Crashed P-40 Kittyhawk found in Egyption desert

[t-star]

Essentially it. They used some on the Alaska front as well. Gotta remember the Brits were still using biplanes , for carrier based torpedo planes.

Grizz

hey, the old stringbag was used even post war ( for those who don't know that's a fairey swordfish) and outlasted it's prodigeny, the barracuda and the fairey applecore( albacore)

 

[stevejones]

hey, the old stringbag was used even post war ( for those who don't know that's a fairey swordfish) and outlasted it's prodigeny, the barracuda and the fairey applecore( albacore)

And lets not forget that that old stringbag was used to sink most of the Italian navy! Another good read is "War in a Stringbag". The author flew them from the beginning of the war and participated in the attack at Taranto (?). The Swordfish was one rugged, reliable, and very maneuverable aircraft. The author mentions of an episode that occurred during training. The purpose was to teach Swordfish pilots how to evade fighter aircraft. Apparently a fighter pilot put his plane into a stall trying to out maneuver the Swordfish and crashed as a result! Definitely an old plane but just like the Kittyhawk, its made its place in history.

 

[t-star]

And lets not forget that that old stringbag was used to sink most of the Italian navy! Another good read is "War in a Stringbag". The author flew them from the beginning of the war and participated in the attack at Taranto (?). The Swordfish was one rugged, reliable, and very maneuverable aircraft. The author mentions of an episode that occurred during training. The purpose was to teach Swordfish pilots how to evade fighter aircraft. Apparently a fighter pilot put his plane into a stall trying to out maneuver the Swordfish and crashed as a result! Definitely an old plane but just like the Kittyhawk, its made its place in history.

imagine, if you will, being able to go so slow that the radar predictors can't get a lock, but fire the guns IN FRONT of you- that's a SWORDFISH trick- and you're right about the raid on taranto- of course, the people in ontario are going to start asking about a raid on TORONTO

 

[Ardent]

I cringe watching them reef on the canopy trying to get into it. Wish they'd just left it alone, kept it a secret, and we heard about it only after it was being salvaged properly.

 

[John Sukey]

More on the P40 pilot
Flt. Sgt. Dennis Copping, 24 was from Southend-on-Sea, Essex. He was 24 years old.
The crash happened in June 1942

 

[MarkdevCanada]

- of course, the people in ontario are going to start asking about a raid on TORONTO

I'd be ok with that

 

[John Sukey]

Canada has the longest cow in the world. It eats grass in Edmonton and gets milked in Quebec!

 

[WestIslandRifle]

very cool find add that to the dozen or so planes found barried somewhere in eastern europe

 

[Ardent]

Two myths about the P-40 were that it was slow and not maneuverable. Compared to later American and German aircraft with 400+ mph top speeds, a mere 345 mph at 15,000 feet (the top speed of the P-40C) doesn't seem that impressive. But remember, in 1940-41 the Warhawk's top speed essentially matched that of the Spitfire 1A (346 mph at 15,000 feet) and Bf-109E (348 mph at 14,560 feet), and surpassed the A6M-21 Zero (331 mph at 14,930 feet) and Hawker Hurricane II (327 mph at 18,000 feet).

The famous Mitsubishi Zero fighter was more maneuverable than the new Curtiss fighter was, and because of this people came to believe the P-40 couldn't out turn a hot air balloon. Of course they didn't take into account that the Zero was the most maneuverable fighter of the time. In fact, the P-40 proved in combat that it could out maneuver many of its rivals. Other positive attributes of the P-40 were good armor, firepower, roll rate, and dive speed, making it one of the best low altitude fighters of the war. Japanese pilots rated the Warhawk their most dangerous foe at low altitude.

Food for thought. My grandfather flew the P-51D, among other designs and flew well into the jet era in fighters. He was never assigned to a P-40 but has a high opinion of them, every plane is a tool with a specific role. In its role, the P-40 was in the creme of the crop. Low altitude operations were extremely common outside the Euro theatre, cruising to strafe just off the trees/water, and fighter engagements down low were very common in the Pacific and elsewhere. The P-40 was a nasty foe down there.

As a commercial helicopter pilot myself by profession (I also fly fixed wing, started in them) I have the most respect for low altitude operations. 200 feet above ground level and 300mph gains my respect far more than 400mph at 25,000 feet. Same for the dogfighting and ambushes done "on the deck", not much room for error doing that stuff.