On a re-examination of the “head on” photo, I can see you you thought it was a radial engined P-36 “Mohawk.” The right and left cylinder banks of the liquid cooled Allison engine are seen and give the illusion of being radial cylinders. and the chin radiator is totally gone, giving the nose an oval appearance of a radial engined fighter. do a google search for “P-36 Hawk” and you will get dozens of pics of the P-40’s radial engine predecessor.
See also these two wikipedia articles: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtiss_P-36_Hawk
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtiss_P-40_Warhawk
I first fell in “love” with the P-40 was from watching “God is My Co-pilot” on tv, it seemed to run every few months back in the 1950s on Chicago tv stations; especially on the afternoon matinee movie from 4 to 5:30 pm
The P-40 made its claim to fame in WWII when American pilots hired by the Chinese Nationalists organized by Clair Chernault flew conbat missions against the encroaching Japanese prior to Pearl Harbor. The wing consisted of I believe of 18 planes were known as “The Flying Tigers” hence the teeth painted on the nose of the P-40. The group later was after much discussion incorporated into the USAAF.
“God Is My Co-Pilot”.. Singer comedian Dennis Morgan steped away from comic roles teamed with Frank Carson to play the lead in this story by Air Ace Robert Scott (Gen USAAF -AF retired)
One of the sequences in that film I vividly remember was Scott painting the prop spinner a different color making the Japanese claim there was another wing of the group of volunteers known as “The Flying Tigers”
To me the photo suggested a radial engine and I couldn’t think of the designation which I suspected was made by Curtis but I didn’t know the 36 was the P-40 predecessor
Thanks for the info
Thanks. I did think it was a P-36, but you’re right: it’s a P-40.
I now know they have the serial number of the plane and the name of the pilot who crashed it and the ace pilot who flew it before that.