The P-40 was the best known Curtiss-Wright designed airplane of the Second World War. It was also one of the most controversial fighters, vilified by many as being too slow, lacking in maneuverability, having too low a climbing rate, and being largely obsolescent by contemporary standards even before it went into production. The inadequacies of the P-40 were even the subject of a Congressional investigation after the War ended.

While these criticisms were certainly valid, it is also true that the P-40 served its country well, especially in China and Burma, during the opening phase of the War in the Pacific when little else was available to the US Army Air Corps. Along with the P-39 Airacobra, the P-40 was the only American fighter available in quantity to confront the Japanese advance until more modern aircraft could be delivered to frontline squadrons.

The P-40N (manufactured from 1943-44) represented the final production model of the P-40. The P-40N featured a stretched rear fuselage to counter the torque of the more powerful, late-war Allison engine, and the rear deck of the cockpit behind the pilot was cut down at a moderate slant to improve rearward visibility. A great deal of work was also done to try and eliminate excess weight to improve the Warhawk's climb rate. Early N production blocks dropped a .50 in (12.7 mm) gun from each wing, bringing the total back to four; later production blocks reintroduced it after complaints from units in the field. Supplied to Commonwealth air forces as the Kittyhawk Mk IV. A total of 553 P-40Ns were acquired by the Royal Australian Air Force, making it the variant most commonly used by the RAAF. Subvariants of the P-40N ranged widely in specialization from stripped down four-gun "hot rods" that could reach the highest top speeds of any production variant of the P-40 (up to 380 mph), to overweight types with all the extras intended for fighter-bombing or even training missions. The 15,000th P-40 was an N model decorated with the markings of 28 nations that had employed any of Curtiss-Wright's various aircraft products, not just P-40s.

Pictured here is a 1:72 scale replica of a RNZAF Curtiss P-40N Warhawk fighter nicknamed "Gloria Lyons", which was attached to No.4 Servicing Unit during late 1944. Sold Out!

Dimensions:
Wingspan: 6-inches
Length: 5-inches

Release Date: November 2017

Historical Account: "Assisting in Victory" - The squadron was initially based in Fiji assisting No. 5 Squadron RNZAF. It took over obsolescent Vickers Vincent biplane torpedo bombers and later re-equipped with modern Lockheed Hudsons. When war with Japan broke out in December 1941 the Squadron remained in Fiji operating as a reconnaissance unit, and also for training crews to reinforce units in the forward area.

The squadron re-equipped with Lockheed Venturas in 1944. In November it shifted base to Emirau, remaining there until February 1945 when it moved to Guadalcanal from May 1945 to June 1945 and Emirau again in June and July of that year before moving to Los Negros where it remained when the war ended, disbanding in September 1945.