The P-40 Warhawk: The Allied Vindicator

[@gimmiebrown8718]

War Hawk was my nick name when I was a child.My father was A.V.G. Flying Tiger right into 14th Army Air Force.Master Sargent David James Brown.He was a crew chief.He would let the pilot borrow his airplane!!!!@!! One evening at a convention my Dad told me to bring my book of ww2 aircraft he took me to a table and introduced me to Don Berlin,the designer of P-40 .... he signed my P-40 picture.Still have that book.... and them guys were as rowdy as hell to the day they died....we did pranks and stuff all the time and i was always in trouble.... so many stories.....meeting Tex Hill,General Chenault,too many to list.They were all brothers and for one week every year in the summer somewhere in the United States they were my family,and to you sir,very well done on all aspects.Keep up the good work and thanks for stirring up all those memories

[@bennybenitez2461]

From this Miami, Florida based American Legion Post Commander and former Post Historian, I salute you on a well presented and informative presentation. Thank you as Americans like you keep the tradition of our history alive to newer generations.👍🇺🇸

[@Gronicle1]

Dad spent early war years as aero engineer building P-40s. It was one of his favorite builds.

[@jimsteele9975]

As an 81 year old commercially rated former pilot and aviation enthusiast, may I just say I loved your video.....the very first model airplane that I ever completed all on my own was a P-40 Warhawk.....it also featured the famous "shark mouth" and was the best flying of all of my models....why, I am not sure but I prefer to think it was that I loved the design so much that I took extra special care in it's construction., although it's possible that the design itself was the reason. I have owned and flown 4 personal aircraft during my life.....I no longer fly due to age and physical infirmity, but I miss it the way someone misses a long lost love..... I just wish that somehow I had gotten to fly a real P-40 in something other than my dreams.

[@danielcunningham2394]

finally a p40 doc of substance.

[@shockwaveairhistory]

I love hearing stories where fact is stranger than fiction but I got sick of all the boring documentaries that were too afraid to add energy to their videos, so instead of waiting, I made this channel, glad people like you who appreciate that are coming by

[@gsr4535]

Interesting. The P-40 has never received much appreciation over the decades. Good to see. And nicely done video. 👍

[@billstrossman1134]

Yes; The P-40 Was one of our greatest fighters in WW2 We later got the P-47 Thunderbolt and P-51 Mustang but the P-40 was there at the beginning. In fact, the Army service fighter was the Curtiss P-36 Hawk but Curtiss engineers and managers realized early on that the P--36 wasn't fast enough. They designed the XP-37, a slick prototype but Curtiss determined that developing and de-bugging would take too long so they beefed up the P-36 air frame to use the Allison V-1710 engine and the plane was "Off To The Races." RAF pilots who flew it liked it better than their Hawker Hurricane (an earlier design) and much preferred the P-40 and the Germans were more afraid of it. Curtiss did a great job but got stabbed in the back by a Congressional Committee accusing them of selling our Army "Death trap fighters and named the P-40. Well, a veritable parade of pilots whose planes had been shot full of holes and brought them back safely caused a large number of Red Faces on Congressional faces.

[@chlebowg]

At 26:00 it shows production ending in Nov 1940. That should be Nov 1944!

[@robertfawcett4674]

The personal stories about the pilots who flew these fighters makes it much more exciting

[@westentrance]

Outstanding video. My favorite Tigers were Pappy Boyington, Dick Rossi and Tex Smith. I love the story of the meeting between Winston Churchill and Clare Chennault. Chennault was a huge guy with big hands. After meeting and shaking hands with Chennault, Churchill remarked to an aide “ I’m sure glad he’s on our side”.

[@C.MillerDesighn]

By the way, keep up the good work. Lots of good info in your video. And I'm glad you picked the P-40 as your first aircraft to highlight. I'm from Buffalo NY, home of every P-40 ever built. I live about 5 minutes from where the Curtiss was, so I'm a huge fan of the aircraft. I've always felt it gets the short end of the stick. Many articles and videos tend to compare it later versions of its axis counterparts, but when properly compared to its contemporarys, it was comparable, and later, when it was up against better opponents, it could more than hold its own with a good pilot at its controls. It always did what it was asked to and more. Keep up the good work my friend.

[@harveydecker6381]

Simply amazing. Interesting and informative. Thanks

[@kieranh2005]

According to one of the pilots who flew them, you could outturn the zero in a P40... if you could dictate the speed of the engagement. The zero had huge ailerons that gave it its awesome turning performance... at lower speeds. At higher speeds, it suffered aileron lock and wouldn't turn very well... where the P40 was not suffering at all.

