P 40 - The Tough Warhawk

The P-40 Warhawk is sometimes seen as a secondary World War Two fighter. But was it such an inferior machine? Join us in this in-depth look at one of the most produced fighters of the Second World War.

0:00 History
3:33 Strengths
4:13 Weaknesses
4:45 Variants
6:17 Head-to-head
7:59 Rating
8:14 In Action
9:21 Notable Pilots
10:23 Conclusion

Game footage

Music by order of appearance
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported

Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

SFX
Old Vintage Film Scratches:

Sources
Aircraft of World War II - Chris Grant - ISBN 1-84013-336-8
Fighting Aircraft of World War II - Bill Gunston - ISBN 1-84065-092-3
Aircraft Legends of World War 2 - Iain Wyllie & Tony Holmes - ISBN 1-84176-155-9
The Complete Book of Fighters - William Green & Gordon Swanborough - ISBN 0-86288-220-6
Jane's Fighting Aircraft of World War II - ISBN 1-85170-493-0
The Gatefold Book of World War II Warplanes - ISBN 1-85627-947-2
Wikipedia

I do not own any of the images used in this video. The owners of such images are identified in the video itself.

[TheDesertwalker]

My uncle flew the P-40 in New Guinea. Later, the unit switched to A-20s. Uncle Joe was 5 foot 1 inch on his tallest day, but he was all bad-ass, while still remaining humble.

[Ralphieboy]

An old post-Pearl Harbor joke:
"Ever heard of a P-400? That's a P-40 with a Zero on its tail!"
Still, it was a good, solid aircraft for its time, and the pride of my airplane collection as a kid was a 1/32 scale P-40 Flying Tiger in Chinese colors.

[robertpearson]

A nice looking aircraft despite its shortcomings. Rather an unsung workhorse like the Hawker Hurricane, one of my other favourite planes.

[CallsignEskimo-lo]

The P-40, operating in the Close Air Support role, was pivotal in the first defeat of Japanese land forces at Milne Bay.

[michaelburke]

Rugged, reliable and a great gun platform. Great ground attack aircraft.

[WCDodge]

Ameican version of the Hurricane. Others took the glory, these aircraft were to busy working.

[smokeystover]

My favorite American WW2 fighter. Loved it since I was a kid.

[philipe]

My favorite fighter plane of w2. I remember reading The flying Tigers when I was in grade school and buying several P40 models. There was a movie made for tv that was called Death Race, later changed to State of Division where 2 P40s are the “stars”of the movie. It takes place in North Africa. One of the best movies at that time. I would like that movie to be remade with a real German tank and not an American tank with German markings.

[kellybreen]

Edward Stocky Edward's is another notable P-40 ace, Tex Hill is I think the top US ace in the aircraft.

[Chiller]

I didn’t realize there were more P-40’s produced than P-38’s.

[dongeorge]

It was Tex Hill of the American Volunteer Group (Flying Tigers) who with 3 others flying P-40E's totally stopped (and mostly destroyed) Japan's battle hardened 56th Army Division at the Salween Gorge on May 1942, thereby keeping China in the War and handing Japan it's 1st humbling defeat. For that day alone, the P-40 design deserves to be remembered with awe.

[Idahoguy]

The P-40 was an underdog that over performed in the the first two years of the Pacific War. Not the best aerial weapon but available in quantity when better allied aircraft were not to be yet available.

[romanace]

My great aunt made p40s during ww2 at the buffalo plant, my great grandparents made p47s later in the war

[davegeisler]

It was tough and rugged and it could dive well that about sums up the P40 .

[MrLemonbaby]

Well, done. Good graphics, along with some comparisons with contemporary adversaries.

But there wasn't anything in the vid that most people didn't know already.


May I make some suggestions?


All aircraft have strengths and weaknesses. When doctrine and pilots play to these they most often come out on top. For example the AVG showed that the P-40 was a great aircraft in a diving attack. This of course depended on the Chinese air warning system allowing the defense to get to altitude. Altogether, a killer combination. It would have been interesting, and less known, what the over all kill ratio was.


Secondly, you might include one epic fight. For example Johnson's badly damaged P-47 still being immune to the German ace's attacks. It would be like the box art for model airplanes--excitement, juice!


Good luck, I've sub'd.

[Beechnut]

With all six guns firing you got about 32 seconds of ammo.

[battlering]

The Brazilian Air Force operated more than 70 P-40s (mainly K and N models) between 1942 and 1953. Many fighter pilots had it in high regard, and there is a P-40N preserved at the Museu Aeroespacial at Rio de Janeiro. It was also essential to train pilots who latter flew the P-47D in Italy.

[MrBergever]

The P40 is like that player on the team that contributes just enough to help the team win but not enough to get noticed by the fans or media.

[rob]

Say what you like about the P-40 but the sharks mouth never looked better on any other aircraft!

[thetype]

You're missing alot of information! The late generation allison's were producing almost 1, 800 HP and were alot faster than what you specified! Greg's youtube channel has all the specs and documentation: