P-40 PSA

[Zimme83]

They had an ever more awesome model, the P-40STFU in the pipeline..

[Brooke]

They had an ever more awesome model, the P-40STFU in the pipeline..

Ah, yes! 

[caldera]

Also, remember that the USAAF cancelled the little-known P-40FU since it was thought to be too unsporting to deploy such a dominant aircraft against our enemies.  Instead, a downgraded version, with a different fuselage, wing, tail section, engine, and gun package, is what became the Bearcat.

Wasn't the P-40FU the one with the twin Bofors for cowl guns?   That would be very unsporting indeed.

[Devil 505]

Wasn't the P-40FU the one with the twin Bofors for cowl guns?   That would be very unsporting indeed.

No, that was the P-40FU (and the horse you rode in on) 

[Brooke]

The P-40FU had many advanced features:

-- Laminar-flow wing with low thickness to chord and flying tail, so it didn't have compressibility problems or problems handling near Mach 1.
-- Full-span fowler flaps, giving it a stall speed of 40 mph.
-- The turbosupercharged 3500 HP P&W Wasp Overlord (4500 HP on WEP), giving 7000 fpm climb rate and top speed of 520 mph.
-- Ailerons and spoilers, giving light, crisp roll of 360 degrees per second at all speeds.
-- Two TRW 20 mm Super Gatling cannons, 1000 m/s muzzle velocity, 1950 rounds per minute.
-- Reversible prop.

[Zimme83]

The STFU was even better:
it had a Super Overlord engine w 6000 hp on idle.
-  4x 30mm gatling guns and 2 x 120 mm cannons
- Fly by wire and relaxed stability made it so maneuverable that the first prototype crashed after the pilot by accident shot his own tail off in a dogfight with himself.

[Slade]

The P-40 can also be conveniently refueled at your neighborhood gas station as shown here.

[Mister Fork]

For me, the Twin P-40-GFU wit Norden STFU optics.

[caldera]

The P-40FU had many advanced features:

-- Laminar-flow wing with low thickness to chord and flying tail, so it didn't have compressibility problems or problems handling near Mach 1.
-- Full-span fowler flaps, giving it a stall speed of 40 mph.
-- The turbosupercharged 3500 HP P&W Wasp Overlord (4500 HP on WEP), giving 7000 fpm climb rate and top speed of 520 mph.
-- Ailerons and spoilers, giving light, crisp roll of 360 degrees per second at all speeds.
-- Two TRW 20 mm Super Gatling cannons, 1000 m/s muzzle velocity, 1950 rounds per minute.
-- Reversible prop.

That's almost as good as the AH2 Corsair!

[bortas1]

  the only time I had gotten any kills in a p40 was in an fso. 4 kills and few asst. and I forgot to save the film.  cant remember which p40 it was.
 

[Karnak]

P-40s are crunchy and good with ketchup.  (Mossie food, among the many things they are food for)

Kinda like how mice, rats and bunnies are food for just about every predator you can think of.  Except P-40s lack the breeding rate of the mice, rats and bunnies, and are thus very rare.

[bustr]

So the consensus is you guys admire the P40's ability to be canon fodder.

[Brooke]

The P-40 is a decent plane against more-historical competition:

[Zimme83]

Yes against Zekes and Ki-43:s a P-40 works as long its stay fast. At higher speeds the P-40 handles far better than the japanes planes but the 6 G blackout limit take away much of the advantage the P-40 have over other planes. P-40 could tolerate a ton of G.