[@shockwaveairhistory]

I saw that in my research and thought about adding it in as a fun fact

[@edwardpate6128]

The P-40 was regarded as among the most maneuverable Allied fighters in WW2.

[@rnstoo1]

My father was an RAF airframe fitter in N. Africa during WW2. He used to work on P40's. He called them "Kittyhawks"

[@margretsdad]

The P-40 D through N operated by the RAF, RAAF, RNZAF and SAAF were all called "Kittyhawk". The term "Warhawk" was not employed by these services.

[@nolanbowen8800]

Thank you. This is is comprehensive and thorough. I have long known of the P 40, the AVG and other places it contributed in the fight for freedom. In a way it was like the Hawker Hurricane, somewhat unsung but England and the Spitfires would and could not have won the Battle of Britton without them. At least one of the Flying Tigers was from Wyoming, but I have been unable to find anything on him.

[@guywerry6614]

Much respect to you for this video and your attitude towards the men of the Flying Tigers. Hearing the stories is important. I was priveledged to hear some of my Father-in-Law's stories. He was a bomb-aimer with the RCAF in the India / Burma theatre. Although they were flying as Brits they flew the American B-24 Liberators - the English planes couldn't handle the tropical humidity. They did some HAIRY stuff - skipping bombs into the sides of Japanese ships at 50 feet off the deck with the Liberator, which was a notoriously difficult / heavy airplane to fly, and done without a co-pilot. He also spoke of the other hardships - lack of refrigeration / quality of food - their cook once had to go through a CRATE of eggs in order to get enough unspoiled eggs to make breakfast for ONE bomber crew. Good to hear your appreciation for these men.

[@1977Yakko]

I always had an admiration for the planes and pilots that held the line in the difficult early days. The F4F Wildcat and P-40 have always been favorites of mine.

[@bldbar118]

10/10 Would watch again :) Love the thoughtful presentation and enthusiasm.

[@shockwaveairhistory]

gr8 comment i r8 it 8/8 m8

[@adirondacker007]

I had a good friend, Col. Gerald Edwards, who flew with the 325th FG, aka Checkertails. They started in P-40's. In Ernest McDowell's book on the group, their trip to war was detailed. They were instructed to taxi their fighters through New York City - yes, down the streets... including Broadway, out to the docks. From there, the aircraft, with the pilots in the cockpits, were hoisted aboard a carrier. They sailed to about 300 miles from the African coast, where they took off and flew to their new airbase. While in Africa, Gerald occasionally ferried P-40's to China for use by the 23rd FG, the air corps group that absorbed the disbanded AVG. He once told me about tapping wingtips in flight with Maj. David (Tex) Hill. Apparently that was a game fighter pilots played at the time.

[@shockwaveairhistory]

Imagine any of that happening today, what a wild time that was

[@migueldelacruz4799]

I love your down to earth and personal approach to aviation history and the pilots and aircraft that made it.

[@shockwaveairhistory]

Thanks, I think there's a lot of history/aviation channels that discuss the topics in a monotone manner, thought it was high time someone changed that

[@nickdanger3802]

Churchill "Our most vital need is therefore the delivery at the earliest possible date of the largest possible number of Curtiss P-40 fighters." page 86 The Burning Blue Addison and Crang

[@dennishogan9780]

Hate to hear they are all gone. Gone but not forgotten. RIP. P40 is an icon

[@jeremydrewry6717]

Daaamn, this was really good!!! P-40 is my favorite aircraft.

[@bartmansd71]

Great job. P-40 is my favorite. The husband of my Mom's best friend flew the P-40 during WWII. I wish that I had talked to him more about his experiences. The best scenes of P-40s in movies? Tora, Tora, Tora - Welch and Taylor taking off from Haleiwa. And any scenes with the P-40 in the movie "1941."

[@Activated_Complex]

Thanks for the video! It’s good to see this dependable old warbird being shown some love.

[@jimpottssoundandvision]

Great video! I regularly watch AVG documentaries and P-40 documentaries and never learned about this great Australian pilot before now. I would watch more warbird history videos like this one. Cheers, JP

[@shockwaveairhistory]

Well stay tuned cause the next one should be right up your alley

[@seventhson27]

A few years ago my wife and I visited the Air Museum in Seattle. The have a WWII section that includes a P40. While we were touring the area we noticed an older Chinese couple gaping at the P40. I thought it was kind of odd until I recalled, "They flew like Tigers. Flying Tigers." The P40 was to the Chinese what the Spitfires and Hurricanes were to the British. The Japanese bombed at will, until the Tigers came.

