Posted on 10/14/2008 5:26:24 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
Britain, it is contended, lies on the outskirts of Europe and, provided, she does not harbor aggresive designs, Britain need fear attack from one direction only.
On the other hand, Germany has potential enemies on all sides, especially Russia, it is argued, and, therefore, she needs a much larger number of warplanes.
Hard to find fault with that logic.
thanks.
P-40 Warhawk
Country: United States
Manufacturer: Curtiss-Wright Corporation
Primary Role: Fighter
Maiden Flight: 14 October 1938
Write-up by: C. Peter Chen
The P-40 Warhawk fighters first flew in 1938 and immediately attracted the attention of the United States Army Air Corps, who placed the largest single fighter order it had ever made for fighters for a count of 524 at the total cost of US$13 million. The French and British air forces also placed orders, though deliveries to France never took place due to German occupation. Later on in the war, a few Warhawk aircraft also made their way to the Russians. The design of the them was based on the simple but yet sturdy P-36 Hawk design, hence the similar name to reflect family lineage. Warhawk fighters were relatively maneuverable at high speeds, but at lower speeds they were not up to par when compared with their contemporaries. Due to their low-performance superchargers (only single stage), these fighters did not see much combat against the more capable German Luftwaffe fighters; instead, Warhawk fighters were active in North Africa, Southern Europe, China, Southeast Asia, and the South Pacific, where combat situations were more tolerant for their poor climb characteristics, which made them inadequate high altitude fighters. Once they reach high altitude, however, their weight gave them a spectacular diving speed.
The first Warhawk fighter rolled off the production lines in Mar 1940, and it was later that year, some time after Jun 1940, the design actually acquired the designation "Warhawk". They first saw combat in Aug 1941 in North Africa under the British banner as pilots of the No. 112 Squadron Royal Air Force flew their P-40 Tomahawk fighters against German and Italian fighters; they noted the P-40 aircraft's reliability and ability to absorb battle damage as reasons why they prefer them over the Hurricane fighters. P-40 fighters saw a lot of casualties in North Africa, but at the same time, they also delivered heavy damage to their Italian and German counterparts largely due to their sturdy construction. On 29 Aug 1941, Australian pilot Clive Caldwell was engaged by two German Bf 109 fighters, including one piloted by hit by ace Werner Schroer; Caldwell downed Schroer and forced Schroer to disengage by heavily damaging his fighter, then made it safely back to base with damage from over 100 7.9mm bullets and five 20mm cannon shells.
Against the Japanese, P-40 Warhawk aircraft were also welcomed by many Allied pilots. While they were the main fighters used by the British Commonwealth air forces under the nickname Tomahawk and Kittyhawk, producing many aces, the Flying Tigers' use for them was arguably the most famous in popular history. Before the United States officially entered the war, many American pilots went to China as members of the American Volunteer Group to fly for China against the Japanese. With Warhawk fighters painted with their trademark shark mouth markings (though Luftwaffe Me 110 Zerstörer units came up with the design and RAF No. 112 Squadron made it popular within the Allies), Claire Chennault's Flying Tigers used Warhawk fighters' good dive speed and tough construction characteristics effectively against their Japanese counterparts such as the Ki-43 Hayabusa fighters, which were much more maneuverable but were only armed with two machine guns. Conservative kill counts of Flying Tigers pilots in Warhawk aircraft were 115 kills at the cost of 21 losses; other accounts put the kill counts at as high as 297. Elsewhere in the war against the Japanese, P-40 Warhawk fighters were overwhelmed by Japanese fighters initially in the war and suffered heavy losses, but as pilots learned to leverage the fighters' strengths, many Warhawk units remained effective fighter units. "If you flew wisely, the P-40 was a very capable aircraft", said American ace Robert Marshall DeHaven.
When production ceased on 30 Nov 1944, 13,738 P-40 Warhawk fighters had been produced.
Sources: P-40 Warhawk vs Ki-43 Oscar, Wikipedia.
