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Classic Wings Magazine WWII Naval Aviation Research Pacific Luftwaffe Resource Center
When Hollywood Ruled The Skies - Volumes 1 through 4 by Bruce Oriss


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PostPosted: Wed Jan 17, 2018 11:21 am 
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According to the caption on the first photo of course.
Photo source: my owned collection.

Part 1

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P-36 fighter in camouflage - Langley Field, 1940

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Curtiss, P-36A, Hawk, Model H75L

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U.S. P-36A Fighter In Flight Over Oahu,T.H., U.S.War Dept. Photo, Feb. 1940

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P-36A of the 77th Pursuit Squadron, 20th Pursuit Group, circa 1938-39

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P-36A of the 77th Pursuit Squadron, 20th Pursuit Group, circa 1938-39

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Curtiss P-36A

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Curtiss P-36 Mohawk Fighter. Chanute Field, 1940

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Curtiss H 75A

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Three Curtiss P-36's from March Field's 21st Pursuit Squadron, 35th Pursuit Group performing a 180-degree banked turn. 9 October 1940

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PostPosted: Wed Jan 17, 2018 12:14 pm 
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One of those is not like the others...


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PostPosted: Wed Jan 17, 2018 12:43 pm 
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Several are not like the others

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PostPosted: Wed Jan 17, 2018 1:50 pm 
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Wow! I really like the looks of the Hawk NX28990.


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PostPosted: Wed Jan 17, 2018 5:55 pm 
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AG pilot wrote:
Wow! I really like the looks of the Hawk NX28990.


Can someone 'splain to me what they did firewall forward on that one?


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PostPosted: Wed Jan 17, 2018 6:50 pm 
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Good question, looks like a test of a bigger powerplant.

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PostPosted: Wed Jan 17, 2018 6:59 pm 
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Something smells 'Vichy' here ...

From wiki:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vichy_French_Air_Force

Operation Torch, 8–10 November 1942
The last major battles against the Allied forces, in which the Vichy French air force took part, took place during Operation Torch, launched on 8 November 1942 as the Allied invasion of North Africa. Facing the U.S. Navy task force headed for Morocco, consisting of the carriers Ranger, Sangamon, Santee and Suwannee, were, in part, Vichy squadrons based at Marrakech, Meknès, Agadir, Casablanca and Rabat, which between them could muster some 86 fighters and 78 bombers. Overall, the aircraft may have been old compared to the F4F Wildcats of the U.S. Navy, yet they were still dangerous and capable in the hands of combat veterans who had seen action against both the Germans and the British since the start of the war.

F4Fs attacked the airfield at Rabat-Salé around 07.30 on the 8th and destroyed nine LeO 451 bombers of GB I/22, while a transport unit's full complement of various types was almost entirely wiped out. At Casablanca, SBD dive-bombers succeeded in damaging the French battle-cruiser, Jean Bart, and F4Fs strafed the bombers of GB I/32 at Camp Cazes airfield, some of which exploded as they were ready for take-off with bombs already on board, thus ensuring their mission never went ahead. The U.S. Navy did not have it all their own way, though, as several F4F pilots were shot down and taken prisoner.

The day's victory tally of enemy aircraft shot down by the French fighter pilots totaled seven confirmed and three probable, yet their losses were considered heavy – five pilots killed, four wounded and 13 aircraft destroyed either in combat or on the ground – when one considers that GC II/5, based in Casablanca, had lost only two pilots killed during the whole of the six-week campaign in France two years before. In the meantime, F4Fs of U.S. Navy Fighter Squadron VF-41 from the USS Ranger strafed and destroyed three U.S.-built Douglas DB-7 bombers of GB I/32, which were being refueled and rearmed at Casablanca, leaving a mere three others undamaged.

Nevertheless, having been reinforced by two other bombers, GB I/32 carried out a bombing mission against the beaches at Safi, where more U.S. soldiers were landing, the next morning. One of the bombers was damaged and attempted to make a forced-landing, only it exploded upon contact with the ground, killing the entire crew. Fighter unit GC I/5 lost four pilots in combat that day (9 November) and it was on that same day that Adjudant (Warrant Officer) Bressieux had the distinction of becoming the last pilot in the Vichy French air force to claim a combat victory, in this case an F4F of VF-9. Shortly afterwards, 13 F4Fs attacked the airfield at Médiouna and destroyed a total of 11 French aircraft, including six from GC II/5.

On the morning of 10 November 1942, the Vichy French air force units in Morocco had a mere 37 combat-ready fighters and 40 bombers left to face the might of the U.S. Navy F4Fs. Médiouna was attacked once again and several of the fighters were left burning, while two reconnaissance Potez were shot down, one by an F4F and the other by an SBD over the airfield at Chichaoua, where three F4Fs would later destroy four more Potez in a strafing attack.

Ultimately, the presence of Vichy France in North Africa as an ally of the Germans came to an end on Armistice Day, 11 November 1942, when General Charles Noguès, the commander-in-chief of the Vichy armed forces, requested a cease-fire – although that did not stop a unit of U.S. Navy aircraft attacking the airfield at Marrakech and destroying several French aircraft, apparently on the initiative of the unit's commander. Once the cease-fire request was accepted, the war between the Allies and the Vichy French came to an end after two and a half years of what was termed "fratricidal" fighting.

