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For educational purposes
One of the most rugged fighters ever built, the P-40 was the Army Air Force's front-line fighter at the start of WWII.
The P-40 is among the top five aircraft in U.S. history in terms of number of aircraft produced.
One of the most rugged fighters ever built, the P-40 was the Army Air Force's front-line fighter at the start of WWII.
The P-40 is among the top five aircraft in U.S. history in terms of number of aircraft produced.
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LearningTranscript
00:28Transcribed by ESO, translated by —
00:41The Curtiss P-40 fighter plane, with its shark-faced nose, is probably one of the most recognizable
00:47aircraft in aviation history.
00:49I'm Paul Max Moga, and I've flown some of the most sophisticated planes ever built.
01:02It's legends like this that first piqued my interest in flying.
01:12I'm here at the Military Aviation Museum in Virginia Beach, Virginia, home to one of the
01:16largest private collections of restored warplanes in the world.
01:22On this episode of Great Plains, we'll learn the incredible history of the Curtiss P-40.
01:39My name is Walter Ulrich.
01:41I served in the U.S. Navy as a fighter and attack pilot.
01:45During my career, I have flown many different aircraft, upwards of maybe 70 different makes
01:50and models of jet aircraft and propeller-driven fighters.
01:56Walt, I've got to tell you, sir, this is an absolute privilege to be with this P-40 today.
02:02What can you tell me about where this specific plane came from, as far as where the museum
02:07got it?
02:08It has a very interesting history.
02:10The airplane was then released to Russia.
02:13It was shot down by the Germans near Murmansk, and it laid there for many, many years.
02:19It was finally discovered, and it was restored to flyable condition.
02:26It's a great flying airplane.
02:28It's a brilliant piece of history.
02:33A piece of history that begins with Orville and Wilbur Wright.
02:40In 1903, the Wright brothers fly the first powered aircraft.
03:12They convinced the world that airplanes are reliable and can carry passengers.
03:19European leaders soon adopt the Wright flyers for military use, carrying supplies, reconnaissance,
03:27and drafting maps of enemy territory.
03:34Glenn Curtis soon becomes the first American after the Wright brothers to build and fly an airplane.
03:46That same year, he demonstrates that his aircraft can compete with the Wrights by flying a full
03:58mile.
04:00At the Great Rhymes air meet, Glenn Curtis flies faster than anybody has ever flown before,
04:06by reaching 47 miles per hour.
04:13Curtis now has the interest of military leaders all over the world.
04:21The stage is set, and a new technology race begins as aviation pioneers, pilots, engineers,
04:29and mechanics work to improve engine power, stability, and speed.
04:40The U.S. Congress makes its first appropriation to purchase aircraft for training and tests.
04:48At the beginning of World War I, reconnaissance pilots from opposing armies begin shooting
04:53at each other from their cockpits.
04:56In 1915, a French pilot mounts machine guns and primitive armor on his plane.
05:03He and his plane are captured by the Germans, who use the idea and dominate the skies until
05:08mid-1916.
05:20During the golden age of aviation between the world wars, airplanes evolved from low-powered
05:26biplanes made of wooden fabric to sleek, high-powered monoplanes made of aluminum.
05:46Just before the Second World War, Italy shocks the world when it invades Ethiopia without provocation.
05:55The attack is an effort to heighten Italy's presence in the world and settle an old score
05:59from 1896, when Ethiopia fought off Italy's attempt to colonize.
06:06The Italians' use of aircraft sets yet another new standard for air combat.
06:15By dropping explosives, modern aircraft can be used for offensive operations.
06:25American aviation pioneers scramble to keep up.
06:34The Curtis Company must design a modern fighter, capable of outperforming other European and
06:40American models.
06:48Their most successful attempt is the P-36A.
06:53features like the multi-spar wing, sliding cockpit canopy, variable pitch Hamilton standard propeller,
06:59hydraulic split flaps, landing gear that retracts into the wing, and an R-1670 radial engine
07:05makes the P-36 a leader in aviation.
07:13The U.S. Army buys them, and the $4.8 million contract is the largest for fighter planes in history.