SPECIFICATIONS
P-40E
Engine: One Allison V-1710-39 liquid-cooled V-12 engine rated at 1,150hp
Armament: 6x12.7 Browning M2 machine guns, optional 680kg bombs
Wingspan: 11.38 m
Length: 9.66 m
Height: 3.76 m
Wing Area: 21.92 m²
Weight: Empty 2,880 kg
Weight: Loaded 3,760 kg
Weight: Maximum 4,000 kg
Speed: Maximum 580 km/h
Speed: Cruising 435 km/h
Rate of Climb: 10.70 m/s
Service Ceiling: 8,840 m
Range: Normal 1,050 km
Good stuff. The link has some interesting photos, although the events pictured are a couple years down the road.
I get smarter every time I post one of these things. Curiosity piqued, I set off for Google. The following is from Time Magazine, April 18, 1938
Argus was a mythological monster who never missed a trick, for some of his 100 eyes were always ajar. Considering that such a creature might well have been the pure prototype of the modern international journalist, Vladimir Poliakoff took "Argus" as a pen name in 1924, when he wrote an article for the British Fortnightly Review. By a mistake the printer made it "Augur." The accidental pseudonym served just as well for Journalist Poliakoff's political forecasts, and Augur it has remained. In 14 years that by-line has come to mean as much as 22K inside a ring. Last week Vladimir Poliakoff chalked up the latest of a long series of coups: a clean scoop in the London Evening Standard on a draft of the coming Anglo-Italian treaty (see p. 22). Next morning's august London Times, which usually ignores lesser publications, had to eat humble pie by virtually lifting Augur's account. What made the pie harder to swallow was the fact that Poliakoff served the Times twelve of his 20 journalistic years, and since deserting it last year (preferring to work for a paper "of news, not views") has also scooped the whiskered Times on: 1) Mussolini's fall "peace gesture," 2) Hitler's intention to forgo colonies for a free hand in middle Europe, 3) the February British Cabinet crisis.
These and a string of greater & lesser scoops stretching back a generation have come to Vladimir Poliakoff because he is a brilliant, self-assured, courteous Russian-Jewish gentleman who has ingratiated himself with the most impeccable diplomatic connections in Europe. His recipe: "Know your man ten years before you need him; give more than you take." In London he has profited recently by being thick with the Italian Embassy, perhaps partly because he strikingly resembles a jesting Mussolini. But he is suing the London Daily Worker for criminal libel because it said he was a liaison man in the British-Italian rapprochement.
Journalist Poliakoff circles over Europe like a hawk. He slaps no backs but never forgets a name or a face. At home in his six-storied London house he claims London's biggest private telephone bill. His work day begins at 5:30. Stopping only for snacks, Augur swiftly turns out his well-turned, exclusive, thrice-a-week Diplomatic Letters, restricted to 72 copies, over which every embassy in London pores. Poliakoff is equally proud of his weekly piece for the provinces, his occasional cabled stories to the New York Times. Somewhere he finds time to write books as varied as The Tragic Bride and Soviets vs. Civilization.
For relaxation he loafs in Hyde Park with his bounding black Afghan coursing hounds, Rib and Rab, one a gift from the King of Afghanistan. Their full names, Ribbentrop and Rabinovich, are Augur's private joke in defiance of Nazi anti-Jewish legislation. Trained to run down gazelles, Rib and Rab now lope with their master on his news hunts all over England, have committed nuisances in the sacred precincts of the Foreign Office itself.
And you thought he was bad as Secretary of Labor
Say what you will about the Reds, they sure had Hitler figured out and this article fully exposes the situation at hand. Really quite insightful from the vantage point we share now. However, Ribbentrop was and will always be a wine salesman. His 3 to one policy on aircraft, although brazen, was a case price.
heh, heh. That is priceless (referring to the NY Slimes)
I had a good friend, Dr David Prichard, now deceased who introduced me to Reich over a pitcher of Genessee beer. This guy was very verbally adept, but could not stand the slightest inference of his lack of insight. Heh, heh. You guessed it, he eventually stomped out the door (but to his credit, AFTER he paid the entire bill). He's only about four foot ten or so.
True. I did some looking around and there are no pictures of the prototype (that I could find). That would have been real cool if I could find it.
Thanks for the ping.
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