Curtiss P-36C Hawk, was given US Military serial 38-210 and was USAACthe last P-36C to have been produced; with manufacturers construction number 12624. It was delivered to Selfridge Field, Michigan in May 1939 and participated in the 1939 Cleveland Air Races in September wearing experimental camouflage and then participated in War Games at Maxwell Field.
During 1940 she was transferred to Wright Patterson and then sent to Dayton, Ohio for testing. Subsequently she went on to serve with several different United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) squadrons on the U.S. East Coast. She sustained category 3 damage in separate incidents during April 1941 and April 1942 and was repaired each time.
During 1942 she was sent to Chanute Technical Training Command for a few months, but was subsequently labelled obsolete and flown to Buckley Field in Colorado.
She was put into a Technical School following her decommissioning and was later acquired by a Pratt & Whitney Technical instructor in Canada, where she resided until a Florida collector acquired her and passed her on to The Fighter Collection.
Her restoration commenced in 2011, under the leadership of Matt Nightingale at Chino, California when sufficient original parts capable of overhaul were recovered to ensure that the aircraft could be completed to fly. Steve Hinton carried out the shakedown flights and the FAA certified P-36C, on the US Civil register as N80FR, made its first public appearances at the 2015 Planes of Fame Airshow, in unique flights with the Museum’s Sikorsky P-35 in similar markings.
A few months later on 10 February 2016, the Curtiss P-36 moved to England and joined the fleet of the The Fighter Collection based at The Imperial War Museum, Duxford, carrying the UK Civil registration G-CIXJ. The aircraft is powered by a Pratt & Whitney R-1830-92 (/17) engine driving a Curtiss Electric C532D-F44/89301-15 Propeller.
The aircraft wears the colours of a P-36C from the 27th Pursuit Squadron, 1st Pursuit Group, USAAC.
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23 июл 2016