07:22$4.8 million in 1936 is equivalent to roughly $27 million today.
07:33In 1935, Italy's aggression stuns the world when it invades Ethiopia.
07:51The Italian Air Force drops bombs, poison gas from planes, and demonstrates that offensive
07:55attacks from the sky can change the face of aviation forever.
08:06American plane manufacturers like the Curtis Company scramble to compete on the global level.
08:12But their first attempt, the P-36, soon falls short to the German Messerschmitt BF-109 and
08:18British Spitfire.
08:29The Messerschmitt BF-109 is the pride of the German Luftwaffe.
08:48This compact, low-wing model plane embodied all of the new technology of the day.
08:54It's light, streamlined shape is powered by a 12-cylinder inline engine, capable of speeds
09:00of 385 miles per hour at 23,000 feet.
09:13Two machine guns and a 20-millimeter cannon that fires through the propeller make this airframe
09:18a force to be reckoned with, and Britain's Spitfire is no toy.
09:38Capable of speeds up to 362 miles per hour, she packs a deadly punch with eight Browning
09:45.303 machine guns mounting in her wings.
09:55But the American competitive spirit won't allow the Germans and the British to set the standards
10:00for modern aircraft for long.
10:08A string of new U.S. fighters debut on the market.
10:16Lockheed debuts its P-38 with radically configured twin tail booms.
10:43Soon after, the Bell P-39 joins the ranks.
10:54Its liquid-cooled engine is located behind the cockpit, with the drive shaft passing to the
10:59left side of the pilot.
11:03The new design leaves room in the nose for a wheel to retract, enabling the P-39 to be
11:08equipped with tricycle landing gear, which makes it more stable during landings and less
11:13vulnerable to crosswinds.
11:18This heavily armed machine comes equipped with a 37-millimeter cannon that fires through
11:22the propeller hub, and four machine guns synchronized to shoot through the propeller arc.
11:29Battle armor and a self-sealing fuel tank make it ripe for front-line use.
11:38The Curtis company is already developing what will become the P-40 by installing an integral,
11:45supercharged, liquid-cooled Allison engine in one of its older models.
11:57Tell me about the engine.
11:59What kind of motor did it have in it?
12:01Well, this is an Allison V-1710 engine.
12:04It's around 1,200 horsepower.
12:07The horsepower varied a little bit for different models of airplanes, but it's a beautiful engine.
12:12The Allison runs smooth, it's easy to start, and it's dependable.
12:22The United States Army Air Corps designates the new fighter the XP-40.
12:37It's equipped with two machine guns located in the upper fuselage deck, synchronized to fire
12:42through the propeller's arc.
12:49Wing racks for six 20-pound bombs and a small air cooler beneath the nose round out the aircraft.
12:57Early P-40s were not as well-armed as this baby here.
13:03They had two .50 calibers in the nose in the early P-40s and 30-caliber guns in the wing.
13:1030-caliber guns would not do the job, so when they redesigned the P-40 later, they put six
13:16.50s in the wing, which was really devastating firepower.
13:30It was one of the first airplanes that would go at least 300 miles an hour.
13:35If you load it up with bombs, weapons, belly tanks, all that sort of thing, it, of course,
13:41decreased the speed.
13:44The P-40 is developed to assist in ground support operations.
13:49The airplane does not have a supercharger.
13:52The climb rate falls off above 15,000 feet.
13:55And this is one of the things that hampered the airplane during the war.
14:00Not a whole lot of thrust or power to get up at the higher altitudes.
14:03No, it could do it, but it did it not very well.
14:08So it was mostly a low-altitude fighter.
14:10Oh, yes, yes.
14:11Now, was it a primary air-to-air platform, or did it have an air-to-ground role?
14:16No, when it was designed, it was designed as an air superiority fighter, an interceptor.
14:21In other words, to protect America back in the days before World War II.
14:27Its range and speed makes it competitive with European models.
14:41The timing of the P-40's development proves prophetic when Adolf Hitler invades Poland in the fall of 1939.
14:50The world is shocked by the awesome military power of the Third Reich,
14:54and in particular, the German Luftwaffe, with over 4,000 all-metal aircraft.
