Kittyhawk?

Why is this P-40 called a "Kittyhawk?"

http://www.aviationclassics.org.uk/images/kittyhawk.jpg

I thought all US P-40 aircraft were Warhawks and British P-40 aircraft Tomahawks.

Please clarify this.

Ian

"Ian McKellan" wrote in message
om...
Why is this P-40 called a "Kittyhawk?"

http://www.aviationclassics.org.uk/images/kittyhawk.jpg

I thought all US P-40 aircraft were Warhawks and British P-40 aircraft
Tomahawks.

Please clarify this.

The P-40 had nearly 14,000 aircraft produced. There were numerous models, A
thru N, with varying numbers of each type. From what I understand, from the
D model forward the Commonwealth nations called them Kittyhawks. The
British apparently called theirs Tomahawks, but they bought relatively few
of them early in the war as gap-fillers. Some models with larger engines
(than the first production model) and more guns were called Warhawks by the
USA.

Why is this P-40 called a "Kittyhawk?"

The small-jawed B and C models were called Tomahawk by the RAF. Both
Curtiss and the British regarded the big-jawed P-40D as new enough to
warrant a new designation, so it became Kittyhawk I in RAF service.

The AVG Flying Tigers likewise used this term for the P-40Es that were
ferried to them in the spring of 1942, though they were straight USAAF
variants.

all the best -- Dan Ford
email:

see the Warbird's Forum at www.warbirdforum.com
and the Piper Cub Forum at www.pipercubforum.com

Cub Driver wrote in message . ..
Why is this P-40 called a "Kittyhawk?"

The small-jawed B and C models were called Tomahawk by the RAF. Both
Curtiss and the British regarded the big-jawed P-40D as new enough to
warrant a new designation, so it became Kittyhawk I in RAF service.

The AVG Flying Tigers likewise used this term for the P-40Es that were
ferried to them in the spring of 1942, though they were straight USAAF
variants.

all the best -- Dan Ford
email:

see the Warbird's Forum at www.warbirdforum.com
and the Piper Cub Forum at www.pipercubforum.com


All US P-40s by late war were designated by the USAAC as Warhawk.
Tomahawk and Kittyhawk were P-40s in foreign service. The P-40Q was
unofficially known as the Winterhawk at its testing facility.

Rob

All US P-40s by late war were designated by the USAAC

Please, guys, stop with this "USAAC" stuff. The Army Air Corps became history
before the US entered WW2. The United States Army AIR FORCES were established
per AR 95-5 on June 20, 1941. As part of the USAAF, an "Air Corps" still
existed, but it handled training.


Chris Mark