Yet another P-40,39 thread

[TheOxman]

I was wonderin' , how did the 40 fair against the IJN A/C. I have read a bit about it. What i have found is that the P-40 did not do so well above 15k, compressed easily, and entered a spin when stalled.  Sounds kinda a Hoss to fly IMHO.

What i have read, the P-39 did not fair much better.Some pilots disliked it.  But with that big 37mm, it sounds to be a sweet attacker.I also read problems with the 37mm, alot of jamming. 1 37mm, 4 .30, 2 .50's.

I would love to fly these A/C and are needed badly for a early planset with more IJN to go with it.  I was just wondering how bad thoses Zeros and Tonys are going to flame my butt:D 'Cause i wont fly these A/C very well, not at first anyway.

[brady]

Well I certainly hope they add the P 40, not because I am looking forward to flying it, but rather because it was so widely used during the early war perioud, it would be a great tool for the CT. O I am also looking forward to how easy they will fall to my Zero:)

 It would be nice to see a Hawk 75 ( basicaly A radial engined P 40) In French Collors, that way we could do a battle of France set up:) Heck were geting a Boston so we have the Bomber:)

[TheOxman]

French colors? I dont know if i would like that. I guess i dont care as long as i fly the thing. You got a pic of this P-40 with French colors? I would like to see. i hope HiTech puts somekinda paint scheme with the P-40 Nose-art looks so sweet on the P-40. The Tiger shark echeme is fine with me. but like i said i dont really carewhat color , as longs as it flys;)

[HoHun]

Hi Oxman,

>I was wonderin' , how did the 40 fair against the IJN A/C.

From what I've heard from MF Kirby (who flew P-39, or rather P-400) and Clay Tice (who flew P-40), both of them in New Guinea, the USAAF fighters were outclassed in that theatre.

The P-400 had a poor ceiling, and the Japanese bombers, escorted by radial-engined fighters, could attack at altitudes above the P-400's ceiling. Kirby said he was glad the Japanese fighters didn't come down to fight, for obvious reasons. Kirby and Clay seemed to agree that the was a bit better with regard to the ceiling, but fairly equal otherwise.

The main strength of the USAAF fighters was top speed, and they seem to have employed hit-and-run-for-home tactics. Their margin of superiority was pretty small, and the Japanese fighters held all of the other advantages.

Pilots on New Guinea were desperate to get their hands on newer, better fighters, and Jack Welsh is reported to have bailed out of his P-40s routinely for "engine trouble" after someone told him that they'd get new fighters as soon as they'd used up their remaining P-40 fighters. The story might not be true, but Clay considered it credible, so I think it caught the atmosphere among the pilots at least.

Both Kirby's and Clay's unit received the P-38 at last, and from that moment on, they felt that they enjoyed technological superiority over the Japanese fighters. (Kirby became an ace on P-38s.)

(Kirby said he didn't meet the Ki-61 in combat, though it was employed in New Guinea at that time. It's my impression he only met radial engined fighters.)

Regards,

Henning (HoHun)

[gofaster]

The stuff I've read would indicate that the P-40 could out-dive a Zero (and most other Japanese fighters of the time), but could not out-maneuver it.  The P-40 packed a bigger punch (six .50s worked so well that it was the standard armament for most American fighter through the Korean War) and could take more damage due to better armour and sturdier construction than the Japanese planes.  

The Allison liquid-cooled engine suffered a terrible performance drop-off at altitudes above 15k, which would certainly impact the P-40's climb rate and maneuverability at those altitudes.  In Aces High, take a P-51B over 15k and you'll get a pretty good idea of how the engine would work on climb-out in the MA if they bring the P-40 in.

The P-40 and P-39 were used mostly for ground work because, quite frankly, they were dogs as fighters but packed armor and a good punch with their guns.  The P-40 could carry a bomb slung on its belly rack, but I'm not sure about the P-39.  I think its main contribution was its cannon.

I know the P-38 was the first plane that could get fast enough to compress.  I don't know if the P-40 and P-39 could get fast enough to suffer compressability or not.

When the P-40 was introduced in Air Warrior, I used it for climbing to 15k and then catching enemy planes down low coming to and from their airfields and doing BnZ attacks on them.  The P-40 worked well for low-alt furballs too.  Because of the way AW had modelled damage, the P-40 could get hit more often than other fighters and still keep fighting.  Not sure if it would work the same with the AH flight model or not, particularly with the way the ground vehicles and flak batteries are modelled, along with the risk of collisions and ground impacts (no trees in AW).

[Sabre]

ANZAC forces employed the P-40 right through the end of the war, and had decent success against the Japanes.  They took to heart the lessons hard won in combat: don't climb into the Japanese, only attack from advantage; keep speed up, hit fast and extend to repeat; point the nose down and run for home the moment your energy and the enemy's appeared to be nearly equal; never, never, NEVER try to turn more than 90 degrees with the IJN fighters.  I've got an exerpt at home from Gen Claire Chanault, that covers it nicely.  I'll try to find it when I get home.  Oh yeah, and always have a wingman.

Sabre