15:19The formation of the Luftwaffe was a blatant violation of Germany's military restrictions set forth in the Treaty of Versailles.
15:32In 1939, the world is shocked when Hitler invades Poland, and the might of the German Luftwaffe is unleashed in
15:39Europe.
15:48It is против that weather is a very hard time on the other side of the fighter armed forces.
15:53This is the third person who is escaping from the Throne of war.
15:54The biodiversity was a adversary and the weapon of the other team's military weapons.
15:54The fight was affected by our allies as well.
15:54The ultimate strength of the fighter cavalry forces and his enemies were defeated.
15:55Thetwo of the most vulnerable fighters were replaced by the German Luftwaffe.
16:01The two of the soldiers were died at the first time against the fight against the cold war.
16:36France and Britain declare war on Germany,
16:38so there is an urgent need for aircraft to counter the Luftwaffe.
16:55That same year, the Japanese continued to break the back of Chinese resistance by sustained
17:00bombings of every major population center in China.
17:18Foreign military officers around the world start to take notice of the Curtis P-40 and international
17:24orders pour in. By May of 1940, the French government orders 140 units.
17:35To keep up with changing advancements in warfare and technology, and to prepare it for frontline
17:40combat, the Curtis Company modifies certain features of the P-40.
17:44The new models have more readily available engines and are less powerful, but are equipped
17:49with more armor, bulletproof windshields, and leak-proof fuel tanks.
17:56Six .50 caliber machine guns give them respectable firepower.
18:01P-40s are sent all around the world.
18:05When Britain's Royal Air Force gets their first shipment, they insist that Curtis replace
18:10the engines with the Rolls-Royce Merlins that are better suited for high-altitude flying.
18:17The Merlin is a liquid-cooled, 27-liter, 60-degree V-12 piston aircraft engine, considered to be
18:24one of the finest piston engines ever built.
18:29The maintainability of the Merlin engine is also greatly improved by allowing use of interchangeable
18:35parts, rather than custom-made ones.
18:40But the P-40 doesn't have adequate performance for use in Northwest Europe against the Nazis' Messerschmitt
18:46Bf 109s.
18:48So the Royal Air Force uses them to combat Axis powers in various areas during the North Africa
18:54campaign.
18:56Campaign included operations in Libya, Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia.
19:14After the fall of Paris to the Germans in 1940, Japan continues expanding into China.
19:28Systematically, Japanese troops capture cities across the country.
19:34Japan's invasion of China is a calculated effort to keep its war machine going by securing bases
19:39and raw materials needed to keep Japan economically sound and self-sufficient.
19:46The Japanese soldiers are better supplied with modern weapons and logistical support than their
19:52Chinese counterparts.
19:56And with continuous attacks on Chinese peasants, they can capture the rice crop to feed their
20:02own people and troops.
20:12China's leader Chiang Kai-shek seeks ways to halt the Japanese aggression.
20:18Enter General Claire Chennault, a retired army captain and air advisor to Chiang Kai-shek in China's war
20:24against Japan.
20:28He persuades the Generalissimo and the U.S. government that a force of modern fighters
20:32and bombers can defeat Japan at their own game.
20:41On November 30th, the U.S. government grants $100 million credit to the Chinese and P-40s
20:48are sent to China.
20:51They had a tough time getting airplanes at first.
20:55Finally, the British gave up 100 P-40s that were supposed to be shipped to Britain.
21:01And they shipped them to China.
21:05The situation in China is critical.
21:08And Chennault knows the missions will be challenging.
21:10And that he needs the best pilots available.
21:15He gets permission to recruit in the United States, realizing that the U.S. will be getting
21:20into the war sooner or later.
21:27Nicknamed Flying Tigers, the first American volunteer group is born.
21:33Some of the best pilots from the U.S. Army Air Corps, Naval, and Marine Air Services join its legendary
21:39ranks.
21:42They are permitted to resign their commission temporarily, with the understanding that at some point they can be
21:47recommissioned and sent to war.
21:50Usually, when a U.S. citizen fights for another country, they lose their citizenship.
21:55But the Flying Tigers are allowed to keep their citizenship and seniority should they decide to go back into their
22:01own service.
