Cavanaugh Flight Museum

Built by the Curtiss factory, the P-40 Warhawk was the U.S. Army Air Force's standard fighter at the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Although it could not match the performance of the Japanese A6M Zero or German Me-109, the P-40's strong constitution and heavy armament made it a competent foe for any Axis aircraft.

Operating as part of the Chinese Air Force over mainland China, the American Volunteer Group (AVG), better known as the Flying Tigers, used their P-40s to win victories over nearly 300 Japanese planes from December, 1941 to July, 1942, while losing only 12 of their own in aerial combat.

Curtiss developed the P-40 in the late 1930s to replace the Curtiss P-36, the same basic airframe refitted with an Allison V-1710 in-line engine instead of the Pratt and Whitney radial. Though already obsolete by 1941, the Tomahawks, Kittyhawks and Warhawks saw extensive action in China, India, North Africa, Egypt, Russia and the Pacific. The aircraft received great acclaim from those who flew it, like Charlie Bond who scored 10 victories while flying with Claire Chennault's Flying Tigers First Pursuit Squadron, the Adam and Eves.

The Cavanaugh Flight Museum's P-40N was manufactured in May, 1944 and is painted in General Charles R. Bond's number "5" of the AVG. P-40N (serial number 44-7396 ) was delivered to the U.S. Army Air Force on May 26, 1944. It was sent to Petersen Army Airfield in Colorado Springs, Colorado in June of 1944 and served with the 268th AAF Base Unit (Combat Crew Training Station-Fighter, Second Air Force.) In March, 1945 the aircraft was transferred to the 232nd AAF Base Unit (Second Air Force) stationed at Dalhart Army Airfield in Texas. It was disposed of as surplus in June ,1945. The Cavanaugh Flight Museum purchased it in 1995 from Joseph Mabee who owned it since 1978 and painted in General Bond's personal markings.

The P-40N was a later model than those used earlier by the Flying Tigers. This model, capable of a maximum speed of 378 mph, was fitted with a new canopy to improve the pilot's visibility to the rear. It is one of the 5,219 P-40N models built out of the total of 13,738 and the last and fastest production variant.

By Frank Schaufler and Seth Goltzer