The Curtiss XP-40Q; When a Mustang and a Warhawk love each other very much…

The P 40 was the M 4 Sherman of aircraft, it was just good enough to be in every theater of war from 7 Dec 1941 to September 1945.

That is truly a bizarre looking bird. It's like "We have P-51 at home"

The P-40 proved itself both underrated and an underdog. With reliability, and a good combat record. Appreciate it for being there in numbers when a fighter was needed

Not only did the P-40 have all the attributes you mentioned, it was also available in great numbers because it was relatively inexpensive, easy to mass produce with readily available materials. It wasn't the very BEST fighter aircraft but it wasn't the WORST one either by a long shot.

Like the Hurricane it was a prewar aircraft that was already marginal at the beginning of the war. They had roughly comparable performance, although the Hurricane was a bit faster early on. (Perhaps due to achieving its maximum speed at a higher altitude due to a better blower?) They both contributed a great deal to the allied war effort, yet on the internet the P-40 seems to get far less respect than than Hurricane. If the Hurricane had not earned fame in the Battle of Britain it would probably hold a place in the firmament closer to the P-40, which doesn't get talked about much in proportion to its contributions.

The P-40 is definitely under appreciated, even if it was not the best.

You never disappoint Ed,always a "new" aircraft,well,"new" to me anyway.And I really had NO idea hat so many P-40's were built,and in so many variants.Thanks for another great vid!

Very clean looking AC. The P36 style landing gear really give its roots away.

A surprisingly good looking airframe I have to say... The bubble canopy and much sleeker lower cowling are improving it's lines significantly. I like it!

The flying tigers and the P-40 were my first introduction to the history of war as a youngster and I'll always remember their importance, plus they looked cool , like the red barons fokker. Thx. FTM 👍

Just a note about the laminar flow airfoil on the Mustang. It wasn't designed to create speed nor was it designed to be slippery at speed, it was designed to be slippery/efficient at cruising speed thus providing contribution to the Mustangs' very-long-legs. Few realize this!

I understand the P40 was cheaper than it’s contemporaries, so was useful in many roles that didn’t need a first rate aircraft. A Battle of Britain pilot remarked the spitfire was the better aircraft but the hurricane was the better weapon for the fight (as it was much easier to repair and the for the cost of 3 spitfires you could have 5 hurricanes). The same could be said for the P40. A grandfather of mine flew one so between that and the flying tigers I’ve always had a soft spot for it.

It's like Curtis just got stuck in a rut. Reinventing variations of the Warhawk and never thinking outside the box to come up with a better fighter than their competitors.

Thanks for this one....I have always like the P-40Q, Sort of reminds me of the P-63...Hint..HINT!

Thank you soo much for covering this strange hybrid aircraft, which would certainly have been produced in great numbers, had the P-51 and P-47 not been so successful

It was the American Hawker Hurricane - handy, reliable, but never stellar. Still quite dangerous in expert hands. The Q variant looks like a pretty decent plane.

I've long known a lot about WW2 aircraft - or thought did until you and others on YT showed me more & more stuff in depth. One thing I was surprised to learn a few years ago was that the P-40 gave useful service till the end of the war. I thought it was phased out after North Africa. It may have been in secondary theaters but it meant the new P-47 & P-51 were ~all sent to where they were most needed. Curtiss was able to keep up uninterrupted production.

Your assessment of the P-40 is pretty spot on. It terms of the Pacific theatre it was out performed by the Zero, but once newer tactics were adopted it was more effective against that type and could do the one thing the Zero couldn't, take punishment, something the Japanese pilots noticed as the conflict went on. They were used to good effect in North Africa too. As you said, in the hands of a good pilot who knew how to use it, it could hold its own. The thing about that conflict, if a given aircraft was just good enough, and there in numbers, it was going to give the axis powers a real headache. Having a better performing aircraft with somewhat of a technical edge is good, but not so great in a war of production where everything sooner or later gets shot up.

Great informative video Ed! - I've always wondered why later variants of the P-40 didn't incorporate the Mustang's much faster lower drag 'laminar flow' (cough cough) wing design. After all, during WWII all American manufacturers were on the same team. I read that the Merlin was tried in the P-40 but the high drag 1930s wing negated any real benefits. Nevertheless, the P-40 was in fact an incredible aircraft and served many countries during WW2 with distinction, even though it was an older design. I read it could even out dive most German fighters, and that says a lot. Cheers from Thailand!

I've always liked the P40, particularly the N model with six 12.7mm machine guns in the wings, and no more synchronized guns, plus thr squared off rear canopy. The Q looks good but since it wasn't quite as good as the P51 already in major production it was pointless.