22:03Many join for a better salary and a chance to get in a shooting war, which many of them were
22:09eager to do.
22:13During the summer of 1941, 100 pilots and 200 crewmen are recruited.
22:26The pilots receive 72 hours of specialized air combat lessons in a teakwood shack in Tangu, Burma, by General Chennault
22:35himself.
22:39Captured Japanese flying and staff manuals serve as textbooks.
22:4460 hours of flying and an Asian geography lesson round out the training.
22:55The American pilots learn more about Japanese tactics than any single Japanese pilot.
23:04The AVG P-40s are assembled at Rangoon, and all radios, oxygen equipment, and armament are installed by AVG Group
23:12Mechanics at Tangu.
23:19But the planes are assembled under primitive circumstances and tested without having all the manuals.
23:28You notice the landing gear struts on this airplane?
23:31It's built like a tank.
23:33It's very, very strong.
23:35I would assume because it was meant to take off and land on unimproved surfaces.
23:39Yeah.
23:40I guess when they operated out of China, they didn't have a whole lot of runways.
23:43No, they all had dirt runways.
23:46And, uh, boy, I'll tell you, it was built for rough use.
23:50It did its job.
23:52Yeah.
23:52For its day, this was quite an airplane.
23:56The circumstances don't dampen the patriotism and drive of the Flying Tigers.
24:01They are ready for action.
24:22On December 7th, 1941, reports of the Japanese assault on Pearl Harbor are radioed around the world.
24:29We will analyze now these latest developments.
24:32The news is stunning.
24:38And now everyone knows the United States will enter the war.
24:41The news strengthens the Flying Tigers resolve, opening the door to heroism.
24:50The Chinese government offers a $500 bonus to any pilot for every Japanese plane shot down in air combat.
25:04In the wake of the attacks on Pearl Harbor, the AVG Flying Tigers gear up for an assault on Japanese
25:10fighters over Southwest Asia.
25:22Lieutenant General Claire Chennault splits the men into three squadrons.
25:28Adam and Eve, Panda Bears, and the Hells Angels.
25:35The Hells Angels squadron moves to Rangoon on December 12th, 1941, to join the RAF in defense of Rangoon.
25:50The first and second squadrons fly to Kunming on the afternoon of the 18th.
26:02The first combat occurs over southern Yunnan province on December 20th, 1941.
26:13A combination of the first and second squadrons shoot down 9 out of 10 Japanese bombers, with a loss of
26:20one AVG aircraft.
26:28The second engagement brings the third squadron into action over Rangoon on December 23rd.
26:44A total of six Japanese bombers and four fighters are lost.
26:53The AVG loses four planes and two pilots.
27:00Their biggest victory comes on Christmas Day, when two waves of Japanese bombers and fighters hit Rangoon.
27:22The AVG shoots down 23 Japanese planes without a single loss.
27:34The AVG shoots down 23 Japanese planes without a single loss.
27:44Battles rage into the new year.
27:46The Japanese lose 42 aircraft compared to the Flying Tiger's single casualty.
27:56In the 11 days of fighting, the AVGs claim 75 enemy aircraft and lose only two pilots and six aircraft.
28:06The attacks have a deep impact on the Japanese bomber formations, which since 1931 have been unopposed.
28:16It picks up speed in a dive.
28:18Now this is one of the things that I always read about, and I tried it here.
28:23And we were flying with a Corsair one day, and I put the nose down, didn't touch anything, and it
28:29just walks away from other airplanes.
28:32So I can see why the Flying Tigers loved this airplane, because if you get into trouble, you could dive
28:39away.
28:40One thing it could do is out-dive the Japanese Zero.
28:43You could use that as a good escape maneuver.
28:47And they were able to intercept the Japanese bombers.
28:50They really surprised the Japanese.
28:53They had no idea that they were there when they first started.
28:55They did a wonderful job.
28:57It was one of those great things in aviation history.
29:00The more missions the Flying Tigers fly, the more they learn how to push their P-40s to the limits.
29:21Hello, I'm Andrew Michalak.
29:23I'm a retired fighter pilot for the Air National Guard of the state of Maryland and New York.
