Early Access: Curtiss P-40N-15 Detailed Walkaround

Chris, It appears that since you are, for obvious reasons, Euro centric British naming conventions would dominate. I would love to find a way, post pandemic, to get you out to see our museums on the US West Coast. We are blessed to have Boeing's backing for our most excellent Museum of Flight in Seattle. As you likely know, we have one section, the J. Elroy McCaw Personal Courage Wing, that houses a fine collection of WWI (upsatirs) and WWII (downstairs) fighter exhibits. This quite, subtly lit area is my go to place when I need some time to decompress while I visit my "old friends" (P-40N, Bf109E are two favorites). We also, for a time had a FW190 Dora although I'm not sure if she's still displayed. Of course there are other very nice museums in McMinville, OR and Pima AZ. At Pima I saw a Mk II Hurricane in person. Very nice. Anyway, once we get through these travel restrictions keep me in mind in terms of some sort of sponsorship planning to get you out here. Cheers, D

Hey David, yes, I have the same issue with the P-40 shark mouth design. It looks great but nowadays it is hard to get away from it when it was not as common as many people say. As for Kittyhawk, I understand the issue but it is mainly because the museum refers to it in this way and because it allows the most amount of people to immediately know what plane is referred to. Thanks for your comment, happy to hear you liked the video.

Military Aviation History

Hi Chris, thank you for another great video. I must admit that the P-40 is probably my favorite "War Bird". That might be in part due to its underdog status next to the more glamorous P-51s and Spits. It also tends to be isolated in fighter history due to two elements I find frustrating. One is the most obvious, the relentless depiction, particularly in restorations, of the garish "shark mouth" graphic. Clearly the cooling system layout lends itself to this treatment, but it is so overused as to be, well, tiresome. As we know, most P-40s did not serve in this paint scheme instead presenting themselves with graphics common to other aircraft. Nevertheless, the impression one is constantly left with is that almost every example left the Buffalo factory with that gaping mouth and scowling eyes. It leaves this fighter enthusiast constantly searching for historical visual content devoid of this feature … P-40 depicted as equal to other fighters not as a subpar example with an exaggerated cooling system overemphasized by the ever-present mouth. My second gripe is the unfortunate rebranding of the British (and Russian) P-40 Warhawks as “Tomahawk” or, more commonly, “Kittyhawk”. Historically, of course, British P-40s were referred to by those names but not “P-40 Kittyhawks” and while your reference accurately places a slash between “P-40N-15” and “Kittyhawk IV” it presents a nuanced association between “P-40” and “KittyhawK” not uncommon elsewhere. It is my belief that the US Army used the name “Warhawk” for all American P-40s but perhaps technically I’m wrong and that is why you omitted it. Maybe you could clear that up. Still, the reference to Kittyhawk has become so widespread that the American term, “Warhawk” has been pushed to the background. Please accept this message as a discussion piece rather than a criticism. Your work is exceptional in terms of historical accuracy. I would hate to leave the impression that I am critical of your fine work … I certainly am not. All that said, in my humble opinion you would distinguish yourself as a aviation historian by tackling these elements in some future video. I have yet to see content that addresses this graphic and naming phenomenon. David Freiboth, Mercer Island (Seattle) USA

Hi, Chris, I don't think my old eyes can appreciate 4K, and I love the resolution you provide, now. Wow - so many access ports, and so many of them so tiny! This is the best presentation I've ever seen about maintenance hatches. My Dad was a pilot officer, and the squadron people I met, when I was little, were generally other pilots. I was barely aware of the ground crews. I'm also mildly autistic, so that was probably part of my awareness level. I've also always loved the P-40, especially its history with the American Volunteer Group, when it was still able to match what the Japanese were using, in air-to-air fights. I'm aware the P-40 was largely moved to a ground attack role. Thanks for the wonderful visuals. Especially good job pointing out the fabric-covered control surfaces. I'm amazed to see trim tabs, on such an early aircraft.

Bill Lemmond

Yeah, especially because recording in 4k entails so much more; you need a much beefier editing rig etc. uploads will take longer. And I understand that taking additional b-roll takes a lot of time- those planes are just so gorgeous :-)

Lasse Meyer

The plane itself comes from New Guinea but the colors are from a squadron that indeed fought in the MTO :)

Military Aviation History

I recorded this in a slightly different part of my room but I don't think many people have noticed it. 4K will be a target once it is feasible. It is always nice to have but once I set a precedent, it must be maintained ;)

Military Aviation History

Hey Chris, is it just me or does your voice sound a bit muffled in this? Sounds a bit like you filtered the highs a bit harshly. Nice idea with the music, but your voice is drowned out a bit by the music-level. Love the B-roll, can we get more of that? And perhaps eventually 4k? :)

Lasse Meyer

Thanks for the great preview, Chris! I always loved the P-40 from the time I was a child. I had a model then with a paint scheme similar to the one used on this aircraft. Were these used by the British Army in North Africa? It seems the paint scheme would have fit in well there.

Sean Tyson