[@alneal100]

That's a great air museum. I live in Aberdeen, WA.

[@matersworkshop6123]

You failed to mention that a famous Flying Tiger pilot was Greg 'Pappy' Boyington of the Black Sheep Squadron

[@000-z8n]

BIG oversight...but an otherwise excellent first effort, IMO.

[@tempestfury8324]

It's not an oversight...."Pappy" Boyington (who received the Medal of Honor) was only marginally effective with the AVG Flying Tigers. In his autobiography he claimed six kills. This has never been confirmed. There were 19 aces in the AVG and Boyington wasn't one of them. He was credited with two aerial victories.

[@johnmoldoch3338]

Greg was the first man to tell you " show me a Hero, I'll show you a Bumh". He was very self aware.

[@Grommok]

RIP to The AVG flyers. As kid I idolized them and the P-40. And thank you for making this video. And I do know those terms.

[@leonhsiung1951]

Thank you for upload this video tape, my father used to work with Flying tiger at Kunming airbase during the WWII as aircraft ground crew for many years then CAT in Taiwan during Kore war.

[@shockwaveairhistory]

Hope I did your old man proud

[@leonhsiung1951]

My dad passed away in 2001, he was 87 years old.

[@leonhsiung1951]

Yes, my dad will be very proud.

[@genemartin6962]

My favorite WWII aircraft. By far the best paint job of any aircraft, anywhere, in any war!!!!!

[@jonking8268]

Very good production. Thank you.

[@MegaMarineRecon]

Since I live in Plainfield, been to that museum many times. Also did a skydive at the Aurora airport for a show!

[@crankyyankee7290]

Great job,I like the way you do it. I have a collection of Popular Science magazines, which span from the late '20s to some of the 1960s. During the war the P40 was being criticized as inferior to other fighters, some tests were conducted where the armor, self-sealing tanks, and other things the Japanese normally didn't bother with, the P40 in that form turned out to be more than a match for the Zero, with the huge advantage that it still didn't fall apart after a few good hits. One thing I have been waiting for would be a good presentation on the American Eagle squadrons (R.A.F.) from your style I think you could do quite a job of an it-one member of the Eagles hailed from the town I live in.

[@shockwaveairhistory]

American eagle squadrons, now that's a decent idea for a future video

[@crystalr7602]

Love hearing about these old war birds and some of the stories associated with them.

[@captainclone1367]

My Dad and Grandfather built P-40's during World War II! My favorite airplane, along with the P-47 which Dad also worked on, the P-47G's.

[@shockwaveairhistory]

There will definitley be a Thunderbolt video in the not distant future, that's my favorite WWII aircraft

[@captainclone1367]

@@shockwaveairhistory I keep adding a reply about a XP-47H video but it seems to get erased!!

[@Deaddirewolf42]

Outstanding work brother, I hope more people will give this outstanding warbird the respect it deserves.

[@caseruels1924]

An excellent presentation as I love this airplane. One small correction is the P-40 was produced until November of 1944; not 1940. I thoroughly enjoyed this post. Keep it going

[@gilarmenta1526]

I prefer the P40 Warhawk! Beautiful air monster!🇺🇸

[@rangerup1804]

Great video. Liked the way you researched the facts and presented it.

[@martentrudeau6948]

Good history, it's very interesting. One way to look at the P-40, it was the right plane, at the right time in history. It's was a successful plane.

[@jacknabox2158]

Always like this plane especially with the shark teeth. I think a lot of the pilots commented about the P-40 that it flew & was used more like a Tank then a sports car or the faster more nimble fighter's. Good job👍👍

[@cosmothot]

Awesome video man, hope to see more content from you in the future!

[@shockwaveairhistory]

Thanks bud, I'll keep the entertainment coming

[@benjaminrush4443]

Excellent Job ! Thank you very much.

[@jameshileman9326]

Thank you for promoting a great aircraft!!! The first to defend America at Pearl Harbor.

[@xenaguy01]

Actually, the first American aircraft to defend America was a PBY that dropped bombs over the mini-sub that USS Ward then promptly sunk.

[@excelnemesis7667]

upped By Lts George Welch and Kenneth Taylor P-40Bs only armed with .30 cal ammo from Haliewa Field

[@mopardoctor9966]

My dad was in China from 1944 till the end of the war. 14th Air Force, 51st Fighter Group, 26th Fighter Squadron.

