One of the few planes that fought from the first day of America's involvement in WWII until the last was the Curtiss P-40. Built in a number of variants, the earlier planes with the shallower lower nose intake were the Tomahawk while the later versions with the deeper coolant intake were called either Kittyhawk (mostly by Commonwealth forces) or the Warhawk.

While the aircraft was nearing obsolescence when it was first put into battle, the fact is that it was the most numerous USAAC/F fighter of the war. Its plusses were a rugged airframe that could sustain a lot of damage, a relatively powerful offensive armament of either four or six .50 machine guns, and an aircraft that was easily adapted to ground attack.

Most of America's Army fighter pilots flew the P-40 either during training or in combat; mostly in the south west Pacific and CBI. Here, the opponent was not considered to be as formidable as the Luftwaffe was in Europe, though the P-40 flew in Commonwealth hands during the North Africa and Mediterranean campaigns as well as with some US units until replaced by either Mustangs or Thunderbolts, some having to wait until very late in the war to put their P-40s to pasture.

In this book by Carl Molesworth, we look at the changes that occurred to the airframe after the P-40C. The D model, which was built in small numbers and was virtually indistinguishable to the P-40E was first followed by the more widely built E model. It is this version that saw most of the early fighting. Attempts at installing a Packard built Merlin engine to provide better high altitude performance resulted in the F model and later the L version. This did not provide as great a performance improvement as was hoped and all other versions returned to the Allison engine. Late Es and the K model for the most part had a broader fin to try to cure horizontal instability that was present in most versions. Even extending the fuselage and rudder back many inches did not completely get rid of this trait.

As it is with all aircraft, these improvements were incorporated in the production line and did not always result in a new designation. The N was the last version to be built and incorporated a new rear canopy section that got rid of the scallops along the side. It was also initially a lighter weight aircraft going from six to four guns, but most units replaced the missing guns, preferring the greater firepower over improved performance. Other versions of the P-40 did not reach production and this was the last Curtiss fighter to be mass produced.

In addition to the aircraft itself, the author includes extensive tables of stats for each of the differences in airframe. This section alone takes up a third of the book. The last third is a brief history of the type in combat with different units and in different theaters of operation. This is all accompanied by some superb art work and a great choice of period photos. It all makes for a worthwhile book for any P-40 fan and those who just like WWII fighters. 

December 2013

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