Flying the P-40N Kittyhawk
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- Опубликовано: 4 авг 2020
- Helmet-cam and narration of loops and rolls in the P-40N Kittyhawk with Dave Hadfield, July 2020, Gatineau, Canada.
Song "On Track" from the album "Climbin' Away" (c)2018 Dave Hadfield www.hadfield.ca
Aircraft is owned by Mike Potter, and flown in association with Vintage Wings of Canada www.vintagewings.ca
NOTE: There are many comments about how long it takes to go through the checklists and get the thing airborne. In combat the ground crews would have started the engines and done the mag checks etc before sunrise. As soon as the pilots appeared on the airfield they'd go to their aeroplane, talk to the crew about it, check that all the switches and levers were in the right position for a Scramble, and -- very important! -- arrange the parachute and harness "just-so" for a quick strap-in-and-go; and brief the ground crew about exactly how they were going to coordinate the startup and launch. BUT... I fly many different aircraft types, our ground crew have many different duties, and we have no time-imperative. So we use checklists -- which have been shown many times to reduce the "oh-crap-forgot-that" mistakes. 
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I am always amazed of preflight check list and start up procedure. How the young guys did under war conditions is truly something.
Read the Note in the Remarks section at the top.
They didn't.
Hi Dave, some history to expand on a few of the comments. This aircraft was originally ordered by the Australian Air Force (RAAF) during WW2. Of the 850 plus P-40's ordered from the US 553 were N series. This aircraft was flown in combat by RAAF 78 Squadron B Flight in New Guinea. Designated A29-414 my father, the late George Sheppard, flew it 3 times in training back in Australia and once in combat on November 24, 1943 as high cover escort for US B24's off the north coast of New Guinea. Flight time 2 hours 45 minutes. Dad's usual aircraft at the time A29-400 was being serviced that day.
So here we are some 77 years later thanks to you I can see, feel and hear where my father sat all those many many years ago. Cheers Dave and to all who look after such a precious part of aviation history. Pass the tissues please - Oh harden up and just enjoy the show - Trevor Sheppard (Gold Coast, Australia).
The Dude, well that's a great connection. What a wonderful surprise! Please contact me at my email, dave at hadfield.ca, and I can connect you with more info about the people and aircraft of 78 Sqn. Many photos.
At what altitude was he flying top cover for B-24s? 15,000-18,000' ?? In North Africa, bombers typically flew at 12,000'.
@@bobsakamanos4469 Stocky told me they rarely were issued oxygen in the P-40 during that campaign, so probably not much above 15000.
@@davehadfield5906 The P-40 Allison wasn't getting oxygen either at 15,000. P-40F's with Merlins had better performance up there. My father, flying P-40K's in Stocky's wing liked flying in the desert - no hayfever.
Green with envy here. That would have been a bucket list flight for me - and many others. As a former USAF IP, you had me nodding with your Lazy 8 comments. SO true. Anybody can yank and bank, but flying a perfect Lazy 8 separates the true pilots from the mere airplane drivers.
Thank you SO much for taking care of this old girl, and for taking the trouble to make this video. I'm 75, used to maintain GCA RADAR and TACAN at NAS Miramar
My uncle Paul commanded a training squadron of P-40s at March Field. Pilots would come in after training on an AT-6 to learn gunnery, dive bombing, air-to-air tactics, strafing, combat formations and whatever else they could teach them before they went overseas to fly newer and more demanding airplanes like P-47s and P-51s. They watched a couple of films on day one. Day two was the classroom classroom familiarization and cockpit check with a blindfold test at the end of the day plus homework for memorization. Day three was a homework quiz plus one hop in a TP-40 trainer and on days 4 you soloed with a check pilot chasing you and more homework that night for another memorization quiz in the morning. After that, every day it was quiz, classroom training, flight briefing, training flight, debriefing and more homework. His training officer and XO really worked the guys hard, when they were done with them they could transition into anything with ease.
You make it look so easy, I tip my hat to you sir
That was on of the most informative warbird videos I have ever seen. Not only did you teach us a lot, but you didn’t drown out the glorious sound of an Allison V-1710. Well done!
Perhaps too much of the glorious sound ?
Totally agree. It was like flying with Mr. Rogers.
@@stevejette2329 Never!
...what's so glorious about that sound? Compared to a P&W 2800 or a Merlin...