"Torch" had resulted in a victory for the Allies, even though it was fair to say that the French had no choice but to engage the Americans, otherwise the Americans would (and did) engage them since they were technically enemies. As a result, 12 air force and 11 navy pilots lost their lives in the final four days of combat between (Vichy) France and the Allies during World War II. Barely two weeks later, the Germans invaded the then-unoccupied zone of metropolitan France and ordered the complete dissolution of the Vichy French armed forces on 1 December 1942.

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PostPosted: Wed Jan 17, 2018 9:00 pm 
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17816 Hawk 81A NX28990 Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Division/ United Aircraft Corp,
Stratford CT 45
www.goodall.com.au/warbirds-directory-v6/curtiss.pdf

So a trick "P-36" being a H81A that P&W have put a radial in, maybe a R2000?

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PostPosted: Wed Jan 17, 2018 9:54 pm 
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I'll play too - from a thread I posted a couple years ago; possibly s/n 38-20:

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(Greenville, SC, July 1943 - source: http://photogrammar.yale.edu/search/res ... th_stop=12)

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Mechanic: "Flap switch checked OK. Pilot needs more P.T." - Flight report, TB-17G 42-102875 (Hobbs AAF)


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PostPosted: Thu Jan 18, 2018 11:59 am 
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The radial powered Curtiss Hawk series had such a classic "advanced" look to them for the time. Gorgeous!

Mark Allen M wrote:
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Curtiss H 75A


Looks like this one has an R-1820? Note the short cowling which suggests a single-row radial.

Mark Allen M wrote:
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And this one has an "ejector" style exhaust like a FW-190 or a Bearcat! Very cool.


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PostPosted: Fri Jan 19, 2018 2:34 am 
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A few internet references advise that Pratt & Whitney's H81A-Special NX28990 was powered by a R-1830-SSC7-G engine with two-stage supercharger. By November 10 1942 P&W reported that this hybrid plane performed much better than P-40F. By December 29 1942, the Air Materiel Command ruled that "putting the R-1830 engine into the latest type P-40 aircraft is viewed as not worth the trouble and engineering time".

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PostPosted: Fri Jan 19, 2018 2:43 am 
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Regarding the pretty “big engined” Hawks, the Pratt & Whitney test bird is unusual as she is not a Hawk 75, but is in fact listed as a Hawk 81 c/n 17816. This is a re-engined Allison powered P-40 variant with the F4F-4 Wildcat engine (R-1830-SSC7-G) under a sleek cowling that certainly used the NACA wind tunnel data being learned at the time. Sadly, the plane had to compete with the superb new Merlin powered P-51, and in categories other than “knife fight in a phone booth” manuverability, would be second best. A beautiful aircraft, and what a great design for a new build sportplane perhaps. The propeller is really interesting, and I don’t know what blade numbers those are. They do look sharp.

There was also a photo of an almost unpainted, post production Hawk 75A-9 built for Iran. She was one of 10 made with the Wright R-1820-G205 engine. Never unpacked from their crates until the British found them, they were sent to India and operated by the RAF. The export Hawk 75A series was offered with a combination of Pratt & Whitney or Wright engines, most notably Finland which operated both engines during combat aboard the A-6 or A-8 variants.

A great plane with exceptional maneuverability.


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PostPosted: Fri Jan 19, 2018 9:00 am 
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The Iranian A-9 prototype is further interesting because in both the black and white photo, and this color one, a Norwegian aileron is in view. The Norwegian shipment was interrupted by invasion, so parts must have been available to “sell some planes twice”. The polished or anodized fuselage is really neat looking, and was painted over quickly after flight testing. I believe the photos are of the same plane, and it is posted here for the historical interest. Note the snow on the ground in both photos, and the date of March 1941.

Of note, the RAF use of the Mohawk IV was initially of French contract aircraft, with opposite throttles and the like. They were joined by the Persian aircraft and some license built Chinese examples. The plane first scored against a Ki-27 Nate and was discovered to have a tighter turning circle than even the Ki-43 Oscar of the Japanese Army. Quite a dog fighter.

The photo is from a google search


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PostPosted: Sat Jan 20, 2018 3:13 pm 
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The plane first scored against a Ki-27 Nate and was discovered to have a tighter turning circle than even the Ki-43 Oscar of the Japanese Army. Quite a dog fighter.

The photo is from a google search[/quote]

Joe,
What information leads you to believe the P-36(A?) had a tighter turning circle than the Ki.43-Ia
Oscar? Keep in mind the P-36 had no armor of any kind and the fuel cells were not protected.

Wing Loadings:

A5M4: 3,648 lb./191.597 sq. ft. = 19.40 lb./sq. ft.
Ki.27-Ia: 3,946 lb./199.777 sq. ft. = 19.75 lb./sq. ft.
Ki.43-Ia: 4,515 lb./236.805 sq. ft. = 19.07 lb./sq. ft.
A6M2 model 21: 5,313 lb./241.541 sq. ft. = 22.00 lb./sq. ft.

P-36A: 5,650 lb./236.000 sq. ft. = 23.94 lb./sq. ft.

Jeff geek


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PostPosted: Sat Jan 20, 2018 3:15 pm 
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I see I am listed as a former lurker...? Never been here before!...?


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