RAAF P-40

[jankees]

SV-G(0005) by JanKees Blom, on Flickr

SV-G(0007) by JanKees Blom, on Flickr

SV-G(0004) by JanKees Blom, on Flickr

SV-G(0006) by JanKees Blom, on Flickr

[simonh]

Those are fantastic shots of a great aircraft.

[Splitpin]

[hasegawa]

No, the P-40 was not a top-of-the-line aircraft throughout its career, and throughout its service life it came not close in performance to fighters developed at the same time. (Exception, Italian machines like Fiat's CR-42.) Their strength was one thing above all. It was available, which is why it could be found in every theater of World War II, such as China, USSR, Pacific Islands, North Africa, Sicily. By the time production ceased, 13378 were probably built. Despite its limited capability, it was a useful aircraft. This is an N model, right? There are at least 3 replicas of this aircraft for the MSFS. the P-40B from Bigradials P40 with Packard Merlin engine from Inibild (which I like very much, with the price-performance ratio and the P-40N from Flight Replicas. All three solid models. Beautiful pictures.

[chopper_nut]

No, the P-40 was not a top-of-the-line aircraft throughout its career, and throughout its service life it came not close in performance to fighters developed at the same time. (Exception, Italian machines like Fiat's CR-42.) Their strength was one thing above all. It was available, which is why it could be found in every theater of World War II, such as China, USSR, Pacific Islands, North Africa, Sicily. By the time production ceased, 13378 were probably built. Despite its limited capability, it was a useful aircraft. This is an N model, right? There are at least 3 replicas of this aircraft for the MSFS. the P-40B from Bigradials P40 with Packard Merlin engine from Inibild (which I like very much, with the price-performance ratio and the P-40N from Flight Replicas. All three solid models. Beautiful pictures.

Australian fighter pilots who flew the Kittyhawk in PNG would disagree with your assessment. They racked up the kills. Virtually nothing could out turn a Zero in a low speed turning fight and once they figured out that the P40 would out-dive virtually anything in the sky at that time, they used the same techniques that the Americans used later on of hit and run kills. Beautiful and successful aeroplane the Kittyhawk.

[hasegawa]

Some of the P-40 machines handed over to the USSR came from British stocks, while others were delivered directly. There, of course, they were tested. Opinion was divided. Criticism was levelled at the shorter-fuselage versions and the engine, which wore out quickly and was difficult to replace in the conditions on the Soviet front. The fact that the British bought a lot of P-40s, but used them mainly in North Africa, had its reasons. In North Africa, P-40s of the various series were the Messerschmittt Bf 109E-7trop. The F-2, F-4 and G-2 were technically inferior, not to mention the Fw 190A.

[chopper_nut]

The British sent the majority of their P40s to Africa because that's where they were needed at the time. In hindsight, they probably should've sent a few more to the far east. A lot of the P40s in Africa were P40Bs which were a bit marginal against 109s but they held the line until more up to date aircraft came along. By the time the 109G and FW190 were in Africa in any number, the P40B had been withdrawn and Spitfire IXs were more than capable.

[hasegawa]

That's wrong.
The P40s in Africa, and indeed all the series, were there not only because they were needed, which was, but because they were expendable and few in England itself. It's not the same thing. As far as I know, P-0B, F and N were used in Africa. Spifire Mk. IX were a rarity in Africa. The "Skalski Circus", excellent Polish pilots, flew them for example. The majority were Spitfire Mk. V with the infamous Vokes sand filter. Which, of course, lowered the performance. This is known because at least some of these aircraft were shipped to Iran after the end in Africa, were handed over to the USSR and were used in the Battle of Kuban. A German pilot, whose name escapes me, I think of Jagdgeschwader 3 "Udet" reports the first shooting down of a Spitfire in May 1943 in the Kuban. In Africa, only Jagdgeschwader 27 of the German Luftwaffe operated, temporarily supported by groups of Jagdgeschwader 3 "Udet" and Jagdgeschwader 53 Grünherz. These were not impressive forces in "strength". The Italian Regia Aeronautica should not be forgotten and with the Macchi M.C. 202 "Folgore" they also had an aircraft that could also be dangerous to the P-40 N. This can be seen from the Fiat G. 50 and the Macchi 200 do not say.
No one should belittle the performance of the P-40s of the RAAF and the RNZAF. Their performance is undisputed. The fact that the Japanese called the theater of war in what is now Papua New Guinea the "Stalingrad of the Japanese Army Aviators" and that Saburo Sakai, one of the top pilots of the Japanese, the Japanese naval aviators who survived the war, expressed his appreciation in his autobiography, may suffice.


I don't want to fly out of the forum here as a notorious German know-it-all and avoid controversy and will break off at this point

[chopper_nut]

Nope, not wrong. And the RAAFs record against the Japanese is proof that the Kittyhawk was a fine fighter.