29:28And I've flown fighters since I was 22 years old.
29:31Any airplane properly flown against a deployment can come out on top if you knew what you were doing,
29:36which is what Claire Chennault taught the American Volunteer Group pilots over in China.
29:41That's why they had such a great record against the Japanese who had much more maneuverable airplanes.
29:47It was a nice flying airplane.
29:48It was a great machine that had six .50 caliber machine guns, plenty of firepower for air-to-air and
29:53air-to-ground work.
29:55And relatively easy on the maintenance, which I'm sure is a big factor out in the field.
30:13At some point when they started flying these P-40s, somebody saw a picture of an airplane with the shark's
30:19teeth and eyes painted on it and looked pretty good.
30:22So one of the flying tigers came up with a drawing and asked General, Colonel Chennault at the time,
30:28if this would be a good scheme for the fighters in his airplane.
30:31He said it would look good on all of them.
30:33So eventually all the airplanes were painted with this shark's teeth and eyes.
30:38And each one was a little bit different.
30:40That shark mouth and that airplane was designed to be seen a long way away.
30:48If the squadron was real gung-ho and they had top aces had been in the squadron, it was meant
30:54to shake up the opposition.
30:57You know, when they went and attacked the Italians in the desert especially.
31:02Shark mouth showed up, so enemies are supposed to tense up, you know.
31:06The AVG asked the Disney Studios in California for a unique cartoon symbol to adorn their planes and were provided
31:14with a winged tiger leaping through the air.
31:16A flying tiger, huh?
31:29The flying tigers wore an AVG bloodshed on the back of their jackets.
31:33It was a message to the Chinese that they were American airmen fighting the Japanese.
31:38They had met misfortune and needed assistance in returning to their home base.
31:48During the six weeks the flying tigers spend defending Rangoon, they have 31 encounters with the Japanese.
31:57The AVG destroys 217 Japanese planes and loses only six pilots and 16 aircraft.
32:12back.
32:32Though the Flying Tigers continue to outgun their enemy, the Japanese have an endless
32:38supply of planes and pilots.
32:49The Burma Road can no longer be held.
32:57And on March 7, Rangoon falls to the Japanese.
33:11The Flying Tigers shift strategies and begin successfully attacking Japanese air bases.
33:37But the career of the American Volunteer Group is short-lived.
33:49In late April, Claire Chennault is reinstated into the U.S. military and becomes a Brigadier
33:55General in the U.S. Army Air Corps.
34:09The ABG is disbanded on July 4.
34:19The group commemorates its final day in the air by shooting down five enemy fighters
34:24over Hung Young and escorting Army Air Corps B-25s to bomb the Japanese air base at Canton.
34:58The Flying Tigers are absorbed into the 2030
35:013rd Fighter Group and continue defending China against the Japanese air force.
35:13Well, this airplane served really very well in China after Flying Tigers.
35:18And during that time, they had great success against the Japanese fighters in China.
35:23So the Army Air Corps then took over the Flying Tigers' job and continued to use the P-40,
35:30known as the Warhawk, because this particular model is known as the Kitty Hawk,
35:34throughout the remainder of World War II in China.
35:40But the Japanese war machine seems unstoppable.
35:52Japanese factory output of aircraft continues at an unprecedented level.
36:00Though planes are being destroyed by the Allies, the Japanese are able to supply their air force
36:05with the machines needed to conduct their Asian expansion.
36:14China continues to be a major challenge for Japan.
36:21And now, with the formal help of the United States Army Air Corps,
36:26more and more American pilots and planes defend its skies.
36:47pilots are trained to stay in pairs, attack in a dive, fire, climb out, and repeat the maneuver again.
37:00What was the performance like of the P-40 in a dive?
37:03I heard this thing could do some good work.
37:05Well, when the airplane is clean, it could dive quite well.
37:08And this is what it was noted for.
37:10However, you had to almost stand on the left rudder to keep it straight.
37:14It's a close-coupled airplane, the ball goes out of the center,
37:18and you really have to hold left rudder when you start picking up a lot of speed.