@@stranraerwal any large piston engine of this era is a glorious sound. If you can’t hear it, I am sorry for you. The closest you can come to these old large displacement engines in sound is the Lycoming GO-480.
I'm almost 70 years old but the first time I flew a P-40 was it in Houston Texas in 71 I think I was 18 years old my instructor and he was really love my flying and he owned three p-40s at the time and a couple of P-51 flew the P51 when I was 19 then join the airforce been flying ever since
Amazing. So glad that there are people with the means to preserve these historic aircraft. Thank you for sharing with us, and safe flying!
Indeed but the FAA, etc don't like it. They are a little prone to mishaps. There's going to be a time when all the beautiful warbirds are grounded.
That taxi along the runway with the 150 reminds me of the time when i was early on in my journey of learning to fly, and i got to share the pattern with a P-51. They're quite rare here in the UK so you can imagine how excited I was following him in to land and my home field. Got to have a chat with the pilot/owner, lovely guy he gave us a bit of a show as he departed. It's my dream to fly Warbirds one day and the P-40 is on my top 5 that i'd love to get rated on
Excellent piloting, articulate commentary. Thank you for the virtual ride along.
You are one of the few luckiest guys in the world to be living that dream.
You're a lucky guy. This is a good format by the way. Zoomers and Millenials like short intros (or none), simple titles, and just the sounds of the plane with your commentary interspersed. Your Fox Moth video with that footage from the 30s was great. Really nicely done. This is the way 👍. I hope the world will see more of these. It's relaxing and really interesting.
Thanks. It's all new to me.
The P-40 is my all-time favorite. Not the fastest, not the most advanced, but reliable, and available when needed. My grandfather, a WWII veteran, was not an airman, but was friends with ground crew in the Pacific theatre. They appreciated the reliability and ease of maintenance of the Allison engine. This was even more so at the basic air fields typical of the CBI and Pacific Theatres.
Great video. The P-40 has been my favorite aircraft ever since I watched a movie about the Flying Tigers back in the 40s. Yeah, I'm an old guy.
Ditto.
Read ‘God is my copilot’ in 1958
@@richardwoodman6569 Correct, but your date is a little off. I saw it at Ft. Sill, OK where my dad was stationed 1946 - 1950. Movies on post cost all of ten cents for kids back then.
There are some airplanes that just look right-"fit for purpose", and the P40 always looked like what to wear when hunting.
Thanks for that Dave and Mike! And here is to William “Black Mac” McGarry, my name sake, who flew with the General Chennault’s Flying Tigers. He shot down 12 aircraft before being taken down by ground fire...which he survived and he lived on until 1990 🐅
Felt like I was flying the P-40 myself, thank you for sharing . I admire those that have the means to keep these valuable war birds going. Thank you so much for flying for us , it looked like you were having a good time.
Loved this video.
My father served in the Desert Air Force in WW2 and it was so interesting to see all the procedures he would have done and when you started flying it was as if I was actually flying it.
I see the aircraft was in the Desert Air Force camouflage with RAF roundels and the squadron letters were HS which is the same 260 Squadron my father flew with.
An interesting fact about 260 squadron is that the Intelligence Officer was actor Christopher Lee.
My father was unaware of this fact until a friend told him his name was in Mr Lee's autobiography. The reason why my father was unaware, was they all called the Intelligence Office "spy"...
Apologies for the long comment.
As a kid I bought a lot of p40 models, it was my favorite airplane. I still hope I get to fly in one someday.
Thank you for the video
God bless
"That would be a waste" that made me chuckle and its damn true. Thank for your your entertaining videos from the 15-yearold in me obsessed by flight and VW airplanes.
Very Nice, thank you for sharing, my father was a P-40 pilot in the flying Tiger over in China, so very special to me.
Omg that’s so cool I love the flying tigers
Very good video, when you see the plane, how you sit in the cockpit, see the controls of this magnificent plane, it sends me back to those times of the Second World War, and what the pilots saw at that time, their feelings, their adrenaline, the thought that they were not coming back, so many and so many thoughts that they must have had at the time of takeoff and that many of them offered their lives to have this free world today, honor to whom honor deserves, how many feelings they wake up to see this that you do now after so many years of this plane already saved in the history of aviation .... congratulations and keep uploading these types of videos.
I highly appreciate this very well filmed and narrated flight of this lovely bird. This is extremely valuable for most of us warbird enthusiasts. Thank you.