[@coastalbbq1]

I enjoyed the video! Nice presentation and content. I follow several aviation channels and added yours to my subscriptions. Having grown up with a USAF pilot ( ret. Col. '61- '88 active duty ) father , listening to stories, watching aviation history is a touchstone to childhood memories. Pappy Boyington was a guest in our house for dinner when I was in Jr. High. Long story.

[@shockwaveairhistory]

I appreciate the support, subscriptions mean a lot for growth here. I do my best to tell the most stories from history but knowing first hand how Pappy Boyington liked his steak cooked might have me beat hahah

[@coastalbbq1]

@@shockwaveairhistory This was around 1981? I doubt there were picky steak eaters on air force bases. We lived on Maxwell AFB on Inner Circle about 5 houses from the O Club. One of dad's volunteer jobs was to organize the annual airshow for the surrounding community including the Thunderbirds and many other aircraft including C-5's, Navy jets, visiting dignitaries and celebrity mini-Oshkosh, you name it. It took months of off and on and he liked doing it. That year he managed to get a commitment from Boyington to speak at the O Club. The week of the airshow it was a full time job, all hands on deck. I think Boyington was in his early 60s. He flew in commercial and someone took him to the VOQ ( visiting officers qtrs) which was a block from our house. Our home phone was the only number he had other than some official number. (this was 1981 ) . My sister answered, saying "It's for dad, some pilot..." I picked up the phone ( it was 6 pm, and dad told me to take any airshow calls until he got back from Base Ops) . He introduced himself as "Greg Boyington, I'm at the BOQ" and was wondering where the nearest place to eat was? I said " My dad said he'd be home soon but we're cooking dinner now. We're across the street and a few houses down. " He said " That'll be fine. " I gave him our address and he said he'd walk over in an hour. If you've never been to Maxwell AFB, it's like the club med of any military base, at least in the 80s. Dad showed up and was somehow expecting Greg. I have no idea how. Mom and dad always had a wonderful weekend dinner so there was no alteration. They also were consummate conversationalists, and had a well stocked bar.

[@shockwaveairhistory]

@@coastalbbq1 Talk about a unique experience, I certainly don't have anything to beat that. Definitely something I'd be rubbing in my friends faces every chance I got hahah

[@genek2756]

Very very well done. You should go to the Curtiss air museum in Hammondsport NY.

[@roger8750]

Well done young man..a superb video.

[@jamesmcgrath1952]

I'm old now but the P-40 has always been my favorite fighter since I was a kid. Imagine what it could have done with a two stage supercharger.

[@shockwaveairhistory]

The longer it's been a favorite, the more worthy it is

[@waveman2952]

One of my favorite planes and first model my father and I built as a kid interested in aviation. Ended up in the Navy flying in P3's hunting subs then learning to fly on my own and becoming a commercial pilot. Now into building kitplanes and would love to design newer model with a V8 Conversion at about 85% scale. Great plane and I got to meet Pappy Boyington at an airshow in Dallas 30 years ago!

[@chardtomp]

That was an airframe that really deserved a better engine. If they could have all been equipped with Merlin engines the plane probably would have had an even more impressive service record.

[@captainclone1367]

The P-40F was a Merlin powered P-40. It isn't the power plant it's the P-36 wing airfoil that was used for all P-40's. The P-51 had a laminar flow wing which added to it's speed, as well as the radiator exhaust design.

[@dukecraig2402]

