The Curtiss P-40E Kittyhawk

In the early stages of the Pacific Theatre of war the Curtiss P-40E was the workforce of most allied air forces. The P-40E was used extensively in Europe, Africa and South East Asia but where it really excelled was in countering the Japanese. Just a few of the Allied nations to use the P-40E in battle against the Japanese were Australia, New Zealand, United States, Canada, China and the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army Air Force. Ironically at one point the Japanese had ten Kittyhawks that were captured in an operational squadron. The model of the P-40 and whom was flying dictated whether it was called a Warhawk, Kittyhawk or a Tomahawk. All the P-40 in Darwin were of the P-40E Variant and thus were called a Kittyhawk.

One topic that comes up when anyone talks about the Kittyhawk was how tough it was built. It had plenty of armour plating to protect the pilot and it could take a beating in battle opposed to the Japanese Zero which lacked armour plating for the pilot and self-sealing fuel tanks. The P-40E excelled at low and medium altitudes and had one of the tightest turning circles at speed of any fighter aircraft in WWII. Where it did lack was in not having a 2-stage supercharger that limited its performance at high altitudes. The British Spitfire that arrived approximately twelve months after the initial bombing of Darwin while were superior at high altitudes, they were plagued with reliability issues and incorrect preparation prior to transport to Australia.

Later in the war as the Japanese were pushed further back the P-40 struggled with range and were slowly reduced in use and replaced by the P-38 with a much longer range. Due to losses in battle and training mishaps parts availability became an issue and it became common place for the US and Australian forces to swap parts and aircraft frames to keep as many airworthy at any time. The P-40E modular design was of huge benefit in the field enabling the repair and replacement of parts making them very popular with the ground crews.

All up over thirteen thousand Kittyhawks were built in Curtiss Wright factory located in Buffalo New York and proved themselves a very worthy aircraft.

Specifications

Below are the specifications of the P-40E that was the model used in the defence of Darwin.

General characteristics

• Crew: 1
• Length: 31 ft 8.5 in (9.665 m)
• Wingspan: 37 ft 3.5 in (11.367 m)
• Height: 10 ft 8 in (3.25 m)
• Wing area: 236 sq. ft (21.9 m2)
• Air foil: root: NACA2215; tip: NACA2209
• Empty weight: 5,922 lb (2,686 kg)
• Gross weight: 8,515 lb (3,862 kg)
• Powerplant: 1 × Allison V-1710-39 V-12 liquid-cooled piston engine, 1,240 hp (920 kW)
• Propellers: 3-bladed Curtiss-Wright electric constant-speed propeller

Performance

• Maximum speed: 334 mph (538 km/h; 290 kn) at 15,000 ft (4,600 m)
• Cruise speed: 308 mph (496 km/h; 268 kn)
• Range: 716 mi (622 nm; 1,152 km) at 70% power
• Service ceiling: 29,100 ft (8,900 m)
• Time to altitude: 15,000 ft (4,600 m) in 6 minutes 15 seconds
• Wing loading: 35.1 lb/sq. ft (171 kg/m2)
• Power/mass: 0.14 hp/lb (0.23 kW/kg)

Armament

• Guns: 6 × 0.50 in (12.70 mm) M2 Browning machine guns with 235 rounds per gun in the wings
• Bombs: 250 to 1,000 lb (110 to 450 kg) bombs to a total of 2,000 lb (910 kg) on three hardpoints (one under the fuselage and two underwing)

SOURCES

(Wikipedia 2019 a)