P-40Q Around The Pylons

[K5054NZ]

Hi all!

Seeing as I've been absent from the forum for some time - work, birthday, girlfriend hospitalized for a month - I thought it was about time to share my latest love:

The Curtiss XP-40Q



This baby was a major redesign of the P-40N which, due to the fact there were so many (and better) P-47s and P-51s around, never got to see active service. The sole survivor competed at the Thompson Trophy Air Race in 1949, but I believe it crashed there or soon after. This freeware model is available for FS9 at FlightSim.com, and is a real honey! I use the Merlin sound pack from the Wozzastang, and the scenery is default FS9 for Reno-Stead Field - home of the National Championship Air Races.

So without further ado, please hop into the jumpseat of P-40Q replica NX300B for a trip around the famous pylons of Reno.


























One of the main reasons for the lack of service acceptance for the XP-40Q was its performance compared to the other USAAF fighters. Yes it was the fastest of the P-40 series, but sadly its top speed of 424mph (at 25,000ft) just didnt cut it against the Stangs and Jugs. I can barely make 350mph at 50-200' around the pylons, so she may not be a contender but she's a pleasure to fly and is great fun!

[Daniel]

Nice shots Mate I downloaded the a Red Bull air race course for Hungary and found it pretty hard.

[Naki]

mm nice looking a/c - betcha the real one flew like a dream - remember reading an article on it in Air Progress (a very old one) - cant recall did it have a Merlin or Alison?

[K5054NZ]

Just an Allison, I believe. Bizarre, but then again I guess North American would've had the monopoly on Packards.

Wikipedia Says:XP-40Q with a 4-bladed prop, cut-down rear fuselage and bubble canopy, supercharger, squared-off wingtips and tail surfaces, and improved engine with two-speed supercharger was tested, but its performance was not enough of an improvement to merit production when compared to the contemporary late model P-47Ds and P-51Ds pouring off production lines. The XP-40Q was, however, the fastest of the P-40 series with a top speed of 422 mph as a result of the introduction of a high-altitude supercharger gear. (No P-40 model with a single-speed supercharger could even approach 400 mph or 640 km/h.) With the end of hostilities in Europe, the P-40 came to the end of its front line service.