The Merlin is not a more powerful engine than an Allison, that's a myth and the P38 is proof of that, the fact is when the Allison was developed in the 30's the USAAC paid for it's development and forbid Allison from spending any of it's money developing a 2 stage supercharger for it, they wanted all aircraft to be developed with the same type of supercharging system that the P38, P47, B17, B25, B29 and all other US Army aircraft had, a single stage supercharger with a turbo to compound it above 9,000 ft or so for high altitude. The P40 was originally supposed to have that type of system, it was originally being developed as the XP37, but before it was fully developed all Allied countries were in desperate need for aircraft so like the P39 the turbo was dropped to speed development time and press it into service. The fact is the even the Merlin didn't have a 2 stage 2 speed supercharger until mid 1942, even the early Packard built Merlin's had single stage supercharger's so putting a Merlin in the P40 when it was first being built wouldn't have made any difference, in fact it would have had slightly less performance than the Allison version since all things being equal like supercharging system's and boost levels and octane rating the Allison makes more power than a Merlin does. Before the war was over a 2 stage supercharger was developed for the Allison in the production version of the Twin Mustang, it was rated at 2,250 HP, a 2 stage supercharger Merlin on the same 130/150 octane fuel made 2,050 HP under the same conditions, that's 200 HP less than the Allison, you can't compare a late war Merlin with a 2 stage high altitude supercharger running late war higher octane fuel to an early war Allison with a single stage supercharger (which is half of it's intended supercharging system) running on early war lower octane fuel and draw conclusions from that, try comparing the power from a Merlin in a Spitfire that flew in the BOB with it's single stage supercharger on the early fuel and you'll see it's less powerful than an Allison under the same conditions, or take a look at the P51J that was test fitted with the same 2 stage supercharger Allison that was in the Twin Mustang, tests showed it would have been a 491 MPH plane, that smokes any Merlin version of the Mustang. The narrative that the Merlin was a more powerful engine is predicated on the Mustang story and it completely ignores timelines and the fact that the 2 stage supercharger high altitude version of the Merlin wasn't available until mid 1942 anyways, it's an easy sell to people who don't understand the supercharging system's, timeline of developments and the fact that all the engines increased their power through the war because they could run higher boost levels due to the higher octane US fuels becoming available.

[@meaders2002]

@@dukecraig2402 I don't recall the exact numbers but early in the war there was a shortage of production facilities for 130 and 150 octane fuel. The Brits fought the battle of Britain on 100 octane American-sourced AVgas. Their go-to had been 87 octane. Some of the credit for the Battle of Britain must go to the increased performance of their aircraft by way of US fuel mfg's. Considerable research went into production processes for adequate supplies of 130 & 150 octane fuels. The issue was cost. Wartime price of high octane fuels were nearly $1.00/gallon in 1939. By the end of 1942 prices were 2-3 cents per gallon. This permitted long-range bombing campaigns, high altitude air superiority and worldwide reach. German propeller aircraft all used 85 octane fuels and frankly brilliant, two-stage superchargers that managed induction temperatures and controlled detonation. Of The Packard Merlin's of the late war some continued to run130 fuel others ran 150. 51% of Soviet high octane fuels were supplied by the US. Without the vast quantity of low-cost AVgas the Allied air war would not have evolved as it did.

[@dukecraig2402]

@@meaders2002 That's right, and that's just a small part of rating aircraft engine performance, the fact is rating these engines is a very tricky thing, first you have early war ratings on lower octane and lower boost levels and on top of that you have ratings for different engines at different altitudes, it's not as simple as looking up something on Wikipedia and thinking that it's the definitive proof of anything, they give numbers that are from altitude's and octane levels that are all over the place and almost never under the same circumstances. And to complicate matters even more is something I don't think you understand about the 130/150 rating, that's the rating's for the same exact fuel not two different one's, it's a rating under two different throttle settings. Then to throw yet another monkey wrench into thing's is the subject of the Russian's using the high octane US fuel, they didn't use it in it's pure form, they mixed it with their lower octane fuel to raise it some but also stretch out what they had, so their planes weren't running on and weren't tuned for 130/150 octane, their's were tuned for the average octane after the fuels were mixed, whatever that was I don't know because I've never seen a listing of what it came out to. There's a P51 pilot who talks about a mission he was on where they flew from their home base to a base in Russia and had to refuel there in order to make it back, the ground crew in Russia didn't understand that they were supposed to tank up his plane with straight US fuel instead of the mix, on the return trip when he would try to throttle up the engine it would start sputtering and missing, which was from engine knock because it was tuned for the straight US fuel, he said in his testimony that if they'd have gotten jumped by German fighter's he'd have been a sitting duck since he couldn't run the engine anywhere near full throttle. The narrative that the Merlin was more powerful than the Allison is a complete myth, it's based on a simplified version of the whole Mustang story and completely ignores timelines and supercharger types, it's a bedtime story that the RAF likes to tell their kids at night.

[@meaders2002]

@@dukecraig2402 My (incomplete) understanding of the high octane fuels comes from Greg's Airplanes here on KZbin. I do clearly recall that different numbers for engine designations were used for Merlins set up for 130/150. The change referred to the gearing in the supercharger. For turbocharged, P38, P47 aircraft early and late war models differed too. P47s could run as high as 75 in. pressure in the manifold given the highest octane fuels. If I recall correctly 130 fuel allowed 50-55 manifold pressure. Greg's Airplanes does a much better job explaining these matters and he frequently cites NACA (early acronym for NASA) and USAAF manuals/training materials for WWII aircraft. My errors are those of misunderstanding. I've a suspicion his understanding is as rigorous as it is technically detailed.

