Previously I stated it'd be nice to get a P-40E, a P-40F/K/L/M of some sort with several small bombs for ground pounding, and a P-40N, to better round out the planeset.
Was doing a little reading the other day while looking for F4F stats, and came across some P-40 reference material, and it got me to re-read some of the speed specs to refresh my memory.
Turns out the performance gap was smaller than I thought. I was expecting less than 10mph, not "2" mph in most cases.
I have to revise my P-40 wishlist to simply be:
1) a proper P-40B
2) P-40 E/F (same performance, different engines, if E short tail, if F long tail, but F gives separate skin options)
3) P-40N (with 2 options, N-1 weight-saving-4-guns, and N-5 6-guns-with-bombracks)
Anything else is apparently 100% redundant. Even the P-40N isn't as good as I previously thought, but hey it rounds things out a little.
P-40B top speed was 352mph (with 1040hp Allison)
P-40E top speed was 362mph (with 1150hp Allison)
P-40F top speed was 364mph (with 1300hp Merlin 28)
P-40K top speed was 362mph (with 1325hp Allison)
P-40L top speed was 368mph (with 1300hp Merlin 28) *
P-40M was a P-40K but went back to Allison engines (Merlins scarce)
P-40N-1 top speed was 378mph (with 1200hp Allison) **
P-40N-5 top speed was 350mph (with 1200hp Allison) ***
P-40N-15 top speed was 343mph (with 1200hp Allison)
Note the Merlins FTH alt was 19k or so, and the Allison alt was 16k or so. The curves wouldn't be too different, just shifted up. Going from 1100 to 1300hp seems to have almost no effect on this airframe. It was draggy IMO, and couldn't get much faster no matter what engine you put into it.
* = The L was a stripped down version. They removed 250lbs of fuel, ammo, and guns, but all this only netted "a mere 4 mph faster" than the previous version. Other wise identical to P-40F-5 Merlin model.
** = The P-40N-1 had a lightened structure, 31 gallons less fuel, only 4 guns, and only 200 rounds per gun. 400 were built like this. It was only about 10mph faster, yet was the fastest production model P-40.
*** = The P-40N-5 put the guns and ammo back, as pilots complained it couldn't get the job done. It added bomb racks and could carry underwing bombs as well as drop tanks. The extra weight not only dropped the speed back down, but it actually was slower than previous models! This model was exported heavily (1000 to the VVS, and a number to RAAF/RNZAF/etc units). It was used for ground attack and bomber escort missions, but in US service it was only used as a trainer according to a couple of things I've read.