Imagine the 75th and 76th Squadrons in 1942 in The Battle of Milne Bay landing on Marston mat in 2 inches of water for hours on end and attacking an enemy on the ground 5 miles away. Hard to think how they kept these things going in some of the extreme conditions of WW2. Thanks for the video, Was just reading about this aircraft in battle today and here this is...
THAT was a GREAT video,...I can't thank you enough for sharing that flight. The simple aerobatics brought back a multitude of memories for me. What a bird.
Fantastic video. Really enjoyed the ride along and commentary!
"Taxis like a Citabria! I think I just fell in love!
Would literally give anything I own to do that, love it - great post. These airplanes get nowhere near the credit they, and the men who flew them, fully deserve.
Thanks!
4 years ago I had a flight in a T6 for my 70th birthday out of Duxford ,I just relived it !thanks !
Excellent ride-along and narration! This is the closest I will ever get to flying a warbird, thank you for the ride!
Stumbled onto your videos and am impressed with the view we armchair pilot wannabes get as well as the informative commentary! I hope you'll do more!
Great video my grandfather helped build these. He worked at the Curtiss factory in Kenmore NY for about 10 years from 1938-1948 as a welder.
Imagine in a combat situation what the pilot had to go through . Brave men . On the ground and in the air .
Thank you for that cockpit view of the world! I’m a former pilot and this brought back memories !
Great.
Have you flown a P-40?
I love the line where he says just because we’re flying at cruise level power doesn’t mean you have to fly straight and level, that would be a waist! Take me up! I also love that right turn out of a left roll. If I was in a dogfight I would do that a lot, jinking around to get an enemy plane off my tail.
I am a former Navy Fighter Pilot and one of my best days was when I flew in to an air show. I was just a static display but at the show were all kinds of WWII birds. I got to sit in a Mustang, a Warhawk, and was near the end of the runway when a Hellcat came Rumbling (and I DO mean RUMBLING) by for take off. That radial monster was a beast! The Merlin of course was something else in the 51, and the Allison in the P-40. From what I understand, they originally planned an Allison in the Mustang, but it was not successful, I think due to the absence of a super-charger(?). Very nice video.
All Allisons had a single stage supercharger t that time. the merlin was also a single stage supercharged at that time but they had a 2 nd speed gear to turn the single stg esupercharger a little faster at altitude. but the Allison still out performed the merlin. the Later60 series 2 stage merlin did not exist until late 1942 early 1943, The P40 ike the Hurricane never got a later 2 stage supercharger, and the first Mustangs, 620 Mk I & II and 500 A36's and about 1000 P51A's were all Allison powered as the merlin was NOT available in the USA until late 1942 and they were still the 20 series single stage Made by Packard for the Brits !!! FYI
Just think of all the kids flying those back in the day. Had to be a dream.
Thank you, Thank you, thank you !!!
I have been a P-40 fan since I was a little boy. I found an old P-40 Gas model that was flown with a string guide, much like a kite handle and string controller when I was 7 at a ball field that someone had thrown away in a trash dumpster. I took it home and repaire it, put a new model engine in it, and flew that plane until the string broke one day when I was in my late 30's and it completely shattered in million pieces. I've read every book I can on the P-40, I fly it in the video game WarThunder, but I have never been up in one........you just gave me the next best thing !!! it was awesome !!! Your narrative of the starting checklist, your commentary of the turbulence from the wheels turning sideways while stowing......EVERYTHING was awesome ! Thank You Dave.
Im a retired old 82nd Airborne Paratrooper now in my late 50's and disabled from a parachuting accident in 2003, so my dreams of getting my FULL pilots license have been dashed, but I am studying for my SPORT license.......maybe I will find a P-40 KIT plane with my name on it someday !! hahahaha thank you for the video.
We had one of those line-control models too. I was wrecked on takeoff when our big yellow lab jumped in front of it. But I'm glad you liked the video!
Don't know why, but the P40 has always been my favorite WW2 plant. Great seeing one fly from the cockpit. Thanks for sharing!
Dear David, we are all captivated by this fine aircraft, and the cockpit views,
but also by your remarkably pleasant and easy going personality, refreshing.
Sweet bird, awesome engine sound and excellent narration!
Thank you!
Thanks for the ride along. That was a blast!
During "The War," my father worked on P-40N's at the Curtiss plant in Buffalo, NY. His job was to prepare them for export shipment, usually to the USSR for the Lend-Lease program. He was 16 years old!