37:22But the best part was that the Japanese, if they were following you,
37:27they simply could not.
37:29If you were chasing a Japanese Zero, they could only recover one direction.
37:35And here you were, you knew which direction he was going,
37:38and you could get him from popping.
37:41Yep, yep.
37:53P-40s continue to inflict severe damage to the Japanese air fleet,
37:57leaving the Japanese frustrated with their lack of progress.
38:05As the war progressed, of course, a lot of the other aircraft had superchargers,
38:11and this aircraft began to be used as a dive bomber and all-around airplane.
38:17Yeah, so they actually could put bombs on it if they wanted to.
38:19Oh, yes, they could.
38:20They used to rig a 500-pound bomb right under where the drop tank is.
38:26Mm-hmm.
38:26Even in the later versions of the airplane, they put bomb racks under the wings, too.
38:37But problems for the P-40 emerge.
38:41The scarcity of the Merlin engines forced the decision to put the less desirable Allison engines back into the aircraft.
38:50But the P-40's glory days aren't over.
38:55The famous airframe is inherited by the Tuskegee Airmen.
39:06Named after the Tuskegee Army Airfield in Tuskegee, Alabama, where they train,
39:12the first black airmen become single-engine and multi-engine pilots.
39:19From 1941 through 1946, 994 pilots graduate at Tuskegee Army Airfield,
39:26receiving commissions and pilot wings.
39:38450 of the pilots serve overseas in the 99th Pursuit Squadron and the 332nd Fighter Group.
39:46The 99th Fighter Squadron trains in and flies P-40 Warhawk aircraft in combat
39:51North Africa, Sicily, and Italy from April 1943 to July 1944.
40:05They had quite a brilliant career.
40:08Their claim to fame is that they escorted bombers from Italy.
40:12It was the 15th Air Force.
40:14During the Italian campaign, they performed brilliantly.
40:17But I do know that some were aces.
40:25The Curtis Company can't keep up with modern demand.
40:37For some reason or other, the Curtis Company never did supercharge the airplane.
40:42When the P-51 came out, they did have superchargers in there.
40:46Once they got the superchargers in the P-51, the P-40 just faded in the background.
40:53And they were used then mostly for air-to-ground stuff.
40:57They could no longer be an air superiority fighter.
41:01And while the scrappy P-40 has always somehow held its own,
41:05it can no longer compete with more modern designs like the P-51 Mustang.
41:11The P-40 was an older technology.
41:16It did not have enough power to go chase the Messerschmitts.
41:20The P-40 was hampered by an engine that did not have a supercharger.
41:25The early Allison's were not able to be supercharged.
41:28As such, their service ceiling was low.
41:31That was the big drawback to the P-40.
41:35The Mustang emerges as a true champion fighter aircraft,
41:39capable of fast speeds at high altitudes.
41:47The P-51 Mustang is one of aviation history's elite aircraft.
41:53It has a kill ratio of 11 to 1,
41:57making it one of the highest-scoring fighters of the war.
42:02The aerial victories account for almost half the total claim
42:06by all American units during the war after the arrival of the P-51.
42:17When the Mustang came along, the P-40 began to fade in the background.
42:21But it's interesting to know that the Curtis plant kept them in production,
42:27even though they were obsolete.
42:29They kept them in production until early 1944.
42:38The last Curtis P-40 leaves the assembly line on November 30th.
42:46Over 13,000 served their country with honor.
42:51It was there when we needed it.
42:53The airplane, I think, did an admirable job in the Pacific, in the Far East, in Africa.
43:00It was all they had.
43:01And the Russians welcomed them.
43:09In a ring of fierce fighter competition, P-40's technology proves no match for its competitors.
43:14Yet the evidence overwhelmingly suggests the P-40 served its pilots well.
43:25Flying Tigers, Tuskegee Airmen, and 28 Allied countries around the world
43:29owe their lives to this unstoppable aircraft.
43:38It's probably an hour remaining in AAPMI and 25th, in this montage.
43:39The end of the 60f market would lose more than in the shot system than the troops as 14 players.
43:39There are noóc meteors.
43:39You are just kidding your people in Japan.
43:40That's should be his first provision in the world
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