Warbird Information Exchange

Just watching an AHC episode about Boyington on Youtube and had a question; would Boyington have also flown the E model P-40, or would the outfit only have been equipped with the B/C model then?

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I'm not aware of any E's there in 1941- early '42. Channels of supply were not simple/straightforward.

And it was feedback from flight ops in Burma/China, and North Africa, that contributed to the changes in the D and E.

The AVG did receive a small number of E models, but not too many. I know they were involved in combat, but I don't know how many.

Does anyone remember the AVG P-40E in the freshwater lake in China that was supposed to be recovered by Dick Rossi and Peter Wright about 15 years ago? It was never recovered, but I never did hear a reason why.

There was speculation with some certainty it was a P-40E John Blackburn was testing before he perished after hitting the lake....tho, there were quite a few aircraft reported to be in the lake including an earlier model P-40. There were ambitious plans to bring it to the states, restore it to flying condition, tour it as original Flying Tiger plane, and later return it to China. The scheduled lift was cancelled and a report made the rounds the Chinese had later recovered it. That report was found to be in error and when questioned the Chinese officials knew nothing about the aircraft or the plans for it. The biggest problem they encountered was the silt that filled the the aircraft and how to lift it without destroying it. Presumably the conservative Chinese officials lost interest in the lack of merit in that prospect...but that's just my opinion.

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I believe they received around 30 P-40Es.

Thanks for that info. Do you know when the first E model was delivered to the AVG?

According to Terrill Clements book "American Volunteer Group 'Flying Tigers' Aces" the E models arrived in Kunming after a gruelling ferry flight from Accra in West Africa on March 22, 1942.

As to the number of airframes, Clements notes that photos have shown aircraft #101 to #134.

T J

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Great info, T.J., thanks for that! Another question for you, do you know when the first "N" model was delivered to the successor of the AVG, the 23rd Fighter Group?

Thanks for the correction! I didn't know that.

It must have been one heck of a delivery flight...

Here's a few of those P-40E's


lineup of aircraft being flown by the USAAF's China Air Task Force in mid to late 1942 are seen at Kunming's Wujiaba airfield. At the left of the photo is a former AVG Curtiss "Hawk" 81-A-2 ("Tomahawk") still wearing its "Hell's Angels" Squadron insignia, and next to it sits a Curtiss P-40E "Kittyhawk," which was the aircraft of AVG and CATF fighter "ace" Edward F. Rector, then two more "Hawk" 81-A-2's, then a Republic P-43 "Lancer," a "Kittyyhawk," another "Lancer" and another "Kittyhawk."


P-40 AVG Flying Tigers White 104

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Just wanted to share my signed Pappy print hanging in my office. He signed it in 1979 at the Chino airshow. Got to meet him and shake his hand. This was the height of Baa Baa Black Sheep and he was shell of his former self, but I remember it well (I was 12). The print shows his first kill, flying in a "B" model.

Pappy was such a nice guy. He never drank alcohol in college. Then while traveiling to CHina on the ship "The Boschfonteine" on a missionary visa he became corrupted him. They introduced him to alcohol and gambling. They recruited him into their group of surly mercenaries. Who knew he was a pilot before he earned his missionary Visa?
Poor guy was taken advantage of by a married woman while in China, and always got the worst assignments. Frustrated and having done nothing wrong and cheated out of his earned wages, he returned to the States. Poor guy has been a victim of bad press.

Pappy with my wife and I next to our SNJ 1986, Lincoln, CA

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Where was his left hand in that picture.