[Naki]

...and RNZAFs combat record with the Kittyhawk in the Pacific

[hasegawa]

My source: "Curtiss P-40. From 1939 to 1945" Anis Elbiet,Daniel Laurelut ISBN 2-93903-47-0 and more.

[hasegawa]

Naki: No one doubts the records of the RNZAF. She was successful in battle with Mitsubishi A6M and Nakajima Ki-43, there is no doubt about it. On the other hand, it is the case that every soldier fights with the weapons that his government can procure and does not criticize them, and this leads to myths after wars. That the P-40 was a good fighter is a myth. It was the pilots, after recognizing the Achilles' heel of Japanese aircraft, who learned to use their own advantages and, for example, did not get involved in cornering.
Koga's Zero: The Fighter That Changed World War II : Found in Alaska, 1. Januar 1996
Jim Rearden (Autor)
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0929521560
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0929521565

[jankees]

There are at least 3 replicas of this aircraft for the MSFS. the P-40B from Bigradials P40 with Packard Merlin engine from Inibild (which I like very much, with the price-performance ratio and the P-40N from Flight Replicas. All three solid models. Beautiful pictures.

there's actually a fourth P-40 for MSFS, a freeware P-40C by fsadni, that is available on fs.2.
Personally, I think it looks much better than the P-40B by Big Radials, but for depth of the modelling, it is not a high flyer.
Still, looks good I think, I did a few Flying Tiger paints for it
AVG48 (0002) by JanKees Blom, on Flickr

AVG3 (0002) by JanKees Blom, on Flickr

avg77 (0004) by JanKees Blom, on Flickr

AVG75 (0002) by JanKees Blom, on Flickr

[chopper_nut]

That the P-40 was a good fighter is a myth. It was the pilots, after recognizing the Achilles' heel of Japanese aircraft, who learned to use their own advantages and, for example, did not get involved in cornering.

The reason that the P40s were in Africa was because that's where they were needed. The Middle East was number two in priority after the UK and the real Achilles heel of the P40, it's lack of altitude performance, was null and void in North Africa where the combat tended to be down low. I guess it's merits as a fighter depend on your point of view. Every fighters success depends on the ability of the pilot to recognise it's strengths and weaknesses and use that knowledge to gain the upper hand. The Corsair was terrible in a turning fight with Japanese aeroplanes, doesn't make it a bad fighter, it just meant that the tactics had to change from that of the Wildcat. The P40 was no different. The P40 had the advantage of being well armed, easy to fly and operate, rugged and could outdive its opponents. It's disadvantages were that it wasn't spectacularly fast in level flight and it lacked altitude performance. Plenty of pilots were able to recognise this, and have great success with the machine.

[Bugdani]

Nice pics, Jankees !
I own Big radial, Inibuild and fsadni and I hesitate to buy Flight replica.
Do you avise me?

[jankees]

Hi Bug,

personally, I think this one, the P-40N by Flight Replicas, is the best model of the lot, and certainly the prettiest model. But hey, I paint aircraft, so I tend to look at the outside, so I put the BR at the bottom, as it is the least accurate external model, ànd it's nearly impossible to paint, so it gives me no joy. Others praise its flight model, but for me that is less relevant.
Fsadni can't be beaten prisewise, and it looks nice, so that's my favorite early model P-40. I do like the P-40F by Inibuilds as well, but the N is still my favorite, it looks just completely right to me. All Mike's models look fantastic and the shapes of his models are just perfect. It's also very paintable, I did about a dozen paints for it so far.
I only wish he would bring his Liberators to MSFS, or his DC-4, instead of more Spitfires.
Anyway, I would say, yes, go for it, if you like your P-40's.

a few more pics of my paintwork for inspiration:
kansas (0003) by JanKees Blom, on Flickr

Screenshot (1255) by JanKees Blom, on Flickr

Screenshot (1329) by JanKees Blom, on Flickr

NZ3238(0004) by JanKees Blom, on Flickr

15 (0005) by JanKees Blom, on Flickr

hep cat (0006) by JanKees Blom, on Flickr

oldcrow (0006) by JanKees Blom, on Flickr

Streamline (0002) by JanKees Blom, on Flickr

BUR (0003) by JanKees Blom, on Flickr

GL(0001) by JanKees Blom, on Flickr

maybe I should do a few more kiwi paints? any suggestions?

[Naki]

Wairarapa Wildcat?

[Splitpin]

Love your work JK.

[deaneb]

I love "Gloria" and have her in my sim. I may be biased as she is parked not too far from where I live. I also got to sit in her after she was re-assembled and before she went into the Aviation Heritage Centre.

[jankees]

Wairarapa Wildcat?

I thought about it, but it was a P-40M, not an N...