The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk was a single-engine, single-seat, metal fighter plane and ground-attack aircraft that was made by the Americans. The P-40 Warhawk fighters first flew in 1938 and caught the attention of the United States Army Air Corps, who placed the largest fighter plane order it had ever made for fighters for a count of 524 at a cost of US$13 million. This was the earliest serious fighter in WWII and did its job until better fighters came out. It was known as a safe and secure aircraft that was able to fly pilots back home after being shot up in action. Many variants of this plane were later created. In addition, the shark teeth graphics were a big feature on this plane.
The first flight of the XP40 was in Buffalo, NY by a man named Edward Elliot. There were many variants of this plane. The first variant was the p-36 hawk. Ten variants later from the p-36 hawk is the XP 40, which was equipped with an Allison V-P7-10-v-12 engine. Its top speed was 315 miles per hour. The V-12 engine offered as much power as a radial engine. You can also get a cowl on the V-12 engine that will eliminate drag, sufficiently causing it to have less drag than a radial engine.
Curtiss was upset with the top speed of the XP-40. He took it to the wind tunnel to figure out how to make it faster. From the 28th of March to the 11th of April 1939 he studied it. He decided to move the radiator to the chin and give it an air scoop. They administered more tests and determined it was capable of 366 mph. The P-40 was a very agile plane at high speeds. Out of all the monoplanes in its time, it was one of the tightest turners. At lower speeds it could not out-maneuver the Zero but the standard diving attack was said to be effective, as the F...
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Editors of Publications International, Ltd.. (2007, October 22). Curtiss P-40 Warhawk. HowStuffWorks. Retrieved May 26, 2014, from http://science.howstuffworks.com/curtiss-p-40-warhawk.htm
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By the end of World War I the world was beginning to realize the ability air combat presented. When World War II started planes became much more effective. Though still fabric covered, the aircraft were faster and more agile than the variants used in the Great War. In 1938, the first year of the Second World War, Curtiss unveiled their P-40 Warhawk. This aircraft was one of the best of its time and laid the foundation for modern aircraft engineering. But by 1940 the German Luftwaffe had begun to develop faster, long-ranged fighter-bombers. All current Allied aircraft could not keep up with the long range of the B-17 bombers who needed escort. In 1940, North American Aviation received an order from Britain requesting another shipment of
In today’s world, the use of airplanes in wars or in everyday life has become a part of how we live as human beings. Removing the air forces of the world is like taking a step back in time when wars were only fought on land or sea. WWI began only eleven short years after the Wright brothers achieved powered flight in 19031 and yet aircrafts were being used for surveillance and eventually combat purposes. It is understood that these aircrafts were primitive, but they laid down the foundation for what we know today as fighter jets. The Fokker Eindecker “revolutionized air combat by successfully employing a synchronized forward -firing machine gun mounted on the engine cowling”2. Because this airplane became the first to successfully use a synchronized machine gun, it allowed its pilots to become the first aerial combat tactitions3.
Thesis. Air War College, 1987. http://www.airwar.edu//a>. Maxwell, Alabama: United States Air Force, 1987. DTIC Online -.
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In 1940, Preston Tucker created the Tucker Aviation Corporation, and wanted to manufacture aircraft and marine engines. He designed a fighter aircraft, the Tucker XP-57, which the U.S.A.A.C. took an interest in. Again, this n...
Following the bi-planes, the bomber design took great change. In a Unites States Army Air Corp or USAAC competition in 1934, they were looking for a new plane that could provide defense and better qualities than the current service plane, the Keystone bi-plane bomber. (Boeing B-17 Flying) Boeing came up with the design and built the B-17 and won the competition. The plane was not a bi-plane, but a single winged, nine cylinder radial engine plane that could carry a normal cargo storage of 25 tons and could fly a distance of 2 thousand miles. (Boeing B-17 Flying) The plane had been described by a German test pilot who flew a captured B-17 who said “the aircraft was easy to fly and land. When one had become accustomed...
The. Johnson, David E. Fast Tanks and Heavy Bombers: Innovation in the U.S. Army, 1917-1945. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1998. Print. The. "
Company E, Berdans 1st Regiment United States Sharpshooters. (n.d.). Retrieved July 2009, from US Sharpshooters: http://www.ussharpshooters.co.uk/index_files/Page2772.htm
Lawson, Robert L., and Barrett Tillman. U.S. Navy Air Combat: 1939-1946. Osceola, WI: MBI Pub., 2000. Print.
He chose Yeager, one of his most junior test pilots, to attempt to become the first person to exceed the speed of sound in the rocket-powered Bell XS-1. He chose Yeager, because he considered him to be the best instinctive pilot that he had ever seen, who had demonstrated an extraordinary capacity to remain composed and concentrated in tense situations. Furthermore, the X-1 program certainly promised to be stressful. After three glide flights in the Bell XS-1 rocket research plane, which he named Glamorous Glennis, he flew it to a speed of 0.85 Mach on his first powered flight on 29 August. He encountered severe buffeting and sudden nose-up and -down trim changes during his next six flights. Then, during his eighth flight on October 10, he lost control altogether, as a shock wave formed along the hinge line of the X-1 elevator. The X-1 was designed with a moving tail and Captain Jack Ridley convinced Yeager that changing its angle of frequency in small increments, he could control the craft. This had never been attempted at extremely high speeds, but Yeager was game to give it a try on the next flight. On 14 Oct. he dropped away from the B-29, fired all four chambers of his engine in rapid sequence and accelerated away from the B-29. The X-1 Glamorous Glennis rapidly accelerated to 0.98 Mach and then, at 43,000 feet, the needle on his Mach meter jumped off the scale. Yeager had just
In 1957, the army began developing a new fighting force based on the helicopter. ...
Okerlund, T. (n.d.). Resume of the 123d Aviation Battalion. History of B Company 123d Avn
Hamilton, John A. Blazing Skies: Air Defense Artillery on Fort Bliss, 1940 - 2009. Defense
Zerby, Roy M. Interview by author, 10 April 1995. Mail questionnaire. 12th Armored Division Historical Project, Abilene Christian University, Abilene, Texas.