The P-66 was built in Downey, Calif., by the Vultee company founded by Gerard Vultee. The company was better known for its Trainer the BT-13 Valiant, the company good-naturedly dubbed the "Vultee Vibrator,"
The original version of the XP_66 had a pointed nose with a huge prop spinner that was flush against the forward fuselage. In this configuration, and acting as a company demonstrator, it made its maiden flight on Nov. 8, 1939. It was too late to be useful to the Army Air Forces. They already had commitments to the P-39, P-38, P-40, P-47 and P-51. It garnered some foreign interest from Sweden, Britain and China. Sweden was embargoed Britain took Three, 15 AAF Vanguards were earmarked for training duty with the 14th Pursuit Group at Oakland, Calif. The P-66 was 100mph slower than the P-47 & 51. Officials decided to transfer the remaining 129 Vanguards – now AAF property – to China.
Chinese pilots trained in the tricycle-gear P-39 found it difficult to land this unforgiving "tail dragger" and cracked up many of them during trial hops at Karachi. A mid-air collision watched by dozens at Karachi snuffed out the lives of two Chinese pilots in an instant. More of the planes were lost while being ferried to China and still more were simply stored in Karachi's colossal dirigible hangar, short on parts or plagued with structural problems. Said Timson: "Some of them rotted there."
Of 129 planes that reached Karachi, 79 made it to Chengdu. Alas, they resembled their adversaries: in a confusing Nov. 21, 1943 battle, Chinese pilots shot down a similar-looking Japanese Nakajima Ki-43 fighter but also downed two of their own P-66s! Years later, Communist Chinese forces took over a few P-66s.
In the close-up below notice the 55 gal drums and a hand pump for fueling.
The original version of the XP_66 had a pointed nose with a huge prop spinner that was flush against the forward fuselage. In this configuration, and acting as a company demonstrator, it made its maiden flight on Nov. 8, 1939. It was too late to be useful to the Army Air Forces. They already had commitments to the P-39, P-38, P-40, P-47 and P-51. It garnered some foreign interest from Sweden, Britain and China. Sweden was embargoed Britain took Three, 15 AAF Vanguards were earmarked for training duty with the 14th Pursuit Group at Oakland, Calif. The P-66 was 100mph slower than the P-47 & 51. Officials decided to transfer the remaining 129 Vanguards – now AAF property – to China.
Chinese pilots trained in the tricycle-gear P-39 found it difficult to land this unforgiving "tail dragger" and cracked up many of them during trial hops at Karachi. A mid-air collision watched by dozens at Karachi snuffed out the lives of two Chinese pilots in an instant. More of the planes were lost while being ferried to China and still more were simply stored in Karachi's colossal dirigible hangar, short on parts or plagued with structural problems. Said Timson: "Some of them rotted there."
Of 129 planes that reached Karachi, 79 made it to Chengdu. Alas, they resembled their adversaries: in a confusing Nov. 21, 1943 battle, Chinese pilots shot down a similar-looking Japanese Nakajima Ki-43 fighter but also downed two of their own P-66s! Years later, Communist Chinese forces took over a few P-66s.
In the close-up below notice the 55 gal drums and a hand pump for fueling.
