Two Curtiss P-40 fighters - low and loud

Two Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawk fighters at low altitude while displaying at the Classic Fighters Marlborough 2007 airshow.
The shark-nosed P-40E of the Old Stick And Rudder Company (www.oldstickand...) is one of only two remaining airworthy Royal New Zealand Air Force P-40s.
This clip is a segment from the official Classic Fighters 2007 DVD which is available from:
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[@johnoakes3106]

my father flew P-40's during the war years and liked it. He said it flew great but he thanked God he didn't have to fly it in combat. He flew P-47's against the best the Luftwaffe had in 1943 and made it home. Once thanks to the ruggedness of the P-47. It took a cannon shell in the engine and made it home. Put a new engine in and it was good as new. A P-51 would've been in the channel. He flew in the military until 1969 in many different aircraft and the P-47 was his favorite.

[@veilofpersephone1480]

Great story! Glad your father made it back home. Greetings from Germany!

[@jharris0341]

Respect.

[@raymondmoomaw5423]

Love hearing the thunder of those Allison engines.

[@ElwoodPDowd-nz2si]

This plane has such clean lines. It is a great looking plane.

[@patb5266]

Just one badass looking aircraft! Love it.

[@richardsilva-spokane3436]

I LOVE the sound of those engines!!! A beautiful, powerful, rugged fighter!!!!!👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@HistAvFilmUnit]

Yes indeed!

[@fubarmodelyard1392]

I love the P-40 despite her limitations and the sound of those Allisons.

[@RichardFStripeRendezvous]

Were you paying attention to the video?

[@chaosbreaker657]

I think it was the high-altitude performance handicap of the P-40 that was being referred to.

[@veilofpersephone1480]

I really like the looks of this plane, it looks powerful with it's big characteristic cooler. Also the wing configuration looks good to me. Greetings from Germany!

[@veilofpersephone1480]

@Boston Hostetler Have a nice day!

[@lunseren]

Good balance between speech and enginesounds! Thanks for not constantly speeking.

[@HistAvFilmUnit]

Glad you liked it!

[@fhlostonparaphrase]

Late to the party, but this was my thinking too!

[@sailr]

Damn it's got to be fun flying the old birds!

[@shaundouglas2057]

My favourite world war two fighter plane, one general commented that it was damned by words but flown to glory.

[@JJosephS1]

Papie Boyington loved it.

[@shaundouglas2057]

@@JJosephS1 Way to go general Chennault and the Flying Tigers.

[@2098elk]

My all time favorite airplane!

[@Xynudu]

Iconic aircraft.

[@SpudsMcHaggis]

Australian Clive Caldwell was the highest scoring P-40 Ace during the war with 22 confirmed victories which included ten Bf 109s and two Macchi C.202s . He also was the highest scoring allied Ace in the North African campaign and became one of a very select few to achieve the title of "Ace in a day" in the P-40. He also said that the P-40 had "almost no vices" although "it was a little difficult to control in terminal velocity".

[@drianmortiz9375]

One of the best WW2 combat aircraft in the world. On each and both ways.

[@jonathanklein383]

My grandpa was in the usaaf. He was an engineer. Stationed in hawaii and Florida. One day a pilot who he was drinking buddies with said "jack, if you don't mind riding in my lap with your head in the wind and no seat belt we should go buzz the girls on the beach! Bring your camera! Story goes they did just that in a p40. Base commander wasn't around so they got away with it.

[@sam8alex12]

A Very good aircraft, They put on a good show. Thanks

[@JJosephS1]

They always talk about its low performance at high altitude. 90% of all WWII dogfights took place at 20k ft. or below. The high altitudes were extremely cold and thin air--it was really hard on the pilots. With her 6 .50 cal. machine guns and formidable bomb load she could take on any fighter or tank formation in the war.

[@kewlbreez77]

Curtiss P-40 Warhawk, Flying Tigers - in Pacific Theater, CBI: China-Burma-India. Beat the hell out of Japanese Zeros, shot down many, many of them; lost comparatively few. Was a well built, tough plane, could take a beating and return to base.

[@MrDanielrarity]

I remember being at CF 07 and seeing this display. It was so cool!

[@pattanacrazy1330]

Wow! Very beautiful.👍😊

[@HistAvFilmUnit]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@williammcdorman6426]

The aircraft was as good as any 109 when flown below 15,000, at sea level it was a beast.