[@johnwayne6501]

Im impressed with your vast knowledge at such a young age. I'm an older guy who been studying all kinds of planes of world war 2 and the P-40 held the line until better and faster planes came through. Even the Japanese had acouple captured dutch for their own evaluations. Truly an unsung hero which is why it's my favorite american fighter because it held the line just the the Hawker Hurricane.

[@shockwaveairhistory]

You might be shocked just how many young people are interested in history. As for my role, I'm just trying to make learning about it entertaining. I might say I spend dozens of hours on wikipedia so you don't have to

[@306champion]

Thank YOU for a great and informative video. And thanks for telling the Story of Clive "Killer" Caldwell. Though as far as I know he got the name after leaving the RAAF and yes he didn't like it at all. For a bloke of his calibre he receives very little if any recognition even here in Australia so thanks again for flying the flag for him.

[@todaywefly4370]

Good job! I did just happen upon this video but stayed for the whole show.

[@irpat54]

Awesome Channel, I'm glad you popped up in my feed, and to run across it while talking about my favorited plane, I am doubly blessed... and yes I did subscribe...

[@Leescreativeart]

Good job with the video. I’m in California on my way to work in Malibu and the story was interesting and entertaining. I am in a group build right now building a P 40 and listening to different videos about the history. You covered quite a lot, which is good and I like the stories of the aces. This looks like it’s three years old so hopefully you’re making videos still, not great. Good job.

[@donaldwarren6613]

Just came across your video and loved it especially the story telling. I love machines but really enjoy hearing about the people who used them

[@shockwaveairhistory]

I aim to entertain

[@johnoakes3106]

My father flew P-40's during flight training during WWII. He said it was a nice plane to fly and he enjoyed flying them. Then he would say, "Thank God I didn't have to fly them against the Luftwaffe." He flew P-47's for that. Made it home and made the military his career. He also flew in Korea and Vietnam but the P-47 was his all-time favorite plane.

[@davidmunro6939]

The most beautiful American War plane of world War two. The designers and American men and woman that built these planes put their heart and soul in to this original A10 PROTOTYPE.

[@billconnolly5896]

The P-40 was in the “fighting” in the Far East, based out of China, when The Flying Tigers were flying them out of China, by American pilots, fighting the Japanese.

[@tonyschiffiler4816]

Another great aircraft made in the U.S.A. thank you .

[@adirondacker007]

Great job with your video! It's well researched, detailed, and most importantly - accurate! This comes from a guy who, in third grade (1978?) , found John Toland's book about the Flying Tigers in the school library and was inspired to begin a lifelong study of military aviation. We need more of this!

[@cosmiclovesongs9858]

Thanks for doing the P-40. You expressed what my feeling that this is an underappreciated aircraft. Went everywhere and did everything during very dark times for the allies. I enjoy the stories! The planes are part of the interest, but without the pilots, they would be meaningless.

[@shockwaveairhistory]

War stories aren't stories about equipment, they're about people doing great things with that equipment

[@cosmiclovesongs9858]

Three suggestions for the next . . . P-38, F4F, or Hawker Hurricane . . . early WWII allies making due with what they had to defeat ultimate evil. These stories remind me of the great epics, the "Star Wars" rebellion vs. the empire.- Thanks, and keep up the fight!

[@MtnManLucas]

My father, a W2 Army soldier, loved the P-40. It was indeed one rugged, can-do fighter aircraft.

[@scorpio5289]

Learned some history I did not know.Very interesting.

[@shockwaveairhistory]

That's that goal, thanks for learning hah

[@rafaeltorres2886]

Nice presentation.

[@owl5927]

Love the P-40. So awesome looking.

[@paxwallacejazz]

Good work.

[@pbasswil]

This was a terrific, new-paradigm _pre-war_ craft. The fact that it wasn't conceived for WWII European conditions didn't stop it from being endlessly useful throughout the war, across the world. It was also one of the planes that set the general look for later Allied fighters - everything that followed it over the next 5 or 7 years kinda looked like it, in one way or another. (Good thing, too - it was darn handsome!) Now if they could only have crammed 50% more power into its engine bay, we'd now be classing it with the Spit and the 109, et al.

