Designed as an "Army Cooperation aircraft the aircraft found fame as a special operations role. They ferried operatives into German occupied Europe. It has startling Short take off and landing perfromance. There is no cockpit floor and a considerable drop to the bottom of the fuselage. Drop your map...and you ain't getting it back!
Various marks were named Warhawk, Tomahawk & Kittyhawk. P40's were the mainstay uf USAAF fighter squadrons at the outbreak of war. It went on to fight with distinction in the Western Desert and Italy with the RAF. Though it struggled as a fighter against Japanese and German fighters it found a niche as a close air support aircraft. There were 2 examples at the show but only one flew These were not the only Allinson V1710 powered aircraft on display..
Bell P63 Kingkobra
This was a scaled up version of the older P39 Cobra with a Laminar Flow wing.. These were unusual designs for their day. They were built around a massive 37mm cannon which fired through the propeller hub. They had tricycle unercarriage and the engine was mounted behind the pilot! The aim of this was to allow room for the cannon and to put the engine at the center of gravity of the aircraft. They were used mainy by the Russians as a successful ground attack aircraft.
The "Jug" was a brute of an aircraft. For such a chunky aircraft it had suprising speed, probably due to the massive P&W R2800 turbocharged radial engine! Despite this it was a bit of a dog with regards to maneauverability and even lacked power at low/medium altitude when compared to German fighters. Even so it had an enviable combat record and could absorb huge amounts of battle damace. This resulted in a staggering 0.7% loss rate in combat.
North American P51D Mustang
Built for export to the RAF this thoroughbread was initially a big dissapointment. The Allinson V1070 was not up to the task. A bright spark at the Air Ministary decided to try a Rolls Royce Merlin in it and turned it into a true hotrod!! Exceptional speed, range, manauverability the P51 had it all. A fine looking machine to boot. When Goering saw single engined P51's over Berlin he said he knew the war was lost. Needless to say the P51 not only fulfilled the RAF order but served with distinction with the USAAF. When P51's escorted the bombers all the way to their targets their losses were drastically reduced. There were 8 flying P51's at Duxford. This particular example wears Swedish markings.
A humble workhorse, responsible however for the demise of many a U boat, the rescue of many downed airmen or sailors AND was ultimately responsable for the demise of the Mighty Bismark. It was an RAF PBY that found the damaged German battleship and allowed the Royal Navy to close in and sink her before she made it back to port. Sadly the UK's only flying Catalina crashed, killing some of its passengers last year. The aircraft is repairable and up for sale. I has heartened to see this example at the show although it did not fly.
Note the engine exhausts in the center section behind the cockpit.
Supermarine Spitfire
What more can I say about this aircraft. A true classic. These pictures illustrate the gradual development of the aircraft from the early Battle of Britain vintage MkII, through the MkXVI and to one of the later post war versions (F Mk21?, sorry but there are so many versions!). The Spit eventually ran to 47 different marks and served on as late as 1967...not bad as the first flight was in 1936! As can be seen from the middle picture, the MkXVI, the USAAF had the good sense to use them. This aircraft (actually a MkVIII) is painted in the colours of an aicraft flown by the US Ace, Capt Leland P Molland with the 31st FG in Italy 1944.