[@71superbee3]

What do you call TWO P-40's low and loud ? ...... Stereo !

[@grapeview61]

Let's strafe the enemy relentlessly

[@benlaskowski357]

One. Tough. Mother.

[@thomashockin4128]

Still a cool plane !!

[@johnbockelie3899]

When I was a kid , my favorite John Wayne movie was " The Flying. Tigers" 1942. Those P40's to this day are still kick ass.

[@11SEXMACHINE]

The only limitation the 40 had was high altitude with the Allison. The menuverability was equal to or better to all the high end planes, 51, 109, 190, 0, etc... It was way more menuverable than the P51. The myth that it was a less maneuverable aircraft than those famous birds is just that, a myth. Had a merlin been put in a P40, the record books gossip would show different.

[@patrickfreeman8816]

When built to the blueprints approved by the Army, with the proper supercharger, the test P-40's were fantastic high-altitude fighters. Surprisingly nimble (according to test pilot reports), ruggedly armored, and very well armed. The Army bought them, but without the superchargers - which restricted the use to 10,000 feet. If a P40 could lure an enemy fighter down below 10,000 feet, it could fight with the very best. It was a poor call on the Army's part.

[@victorcajilog5355]

That was what i knew when england was able to buy p40 they requested rolls royce merlin be installed rather than allison... i dont know what happened after that except for the fact they renamed it kittyhawk

[@SpartacusColo]

My name's Wild Bill Kelso! And don't you forget it!

[@AussiesnAnzacs]

40s were in china before raf deployed them in affrica and egypt but ur correct about the sharkmouth in africa and egypt before china

[@crystalr7602]

Though the P40 was a pretty good fighter, improvements came with the Corsair F4U and the Mustangs P51. Allisons were great, Merlins were better, faster and more durable and gave longer flight times. The Lockheed Lightning P38 was called the "Cadillac of the Skies" for a reason. The P40 faded into the history of flight just a few years after it's inception. I don't see many people excited about refurbing P40's as they are to refurb the others. Could be because they're simply not available or not as popular as the others. Personally, I love the P40, but I love them all too. As a designer they all have their pluses and minuses, but I love 'em all.

[@wingnutzster]

If the P-40 was given the Merlin engine it would have been a far more dominant fighter than it was, many of the legendary fighters started out as under-performers but were given another chance and with new engines became legendary. She was perfectly balanced, very maneuverable and held her own but in the end the fighters she faced were often just that much better. Like I said with the British engine she would have dominated

[@HistAvFilmUnit]

Not entirely true as the P-40F DID have a Merlin engine -- if it had made that much of a difference you'd expect that it would have been used for further versions of the P-40 as well.

[@wingnutzster]

Historical Aviation Film Unit it was too late to make a difference and by then had been well surpassed by other types

[@KCdurt]

Just haulin' wholesale ass!! Love warbirds!

[@arrowbflight5082]

MyFabian94 A small correction to the site i posted, is www.wwiiaircraftperformance.org I believe the economical cruise setting on the P-40E was 220 m.p.h or so. Allison did dyno their engines, as well as testing in atmospheric chambers. Overboosting was achieved increasing the propellers speed.On the I.P. next to the breaker for the electric prop, was a toggle switch. Flick to the RT, prop gains 200 rpm, to the LT decrease. 400 rpm on the prop and it was at the max. Many have stated that the Hawk suffered from not having a 2 speed/2 stage supercharger proper. From what i have read, the Allison's intake manifold was of a 3 port design. R.R. Merlins had a single plenum. This may indicate that the Allison's intake was not as efficient, thus having a negative impact on performance at altitude. In the end, the Hawk merely needed a good driver, using improved tactics, and would give his foe a hell of a run for his money, if not his life.

[@jirihala5913]

Peasmeaker p.40 ... For all, all around all world. Not best, bud everywhere and for all fight, bomber, exploration, Workhorse... I love p.40.

[@zanegrey4720]

Great aircraft the Allison engine was a real good engine smoother than a Merlin the Americans can sure make good aero engines look how good the Pratt and Whitney engines were very reliable.

[@briansd2772]

I couldn't bare seeing this stuck on 499 likes so I gave you a thumbs up!

