Curtiss P-40N Kittyhawk. (36027977214)

Air Force Museum of New Zealand

The P-40 was the best known Curtiss-Wright aircraft of World War II. It was also one of the most controversial fighters of the war. It was vilified by many at the time as being too slow, lacking in manoeuvrability, having too low a climbing rate, and being largely obsolescent by contemporary world standards even before it was placed in production. The inadequacies of the P-40 were even the subject of a Congressional investigation and it gets regularly included on lists of the worst combat aircraft of World War 2. All of these criticisms certainly had some degree of validity, but it is also true that the P-40 served its country well during the first year of the war in the Pacific when very little else was available. Along with the P-39 Airacobra, the P-40 was the only American fighter available in quantity to confront the Japanese advance during the first year of the Pacific War. It helped stem the speed of the Japanese advance until more modern types could be made available in quantity. The P-40 had no serious vices and was a pleasant aircraft to fly, and, when flown by an experienced pilot who was fully aware of its strengths and weaknesses, was able to give a good account of itself in aerial combat. Strangely enough, the P-40 continued in production long after later and more modern types were readily available, the numbers manufactured reaching the third highest total of American World War II fighters, after the Republic P-47 and the North American P-51. In hindsight, many of the criticisms levelled at the P-40 can be attributed to the aircraft being used in roles it was not initially designed for.