflyer]

It is the contract year, not a production date year. By the way, the FY used to run July to July; they changed that in the late 70's because they had difficulty getting the budget done, so they took an extra 3 months and now sometimes don't ever get it done at all (e.g., Obama Admin).

By the way, usually production funds are multi-year and do not expire until 2 or 3 years after the end of the FY. O&M funds expire at the end of the FY. This probably was still true back then.

I used to work at the Pentagon.

 

[Dana Bell]

Hi PFM,

The original P-40 production contract was signed on 26 April 1939, not in 1940. As noted above, FY39 ran from 1 July 1938 through 30 June 1939.

Cheers,


Dana

 

[pfm]

Thanks Dana, my mistake !
Rgrds.
PFM

 

[MiTasol]

Thanks MIflyer and Dana