School me on the P-40 variants...

[BattleRabbit]

...please.

I am currently amidst a love affair with the P-40(I have not yet told my girlfriend this), and was wondering about the different variants.

I know the early ones used the then-ubiquitous Allison engine sans supercharger, and they later switched to a different allison/ or a Merlin with a different radiator settup which allowed them to change the thrust line, reshape the fuselage and shorten the landing gear... but really I know little else about the P-40.

Any information would be nice, technical stuff, flying impressions... and how the heck is it possible the Flying Tigers did so well as compared to the Spitfire equipped RAF against the Japanese(accoriding to Boyington in his book)?

My focus is on the technical stuff and flying impressions, I don't want to start a war between wixers due to what I read in "Baa Baa Black Sheep"

[bdk]

P-40B and P-40C had the early Allison with the "low" thrustline. Later P-40 models had the more common Allison with the high thrustline spur gear prop reduction. There were only two Merlin engined variants built and they did not build many.

The Packard V-1650 so outperformed the Allison V-1710 that it supplanted the Allison in the North American P-51 Mustang, which then became viewed as one of the best fighters of the war. It was also incorporated into some models of the Curtiss P-40, specifically the P-40F and P-40L.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolls-Royce_Merlin

Early Allison:



Later Allison:

[hang the expense]

The long nose allison or c-15.Very rare engine these days. The length of the gear legs has always been the same.The tail gear leg varied in some of the early variants.The job she was built for she did quite well.Still more beautiful than a mustang.The Maryann verses Ginger debate of warbirds.

[John Ceglarek]

http://www.ipmsstockholm.org/magazine/1 ... ng_p40.htm

There's a fair bit of variant's information at this website too.

John

[BattleRabbit]

Could anyone post a link to the merlin P-40 that was recovered from a lake(or some such body of water) and put in a museum unrestored?

[Jack Cook]

Here's my question.
What sub type of the P-40F that first introduced the fuselage extension?
I've heard it was the F-10 starting with 41-14___ but I've heard also it
was the F-15 with 44-19____
What was the serial number range of the long tail Fs.

[bdk]

Could anyone post a link to the merlin P-40 that was recovered from a lake(or some such body of water) and put in a museum unrestored?

This one?

http://warbirdinformationexchange.org/p ... =p40+italy

http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/showthread.php?t=58176