A little late but still here none the less, the first episode of Wild Blue Yonder, focusing on the US Airforce. This time round, the early war workhorse of both the US and Commonwealth forces, the Curtiss P-40.
People seem to forget one very important detail when it comes to this "unloved hero." It, like the Wildcat, was holding the line while the newer, faster, and flashy new fighters were being developed. Also, many of the brutal lessons learned in both theaters were learned by pilots flying the older fighters and taught to the newer pilots being trained. Their contributions to the war as a whole cannot be under estimated or under stated.
Know that your 100th inscription is from Brazil, I would like to suggest a video about the P-47, I have a special attention on it because this was the fighter that the FAB (Brazilian Air Force) flew in the Theater of War in Italy as a unit of the 350th Fighter Group was the “1st Brazilian Fighter Squadron (1st BFS)” starting to operate as an independent unit from 11 November 1944 until the end of the War. Due to the lack of Axis aircraft at this stage of the War, its pilots could not act in aerial combat, focusing their action on attacking land targets, facing a still powerful anti-aircraft defense that exacted a high price from all Allied pilots who had to carry out their attacks, highlighting that the robust P-47 managed to cut losses, often returning parts torn off by Flak. Brazil was the only Latin American country that sent troops to Europe to fight alongside the Allies - in addition to the FAB, the FEB (Brazilian Expeditionary Force) was sent with almost 26 thousand men and women to Italy. Continue your beautiful work.
The "Trouble" with the V-1710 Allison engine is not with the engine per se, but with a desk jockey that decided that all USAAC (later USAAF then USAF) would have only have a Single Stage Supercharger. If High Altitude Performance was "Needed" they would use a Turbo Supercharger (now simply called a Turbocharger). This is why the P-38 had to have twin booms (the things that look somewhat like a WW1 Lewis Drum fed machine-gun are the Turbochargers) and the P-47 had to be so big (to carry it's Turbocharger behind the cockpit).....
Churchill "Our most vital need is therefore the delivery at the earliest possible date of the largest possible number of Curtiss P-40 fighters." page 86 The Burning Blue Addison and Crang
The British Royal Air Force referred to the P-40 as the Tomahawk. The Royal Australian Air Force referred to the P-40 as the Kittyhawk. The U.S. Army Air Force referred to the P-40 as the Warhawk. My father flew Curtiss P-40E Warhawks during WWII when he was stationed at Randolph Field in Texas for fighter pilot training in the USAAF. He said it was the best single engine fighter he ever flew during the war.
Hate to quibble…but in the commonwealth, early models were referred to as tomahawks, with later models the Kittyhawks….Australias reference to Kittyhawks is generally because that version was used by the RAAF in strength in North Africa, but more importantly in the defence of Port Moresby & Milne Bay
@@allancarey2604 Interesting. Do you know what models of P-40 differentiated between the Tomahawk from the Kittyhawk in the Conmonwealth? Like to know this for future reference. Thanks in advance.
@@jimfinlaw4537 P-40Bs and Cs for the Commonwealth (Also known as Curtiss Model-81s in some instances) were referred to as Tomahawks as that was their official designation by Curtiss to differentiate Export aircraft from the Warhawks of the USAAF (which were also P-40Bs and Cs). Kittyhawk was used just as a generic nickname for P-40D and onwards (also known as Curtiss Model 87), and was used by both the Commonwealth and US Airforce as the nickname for the plane. A common misconception I've ran into ironically is the idea that the P-40B and C were called Kittyhawk with the D and E being the Warhawk lol
@@jimfinlaw4537 It wasn’t just a nick name. US documents post D model are usually titled Warhawk and RAF / commonwealth P40 documents from the E onwards use the name Kittyhawk. (the D was a developmental designator only). Occasional exceptions within commonwealth documentation are publications that for speed of promulgation were straight copies of US dox. Such as systems repair directions and the like. Everything else was labelled Kittyhawk. Operationally post C they were Warhawks in US service and Kittyhawks in UK or commonwealth service. (E-N). An example being the P40M Warhawk being designated the Kittyhawk Mk4 by the RAF. In practice there was ad libbing by personnel. For instance the RNZAF often called their models Kittyhawk K/ M / N etc. Perhaps as they were operating closely along side US squadrons in the Solomons. My late uncle flew P40M’s in the RNZAF and I was lucky enough to know a few P40 veterans and accumulate some original dox. Even luckier in that I have spent time helping out on a couple. Always happy to see another P40 video. An aircraft that achieved far more than the arm chair critics would have you believe…
Always nice to see something on the P40, my favourite WW2 warbird. Just a few points: There are "seldom few aircraft"? Perhaps check how your script reads? Talking at length about the D whilst showing a photo of a K doesn't help either. Regarding naming conventions. Pre E (no D’s served), they were Tomahawks for the RAF and thereafter Warhawks for P40’s in US service but Kittyhawks in all RAF and Commonwealth services. This is reflected in official documentation of USAAC / USAF vs. RAF, RAAF, RNZAF. Much of which is downloadable. A little less flight sim gaming video in the video might help too. IMHO it makes it look like a kids channel. There are plenty of good P40 newsreel videos if you need more material. If you must pad the video out with that, maybe consider using another sim, as there are far more authentic and detailed P40 models than that around. Thanks for uploading.
I think that the CGI gaming footage detracts from the presentation. There's another video that is entirely CGI gaming footage, and that one is quite dreadful.
Totally agree, it brought it down a level. At least if it’s going to be used as a filler, a better simulator add on could have been chosen. There are far more authentic P40 sims out there.