[@guywerry6614]

For ideas, you may want to consider talking about the BCATP (British Commonwealth Air Training Program). Brandon (Manitoba, Canada) has a small but decent museum dedicated to this at the airport there, which was built for the BCATP. Large numbers of small towns across Manitoba / western Canada had airports built and tens of thousands of aircrew of all stripes were trained there to feed the massive air war of WW2. I actually don't know how big the program was - but there are dozens of small towns in Manitoba that still have airports that were built as part of this program. The Brandon museum several years ago managed to get a Hurricane, which has always been a favourite of mine - it was a reverential experience for me to be able to walk around it and photograph it, even in the incomplete state that it's in.

[@jackduncan834]

That was great ! You did a very thorough job of explaining my favorite planes history ! Thank You !

[@rickreeder1698]

Very well done ! The P-40 has always been one of my favorite fighters of WW2 . I built many models of the P-40 and when I first saw the Cox control line P-40 in that box with the sharks mouth printed on the top of the box and the clear plastic allowing you to see the model inside I was in love ! Only one problem ... It was $10.00 ... This was early 1960s and $10.00 was a lot of money then . I grew up in the San Fernando Valley in L.A. and there is a place called Travel Town in or near Griffith Park and they had an original P-40 there for some time . It was missing some of the fabric from the tail where people had pulled off pieces for souvenirs and part of the canopy on one side had been torn and sort of bent out . I was a bit pissed that a real P-40 was not being shown the respect that I believed it deserved . Then one time I went back to see it and it was gone . I would imagine that someone purchased it for restoration to flyable condition or for static display . As time goes on and the people that flew and serviced these machines pass away we lose a lot of the factual history of these machines that helped us to overcome those threat's that came so close to ending our freedom and plunging this world into a darkness that we might never have been able to recover from , or maybe would have been years and at the cost of many , many lives to do so . The P-40 along with the F4U , the P-38 , Thunderbolt , the Hellcat , B-17 , B-24 , B-25 , the others and all the trainor's were all instrumental in helping our forces to defeat and preserve our freedom and way of life . Thank God for that generation of men and women . And as far as the reality of respect for the P-40 , a number of pilots that I have met over the years and who flew a number of different fighters told me that " It might not have been the fastest , might not have have the best high altitude performance , wasn't as glamorous as some of the others but what we had to do with it we were able to get the job done and would so often after getting the hell beat out of it , would so often bring us back home ... We loved it ! "

[@jimbernitt7590]

This is new info... to me but good job... on clive caldwell....being one of the 3.. allied pilots to shoot down at least 1 air craft from all three axis powers....one of the other two i believe is levi chase.. listed as a flying tiger... and i.m unaware of who the 3rd..is.... have a good day this was an.. excellent.. video....

[@jimbernitt7590]

Hi... i like this ...video and i always liked the warhawk even when i was in my teen.s this is well done... with this structure.. and con tent you could cover all the fighter.s.... of wwll... individually.. good job... have a nice day...

[@warbuzzard7167]

This was very, very, very goddamn good. You and your goofball friends are to be commended for your excellence in relaying history - real, tangible history - in an approachable and entertaining manner. I like your style. I will be watching you.

[@shockwaveairhistory]

You won't have to wait long, stay tuned

[@xenaguy01]

Enjoyed very much. Good research, good anecdotes. Keep it up.

[@shockwaveairhistory]

Thanks bud, standby for the next one, it's brewing in the editing room now

[@sthavoc8]

Always wanted a P-40 with that shark mouth, never had the money or even find one. Great video, can't believe it took me so long to find this Chanel, subed now. Thank You and keep them coming..

[@jasonboze]

This is Aweosme and informative

[@Super64heavy]

I enjoyed your video very much. Thank you

[@jackbower8671]

And that is why I've always loved the P40

[@russellrobins5320]

Hanscom AFB in Bedford MA has a P-40 on display. The base was literally an invention of ww2 as its land was purchased in 1941 and initially used as a P-40 training base through 1943. The squadrons assigned to hanscom at that point were 85th and the 318th. The P-40 on display is literally set on a post with sheet metal over the cockpit painted to appear as reflective looking glass. Not the best looking P-40 as for condition but it still is inspiring.

[@markwarren7959]

Wild Bill Kelsoe flew one!

[@jmitchell3661]

Outstanding

[@thebluegreengoose]

About 1990, me and a co worker, Engineers on the C-17, went to s dinner at Grand Prairie Muni. A P-40 Pilot sat Next to me. He said in North Afracia, they would keep 3 ready for takeoff. To fly, they would crank the engines start, and IMEDIATEDLY take off as the engine would overheat.

