Ways of the War Hawk: How to Fly the Curtiss P-40 Fighter (Color, 1944)..more like 1942?

[Troy Smith]

While looking for something else,  this turned up in a search

 

 

 

I doubt the date is as late as 1944 from the camo and markings, more like 1942? 

 

Looks to be a P-40F, and has a lot of great detail film of the cockpit and operating systems....in color 

 

I'll @BS_w @Buz  as I have seen them post up on the Hawk family,  

 

Hope of interest

[noelh]

Thanks  for that. I now feel  ready to  check out in a P40. 

 

I agree it's  probably earlier than 1944. All that scheme needs is a sharkmouth.

 

Two things pilot related had me smiling. One was the recommendation to use the shoulder straps. A lot of early American aircraft didn't have them and if they did they weren't used with the obvious consequences in the event of a sudden  stop. 🤥

 

The second was the use of triggers on the control stick to operate the flaps and gear. To be fair he did warn the the 'newbie' not to operate gun trigger by mistake. Maybe that's where  the term 'shooting an approach' comes from ! Ergonomics was a new idea then of course.

 

Very interesting video and in colour too. 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 3, 2022 by noelh

[Work In Progress]

IMDB thinks it's 1940 

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0033245/

but that's nonsense too as it is a Merlin P-40F and there weren't any of those in 1940.

 

If you fancy something a bit less blurry, here's Dave Hadfield talking the world through a flight in a slightly later model

 

[FinnAndersen]

Been modelling these planes for years and reading accounts from pilots flying them without realising how much you had to memorise to fly them: So and so much pressure, temperature, rpm and whatnot. Settings of levers and breakers. Monitoring speeds for all kinds of flight situations. Mind boggling. 

 

Great post!

 

/Finn

[noelh]

3 hours ago, FinnAndersen said:

Been modelling these planes for years and reading accounts from pilots flying them without realising how much you had to memorise to fly them: So and so much pressure, temperature, rpm and whatnot. Settings of levers and breakers. Monitoring speeds for all kinds of flight situations. Mind boggling. 

 

Great post!

 

/Finn

It's  funny I  thought  that too before training. While  I  flew more modern aeroplanes. People who sat in the  cockpit with me would  be boggled when  they saw all the  instruments and levers.  But  with a  bit of  training almost  anyone can do it. Proof is that I  managed it. The more you  fly the easier it becomes.

 

Yes those  old warbirds were more complex to fly than even a modern jet fighter. To fly, not to  operate. Which is of a different  order with  modern tech.

 

You  could do it too. Don't let pilots  pretend to  have  some mysterious abilities.🤣 More than  once I  climbed into an aeroplane and  looked at the shiny, expectant trusting faces in  the  back and wondered why they let  a kid who built  Airfix and Frog and hung them from  his bedroom  ceiling while dreaming he could  do it for real  one  day, Yet they're I was  taking their  lives in  my hands.

 

Someone  who  built  model aeroplanes.

 

Little did they  know.

 

 

 

Edited November 3, 2022 by noelh