Perhaps the best-known aircraft of the Tomahawk series were those supplied to the American Volunteer Group (AVG)--the famous Flying Tigers. In 1941, the Chinese government asked for US military assistance in its fight against the Japanese invaders. President Franklin Roosevelt wanted to help out as much as he could, but almost the entire US aircraft production at that time was dedicated to American and British production. Nevertheless, because of the urgency of the situation, the British agreed to exchange 100 of the Tomahawk IIBs on order for later model Kittyhawk Is. These Tomahawk IIBs were then diverted to China. Since US law at the time allowed only for cash-and-carry sales of arms to belligerents, A China-based corporation known as the Central Aircraft Manufacturing Company (or CAMCO) was formed to purchase these aircraft.
There persist to this day some confusion about which version of the Tomahawk that was actually delivered to China. Was it the Tomahawk IIA (equivalent to P-40B) or Tomahawk IIB (equivalent to P-40C)? Curtiss company records list them as Model H81-A3, which would seem to make them Tomahawk IIBs (equivalent to the P-40C). There are some discrepancies between Curtiss records matching Tomahawk designations to RAF serials and to equivalent US Army P-40 models, so there is confusion on this point. However, the AVG planes couldn't be Tomahawk IIAs, since only 172 of these were built and there is no record of any of them being delivered from the RAF to China. Therefore, many historians have concluded that the AVG planes had to have been Tomahawk IIBs, which would make them equivalent to the USAAF P-40C. However, Erik Shilling, who was a member of the AVG and who was also a flight leader and an engineering officer for the group, maintains that the airplanes with the AVG were actually export models of the P-40B and not the C. After all, he was there and he ought to know! He says that the Flying Tiger airplanes did not have the equipment to carry the external 52-gallon drop tank, nor were they equipped with bomb shackles. In addition all of the fuel tanks had external self-sealing material, not internally-mounted sealing material as in the "C" model. Also the Model "C" had armor plate in the front, ahead of the pilot, installed on the firewall between the two fifties, but the AVG's planes did not.
The resolution of the problem seems to be be in the fact that the AVG Tomahawks were actually built to a special order. The planes were indeed diverted from Tomahawk IIB contracts, which was equivalent to the P-40C, but when the the planes were actually built they were equipped with the externally-sealed fuel tanks that had been used on the Tomahawk IIA. It seems that Curtiss had some surplus externally-sealed fuel tanks lying around that the British did not want, and decided to use them on the Chinese contract. In addition, the Chinese contract did not specifically ask for plumbing or shackles for an external fuel tank, so this was deleted. Consequently, the AVG Tomahawks were functionally equivalent to Tomahawk IIAa, even though they were taken from a Tomahawk IIB production batch. So they are basically P-40Bs and not P-40Cs.
It is with the Flying Tigers that the P-40 achieved immortality. Newly-promoted to Brigadier General in the Chinese Army, Claire Chennault went to the USA in November 1940 to recruit pilots for the AVG. The AVG came into existence in August 1941, and was backed by the US government in recognition of China's fight against the invading Japanese. The Tomahawks on the Chines order were shipped to Rangoon, Burma, arriving in June of 1941. They were reassembled there and were flown to the AVG base at Toungoo, Burma, where they were intended to defend the Burma Road between Chungking and Lashio. After Pearl Harbor, the AVG moved to Kunming. By the time of Pearl Harbor, some 80 American pilots were serving with the AVG based at Kunming and Mingaladon. Contrary to popular understanding, the AVG did not actually enter combat until AFTER Pearl Harbor. The famous "shark's teeth" marking did not originate with the Flying Tigers, but was adapted from the markings used by the Tomahawks of the RAF's No. 112 Squadron in North Africa.
The AVG drew first blood on December 20, destroying six out of ten attacking Japanese Ki 21 bombers. When the AVG encountered Japanese fighters for the first time, they initially underestimated the maneuverability of their opponents, and they lost two pilots on December 23. It was soon learned that it was wise not to mix it up with Japanese fighters on a one-to-one basis because of the inferior maneuverability and climb rate of the Curtiss, but instead to use the P-40's superior speed and diving ability to maximum advantage. The most effective tactic against the Japanese was found to be a diving pass followed by a rapid exit from the scene. The Tomahawk gained a reputation for ruggedness which enabled many an AVG pilot to return safely home after his plane was damaged in combat. However, the stress of combat and lack of spares had taken their toll, and by March of 1942, only 20 Curtiss machines were serviceable. At that time, 30 P-40Es were issued to the AVG. By the time that the AVG was incorporated as the 23rd Fighter Group of the USAAF in July 1942, the AVG pilots had clamed 286 confirmed kills, with four Curtiss machines having been lost in combat. However a lot more had been lost in Japanese strafing attacks and many had to be cannibalized to keep others in the air.
Contrary to popular myth, the AVG Tomahawks never encounter ed the Japanese A6M Zero-sen in combat. At that stage in the war, all the Zeros had been moved out of China and eastward into the Pacific or southward to the Netherlands East Indies. The fighter that the Tomahawks actually encountered was the Japanese army fighter, the Nakajima Ki 43 Hayabusa (code named Oscar). However, at that stage of the war, virtually every Japanese single-seat fighter was called a "Zero"
An ex-Soviet P-40C has been restored in the livery of Erik Shilling's AVG machine (number 71). It had been delivered to the Soviet Union early in the war and had been shot down but had been recovered and shipped to England. It was later sent to the United States to be restored at Chino, California.
Data
(P-40C / British Tomahawk II)
Origin: Curtiss-Wright Corporation
Type: Single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber
Dimensions
Span: 37' 4" (11.36 metres)
Length: 31' 9" (9.7 metres)
Height: 12' 4" (3.75 metres)
Weight empty: 5,812 lb (2,636 kg) Weight loaded: 7,459 lb (3,393 kg)
Engine
One 1,040 hp Allison V-1710-33 vee-12 liquid-cooled
Armament
Two x 0.50 caliber Browning machine-guns in fuselage
plus four x 0.30 caliber Browning machine-guns (two in each wing)
or (British Tomahawk II) Six x 0.303 Browning machine-guns
Performance
Maximum speed 345 mph (555 km/hour)
Initial climb 2,650 feet (807 metres) per minute
Service ceiling approximately 30,000 feet(9,145 metres)
Range 730 miles / 1,175 kilometres
