re: #149 William Lewis

Any plane nuts, pilots or even just WWII fans? I was looking for something else when I found this video by the late Jeff Ethell on flying the P-40E. It’s an interesting video, especially when he talks about how maneuverable it was (“like a Pitts with an Allison up front”) and then remembering how I’ve read that the engine could be over powered to 75” hg in combat. A far more impressive aircraft than the mythology of WWII would lead you to believe.

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The P-40 got a bad rap because its lack of dual-stage superchargers meant it couldn’t climb up to the altitude of the Bf 109 and FW-190, and so made a poor showing in Northern Europe. In the Pacific, it was sturdy and serviceable, albeit outclassed in maneuverability by the Zero; but the Zero couldn’t out-dive the P-40, and high-speed running passes were a favorite tactic of Allied fighter pilots over the islands. In Africa, the P-40 was the superior fighter until later editions of the Bf 109 and Spitfire eventually made it obsolete, and even then its durability was such that it persisted in the ground-attack role until the growing prevalence of the P-51 in the European sector freed up some P-47s to bring the rain.