So many excellent flight presentations of these lovely old birds, I love the cockpit preflight checks on all the aircraft you fly, for a time I am actually in there with you. Thank you for sharing your wonderful presentations, they are tops. Greetings from Tasmania Australia 👍😁🇦🇺🦘
A great plane The P40 Curtiss, easy to fly to low altitude , to maintain and so agile and robust. During war his weak point was the engine start to cough in hight altitude.It why they replace him in 1943.
Thanks ever so much for taking us along on that fantastic ride and explaining all that you were doing and what was going on What a beautiful airplane And a fantastic job flying her
Thanks a lot for taken the time getting this up across the community. Really enjoyed it felt like sitting myself in the cockpit always love those old war birds. My favorite ones are the Supermarine Spitfire, De Havilland Mosquito and Hawker Hurricane. And of course most of all the old war birds the first thing i can think about if somebody talks about the P-40 Kittyhawk is the Shark Nose Art...
Great video an explanations. My sleeping 5 year old daughter in the 150 says hi.
Bonjour!
Excellent, my favorite fighter ever since I received the Cox version as a young lad!
How awesome is that! Being a corporate/charter pilot of jets, this is a whole different world and the P40 has always been a favorite of mine.
I know everyone has their own favorite aircraft from WWII. The P-40 is mine. Built before America's entry into the war, and served well in many theaters. Not the finest American fighter aircraft? OK. But it was there when it was needed, and looks fantastic!
Well that was just splendid. I didn't know there was a vintage aircraft collection just across the Ottawa River, in Gatineau.
Please never stop making these videos.
~ smiles ~
Wow! Fun AND very informative! Thanks Dave, and thanks Robin for posting!
What a superb video, interesting, informative and well narrated without unnecessary musical interference. Lord, doesn't she roll well! Makes this old Cessna driver very envious, you lucky man. . . .
Thanks!
Loved it. Thanks for taking us with you.
Amazing. Great flying in such an iconic aircraft. Thank you.
For me it was (and is) a good touch to see the livery of the plane which is of course Dennis Copping's P-40, famous/infamous for being found at it's crash-site in the desert and then disgustingly 'renovated' and kept outside the Cairo War Museum.
In a marine related story from Vancouver/Victoria, the author mentions taking one of the many coastal ships plying the West Coast during early days of WWII. Pat Bay Air Station was located at what would become Victoria Intl. CYYJ. At the time it was a conversion training centre, among other duties, for young airmen learning to fly advanced fighter aircraft after the Harvard and others. The ones that had successfully transitioned were supposed to go out and about to groom their skills. As there were many passenger ships travelling to and fro or up and down the Gulf of Georgia, they would often practice their strafing skills on those ships much to the delight of most onboard and on decks. I imagine it gave all a little bit of confidence both seeing their Air Force boys showing they would know what to do when the real thing happened but also the young airmen able to line up and practice on a real ship. It may have been a different book, but a sad side of training occurred at Pat Bay when a young brand-new pilot was to fly his first flight as there were no dual-pilot P-40s it was sink or swim. In this case he lost control while taxiing too fast and the aircraft crashed, caught on fire, and before he had a chance to fight for his country, he perished. That is not how the Air Force saw it however, and he was honoured just the same as a Canadian hero. As soon as you mentioned some of the hairier aspects of taxiing, I immediately thought of this story. One more item regarding Pat Bay. It was one of the places where surplus P40s were sent after the war to be auctioned off or sold for scrap depending on their condition. I can't remember for sure, but I think you could buy a flying P40 for about $5,000. including all the spares you could haul away. Hollywood tends to show Americans flying all of the hot warbirds of the day, but I know Canadians excelled just as well with all of the same aircraft and with distinction.
Good story, but sad, and very true.
Always fun to watch. Thank you Dave. 👍
Great video Dave! Thanks for sharing.
Well done! I love these videos with the startup to shutdown with with the details from the checklists. It would be awesome to see one for the Corsair too someday.
Thanks for taking us along
Awesome vid, I wanna see more. The f4f, f6f, F4U1, all of them.
Thanks for the ride along! Fantastic!
Great video, thanks Dave.
Thanks for sharing Dave! Very cool
"Haven´t been in a P-40 since....last year."
Achievement won "Flex of the month".
That was fun to watch! thank you for the ride!
