I need some support

[Nathan]

Just need to vent alittle. On another site was talking about the P-40. Said how the P-40 was my favorite plane and that it was good plane. Got an e-mail from someone that said the P-40 was a crap plane. Well, this was my response(I tried my best of what I read):

Actually the P-40 was not a "crap" plane. The P-40 has been a very misunderstood airplane. At the start the U.S. pilots were not trained properly to deal with the Zero. But very soon the Zero's weaknesses were learned and the P-40 was able to equal and sometimes best the Japanese.

The truth is that the P-40 was a much better plane then most people realize and when proper tactics where used and the strengths of the P-40 carried out it was a very hard foe to fight against.

The P-40 had one of the fastest dive speeds of any fighter of WWII and could easily exceed 500 mph in a dive. This point was murder to Japanese aircraft that could not even risk diving over 350 mph without the possibility of losing the wings due to stress. Also the P-40 had one of the fastest roll rates of any plane during WWII. Even faster then the Spitfire. This ment the ability to change direction fast and allow for faster manuverability.

The Japanese A6M would have dominated over EVERY U.S. fighter in WWII had the U.S. not adopted tactics to overcome the Japanese weaknesses. The Zero or A6M could out turn any U.S. fighter. So hit and run tactics had to be used. It was not a matter of dog fighting but survival and not fighting the way the Japanese wanted to fight.

In Africa the P-40 was replacing the Hawker Hurricane because it was superior in that theater. Besides the fact the P-40 could not operate at higher altitudes like the Hurricane could. But other then that the P-40 was an effective weapon in Africa. Some say the P-40 was slow. Well, in some respect yes it was. The P-40 was faster then the Hurricane and Zero. But the P-40 was nimble and could speed up very fast especially in a dive.

Hopefully one day a more apprisiation toward the P-40 will be found. Was the P-40 the best? No, but it was what we had, it fought hard, long, and tough. The P-40 may be forever forgotten but every pilot that got in it was a hero to me.

[phil65]

Another site

Can you post what they said?
And you know that they say about opinions

Phil

Last edited by phil65 on Thu Jun 28, 2007 7:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[muddyboots]

what Phil said

Your reply sounded pretty clear to me. The p-40 was the equal of the Zero. Our pilots were not. Once our pilots were trained properly, and we developed good combat technique, the 'hawk showed its true character. Simple as that

[Bradburger]

Nathan,

That looks like a calm and clear response to me - the person who said it was 'Crap' is clearly misinformed!

And I think you'll find that most people who've flown the P-40, be it in combat or peacetime, will tell you it's a wonderful aircraft low down and has superb ailerons, with a roll rate better than most of the other WWII fighters - the Zero being one of the worst!

http://www.flyingmachinestv.co.uk/p40.wmv

http://members.aol.com/hitsvilleboy/Vid ... TOW512.wmv

Cheers

Paul

[Nathan]

Well, WIX is one of the top places out there. But its fine, I am past it. Not that it really bothered me but it just shows that people will and can be misinformed about things. Or, it could be he was just ignorant. I figured maybe you guys would like to hear my response. I guess I am just bored.

In the future I would like to do extensive work on trying to fix the P-40's reputation. Maybe a book? Or website? I read up on P-40 and there are some things that kinda fit together that say otherwise then what most people say about it. Just from watching videos I am starting to make out a picture that clearly shows the P-40 was more then what is said in the history books. When proper tactics, good piloting, and exploiting the P-40's strengths was employed, made it into a superior aircraft. I guess the same can be said about a lot of aircraft. But so far the P-40 has forever gotten a bad rap that I just don't think it deserves.

Tally ho,
Nathan

[Bill Greenwood]

The P-40 was an early war design and some very fine pilots like Tex Hill did a good job with it at the start of the war. It does have an an excellent dive, however it doesn't have that good a climb. A fast roll rate is good, but it is turn rate, not just roll rate that really allows one to manuever. Some planes F-102 etc. roll fast but don't turn well.The P-40, from ones I have flown with turns pretty well, but is not that fast. With only .50s, is a little outgunned by some other fighters. Another big deficit is the Allison which just does not have the performance above 15 or 20,000 feet that the Merlin does in the Hurricane, Spitfire, Mustang, etc. It might serve in the Pacific at lower altitudes.

[tom d. friedman]

i say we rumble with em.........from the play / movie "west side story"...... the jets are in gear!!