Liberty Foundation's Curtiss P-40E Warhawk

The Liberty Foundation is the owner and operator of this beautifully restored Curtiss P-40E Warhawk which is available for airshows, flybys, warbird rides and film.

The Curtiss P-40 was a development of the radial engined P-36/Hawk 75. The prototype XP-40 was a converted P-36A with the R-1830 replaced with an Allison V-1710-19 liquid cooled V-12. First flown in October 1938, the P-40 was evaluated at Wright Field in May 1939 resulting in an order for 524 aircraft.

Early P-40s were equipped with 2x .50 and 4x .30 caliber machine guns with the .50s mounted above the engine. With the P-40D the engine mounted guns were removed and later P-40s standardized on 6x .50 caliber machine guns mounted in the wings.

Although the P-40 was best known for using the Allison V-1710, the P-40F and P-40L were powered by the Packard V-1650-1 Merlin. The V-1650-1 had a single stage supercharger so it did not have the altitude performance of the P-51 fitted the later V-1650 with a two stage supercharger.

Over 13,700 P-40s had been built by the time production ended in December 1944. Although the P-40 did not have the best performance of its contemporaries, it did have a reputation as a rugged aircraft and it was available when needed.

The Curtiss P-40 was a formidable fighter and ground attack aircraft in the right hands. Employed in theatres from China to New Guinea to the Aleutians to North Africa, P-40 variants had many names including the Tomahawk, Kittyhawk and Warhawk. The Kittyhawk was the name given by British Commonwealth air forces to the P-40E model and subsequent variants.

The P-40 saw action with the Desert Air Force of the RAF in North Africa. Though not a first rate high altitude dogfighter, the Kittyhawk with its long range, bomb load and armour, became a formidable low-level fighter-bomber.

The P-40 is most famous as the aircraft of General Claire Chennault's American Volunteer Group - the Flying Tigers. Their P-40Bs defended China against the Japanese. P-40s also serviced in the Pacific, Middle East and Europe and defended North America in the Aleutians. The P-40 was operated by England, France, China, Russia, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, and Turkey as well as the United States.

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