[@hangie65]

Excellent video and well researched. Thoroughly enjoyed it. I know you covered a lot, but a bit more on the story of the conception and development of the P-40 would have rounded up the video nicely. Keep up the good work.

[@steveperry1344]

thnx for the story and info on one of my favorite planes.

[@petercabanillas8719]

Nicely done on yer first video. I’m all in on any aircraft. Of course having met Pappy Boyington, F4U’s are near and dear.

[@shockwaveairhistory]

Thanks, I'm proud of this first attempt, more proud of the reception it's gotten. I'll be working on more, and the Corsair will certainly be getting it's own video in the future. In the meantime, we've got 1 other video on a Naval aircraft you might like. Would love to see that video takeoff the way this one has, it can only do that with the help of viewers like you. Thanks again

[@vansongs]

Nice to see something a little different. Good work.

[@darko4608]

Thank you for the video, I really enjoyed it! I like your personal take on what was cool and interesting in history - you don't hear that in the other historic videos. Thanks for choosing my favourite plane too!

[@rossco6470]

Great video. nice to see an appreciation of this widely used workhorse. The RAAF (spoken as "R- double A- F" here in Australia) used model F through model N to great effect, before they were supplemented with Spitfire Mk. 8s and eventually P51 Ds. There is an original P40 E "Polly" in the Australian War Memorial, Canberra.

[@waynesnyder4906]

Good job 👍 ! Good information. Nice presentation too. Thanks 👍

[@JTkirk21508]

Great video on the P40 "KittyHawk". I cant wait to see what you have next. Cough cough (B25)

[@shockwaveairhistory]

I would love to do a video on the Mitchell and the Doolittle Raider's some day in the future

[@brianpetersen3429]

Excellent video!

[@billparrack8612]

Great vidio. I fell in love with the P40 when I was a kid and read about the flying tigers I read it 6 or 7 times still have a copy awsome aircraft tough AZ a tank and mean as wolverine. After reading the comments I understand why they had the power settings they did but flown correctly it shot all maner of the enemy down But the P40.never got the recognition it deserved. I love those P40s

[@terryhiggins5077]

Always loved the look of the P-40, it's got that burly yet sleek build. Ad to that fact that it had 6 .30 cals (or all .50s, or mix there of depending on the model) it packed a helluva punch, and was armored to boot made it a plane to be feared when used in its intended role. Come to think of it, I'm honestly kind of surprised it never had a variant designated as P/A or A/P given its performance as a ground attack aircraft as well as a fighter.

[@rmrtxchl264]

Nicely done! Good luck in your future ventures! I'm sure they'll all be as well done as this. Subscribed!

[@lsford777]

There were 1311 Warhawks manufactured with Merlin engines. It was the F model and was good high and low with the 2-stage supercharger. They would have made more but those engines were in short supply because of Mustangs, Spitfires, Hurricanes, Mosquitos, Lancasters; American car maker Packard was licensed to produce them, but wow! Lots of planes needed them.

[@johnkeester3865]

Very well done thanks as a kid i collected models of all WW11 planes and this was my all time favorite I would hand them up by strings in different dive configurations always with the tiger diving down on a zero which I put realistic bullet holes in by taking a looking glass using hot sun rays to create a realistic bullet hole lol

[@JeffLacina]

Great job for your first video! Looking forward to more and yes, I subscribed. ;)

[@donf3877]

Well done sir, very well done. It angers me when people turn down their noses at the P-40... and the P-39 and F4F as well. If the Army Air Corp and Navy would have listened to Chennault, and incorporated his tactics from the beginning, there would have been far fewer pilots on our side killed in action against the Zero. You always fight with your strength against the enemy's weakness. The kill ratio of the Flying Tigers showed Chennault knew how to get the most out of his planes and pilots, and that most was the use of proper tactics. All three planes have deficiencies... but so did the Zero. And yes, the P-38 and F6F and F4U were far superior to the P-39 and P-40 and F4F. BUT... by the time they entered service, the P-39 and P-40 and F4F had already sent most of Japan's experienced pilots to a grave!

[@glenwilliams9752]

Great video. The P40 was my first model as a kid and the John Wayne movie was my favorite. I went on to become a Master Army Aviator and flew Huey Gunships in Viet Nam. Look into the Charlie model Huey gunship for a historical piece. We where not as glamorous as Cobras but we have a rich history. Keep up the good work.

[@shockwaveairhistory]

Couldn't talk aviation history if I didn't do a Huey video eventually, that day shall come

[@glenwilliams9752]

@@shockwaveairhistory Look forward to it. Thanks