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Aircraft
Be sure to check out our Aerobatic
Shows and find out more about the
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P-40
Warhawk
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P-40 Warhawk
Colonel (later General Claire
Lee Chennault) had been in China
since the mid-Thirties.  An
outspoken advocate of "pursuit"
(as fighter planes were called
then), in an Army Air Force dominated
by strategic bomber theorists,
he alienated many of his superiors.
But in China, equipped with P-40's,
he developed the basic fighter
tactics that American pilots would
use throughout the war.
The Japanese planes used over
China were much more maneuverable
than his Warhawks, whose advantages
were speed in a dive, superior
firepower, and better ability
to absorb battle damage. Chennault
worked out and documented the
appropriate tactics that capitalized
on the relative strengths of the
American fighters: intercept,
make a diving pass, avoid dogfighting,
and dive away when in trouble.
This remained the fundamental
U.S. fighter doctrine throughout
the Pacific War.
Chennault's American Volunteer
Group, popularly known as "The
Flying Tigers" flew their
P-40B's and P-40C's with great
success against the Japanese aircraft.
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Joel Paris was a P-40 ace with
the 49th Fighter Group in the
Southwest Pacific. He relates
his opinion of the P-40: I never
felt that I was a second-class
citizen in a P-40. In many ways
I thought the P-40 was better
than the more modern fighters.
I had a hell of a lot of time
in a P-40, probably close to a
thousand hours. I could make it
sit up and talk. It was an unforgiving
airplane. It had vicious stall
characteristics. ...
If you knew what you were doing,
you could fight a Jap on even
terms, but you had to make him
fight your way. He could outturn
you at slow speed. You could outturn
him at high speed. When you got
into a turning fight with him,
you dropped your nose down so
you kept your airspeed up, you
could outturn him. At low speed
he could outroll you because of
those big ailerons. They looked
like barn doors on the Zero. If
your speed was up over 275, you
could outroll it. His big ailerons
didn't have the strength to make
high speed rolls ...
You could push things, too. Because
you knew one thing: If you decided
to go home, you could go home.
He couldn't because you could
outrun him. He couldn't leave
the fight because you were faster.
That left you in control of the
fight. Mind you: The P-40 was
a fine combat airplane |
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Here are a few of the aircraft of the CAF
Vultee BT-13A Valiant Basic Trainer
All pilots, whether they were destined
for fighters or bombers, had to go through the pilot
training process. One of the most important aircraft
for developing new pilot skills was the BT-13 Valiant,
sometimes known as the "Vibrator" ~ not
for what it did to you, but to the windows of buildings
when it flew by.
Harvard Mk IV
The most important advanced pilot
trainer of World War II was the AT-6 Texan. The
aircraft was so good and so popular, that it was
used by many different service branches and many
different countries. Our aircraft was one of those
licensed by Canadian Car and Foundry in Canada where
it was known as the "Harvard"
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