[@HistAvFilmUnit]

Ha Ha Ha thanks Brian

[@dillonpierce7599]

Had they fitted a turbo or double stage supercharger in the p40 it wouldve been much more capable. P38 hello 😅 twin 1710's n turbos.

[@cbwelch4]

There was nothing wrong with that plane. When they figured out the plane needed it, I’ll never know why they didn’t stick a 2stage supercharger on it. The P-38 had two 1,500 hp Allisons. One of those on the P-40 would have made it deadly. It was already a better dogfighter than the P-51. It had a better roll rate and could turn tighter. Such a plane would have been a definitive ME109 eliminator.

[@chopperking007]

These were originally designed for ground attack i believe...made tough n heavy to take punishment...

[@MyFabian94]

And yes, it does have a Supercharger, it wouldn't get off the Ground without it. These are most likely Allison V1710 F3R or F4R with a 9.5" impeller and a Supercharger drive Ratio of 8.8. It's a single Stage, Single Gear Design with a Critical Altitude of up to 12000ft, above which it's Power Output Rapidly decreases with altitude gained, but it can still easily get up to 25000ft and more, but it performs best between 0 and 12000ft. In Cases of Emergency they could push out more than 1500hp below 3000ft at 56+" in Hg In some cases Pilots even achieved 70" which is quite close to 2000hp. The Reason it was regarded as underpowered and Slow were the Manuals which put quite Severe Restricitions on Operating the Engine well below it's Potential at low Altitude. A Russian P-40E Pilot even described it as a "Dog" if flown following the Regiments set by American Manuals which mainly concentrated on Maximising Engine Life in Peacetime. The Russians regarded her low Altitude Performance as comparable to the 109s, but also experienced an average Engine Life of 50 hours and less flying their own, made up Settings. It Lacks a Turbocharger which would have made it Bulky, , Complicated, Heavy and Unmanouverable with very little Performance increase below 20000ft.

[@arrowbflight5082]

MyFabian94 The performance data that you have enclosed is not far off the mark. In reference to M.P. 70"HG, is known as "overboosting" the engine. The Australians in the SWP and ME theaters would do this for extented periods with P-40E and K 's. Check out this site, www,wwiiaircraftperformance.com for the P-40. On this site is lots of test data done by the RAF and USAAC with p-40's. There is a interesting declassified document from Allison in regards to this practice. I 'm not aware what the air speed of a Kittyhawk would be in :overboost", but i think that she would sound awesome, and would surely be hauling the mail. BTW, 70"H.G. (M.P.) works out to 20lbs of boost. The Aussies flew her like they stole it, the Soviets, just abused it beyond all reason...

[@MyFabian94]

70" were possible at high Speed with Ram Pressure, but at high Risk of Detonation and Pre-Igntion. The Aussies probably beat a lot more on the engines in Emergencies but apart from that ran the rather Conservative, Economic Settings on Cruise. According to Russian Reports they rarely used more than the Military Rating of around 42", however they did run it the Maximum Cruise Settings Constantly which sharply reduced the engine's life. Overboosting is a weird Term. The Rather Moderate Military Ratings could count as Overboosting, so could the Emergency Rating. It's quite imprecise.

[@RichardFStripeRendezvous]

planes don't use superchargers on takeoffs...

[@bradmiller9507]

Pass it On... ;)

[@lorenzogiuliani9144]

Question: Curtiss P40 warhawk or Kittyhawk,wich is diference?

[@HistAvFilmUnit]

It was generally known in the USA as the Warhawk. Later models ('E"' onwards) where known as Kittyhawks in Australia & New Zealand, and some where known as Tomahawks by the British.

[@lorenzogiuliani9144]

@@HistAvFilmUnit thank you so much

[@anti-extremist4581]

If the United States gave the license of the P-40 to China, it would end Imperial Japan in 1943.

[@victorcajilog5355]

Question isnt that p40s engine were replaced by rolls royce merlin?

[@HistAvFilmUnit]

Not in the P-40. Only the P-40F was Merlin powered.

[@DavidFMayerPhD]

Too bad it did not have sufficient supercharging.

[@raymondkurtyka754]

The jug w

[@limbo930]

P 40 fighter plane is Chinese plane

[@robertcoutu2371]

The American Volunteer Group. Flying Tigers. These are American built, flown by Americans for the Chinese government.

[@grenzhochspannungshindernis]

Tigers don't fly and they don't look like sharks :)