Fantastic video. Great to hear the thoughts of the pilot throughout the flight ✈✈
At last someone who flies a true Immelman....flying all the time! Great video, thank you
Love the way you format and narrate your vids. Subbed.
Thanks for a great NO BS video
The P-40 was limited because it wasn't given a two staged supercharger. It would have been so much better at altitude. The P-39 Airacobra was plagued by the same problem. This was shortsightedness of the Army Air Corp. These two acft are my favorites on the American fighters. Nice videos, a lot like the Kermie cams, loved it.
The 2 stage the army wanted to use was a TURBOcharger feeding the mechanical supercharger, only problem most fighters did not have room for them. Only the P38 with the Allison and the P47 with the PW R2800 were 2 staged turbocharged in WWII plus the B17 and the B24.
Thanks for sharing this with all of us. Wow, is all I can say!
This is my number one dream flight!! I've been a private pilot since 1984. Years ago I corresponded with some of the 99s that flew everything back in the day. I can't remember exactly, but many of these brave women perished serving their country in time of war to free men up to fly combat missions. Their missions were no less dangerous. On many of their flights, they were basically test pilots flying planes right off the assembly line. To the best of my research, no woman pilot every crashed in a P-40.
Yes there was danger in flying a plane on a delivery or ferry run. But to say it was no less dangerous than a combat mission. Where you are, purposely setting out to engage an enemy. And it is likely, the enemy will also be engaging you. Which for the most part, is what combat entails. Is nonsense. You don't give due recognition to anyone by stating something is the same. When it isn't. As to whether a women ever crashed in a P40. Well, by the hundreds. Many more men have flown P40s than women have. But the point is rather academic anyway. Since, regardless of types, both men and women have crashed airplanes.
This is awesome! Thank you sir!
Thanks for the Ride Dave!!! Sure enjoy these kinds of Videos
superb video.. loved it
Great video there Dave. Love the way you explain what you are doing and how the aircraft responds!
wow ! Very good video. Thank you for posting
Thank you so much for this very informative video on my #1 favorite WW2 warbird! I subscribed to your channel!
Great video and narration. Thanks.
Great job Dave
Great Video Thanks for the ride
P-40s are my #3 favorite. Thank you for a great flight and good instruction on how to.
Can’t wait to hear it start ! Oh my nice !!!
Most excellent. Big thank you.
very cool. thanks for posting.
Hi Dave. Thanks for the great informative flight.
Your videos are fantastic. Very well done and all my favorite aircraft. Thanks a bunch!
Super cool video! Great job.
Fantastic video! Super well done, thanks for sharing!
That was cool!
very nicely done Video thanks Dave. It's as close to the real thing that most of us other Pilot's will get, and gives a great sense and feel of what it must be like. Cheers
Many thanks for sharing !
Nice job Dave !
Great fun! Thank you!
As an addition to my previous comment it is interesting that Japanese war production records showing the Zero, and other fighter types optimized for 12,000 ft combat effectiveness (even though it had a much higher altitude ceiling). Records show that this altitude choice was a result of Japanese current knowledge of the P-40s supposed combat envelope (i.e.) not much good above 15,000 ft, and supposedly sluggish in climb and turn. I spoke with Tex Hill, and have read the books, and accounts of the AVG (Read God is My Co-Pilot). They routinely operated at 18,000 ft, would dive on the Japanese, do a drive by "shoot em up" then dive on through with evasive maneuvers, zoom climb back above the Japanese and hit them again, and again. The P-40 would out turn the Zero in a sustained high speed turn (+300 knots), easily out dive the Japanese fighters, was faster, and could certainly perform above 15,000ft. In war one does not want one's enemies to know the true capabilities of one's weapons! The P-40 in experienced hands was better than the USAAF wanted anyone (enemy or not) to know about. The fact of Japanese fighters optimized at 12,000 ft kind of shows that the Japanese "bought into" the down graded supposed combat envelope of the P-40. I believe a lot of the bad press about the P-40 was deliberate scuttlebut, and also based on inexperienced pilots, yet still seems to project the P-40s supposed mediocre reputation to this day.
Yes. Also with the AVG, the Japanese bombers were not high altitude, and so the escort fighters had to come down to protect them. This fact is not usually considered but tactically it was the key point. And, the AVG often fought the Ki-27 Nate (fixed-gear fighter) in the early days, not the Zero or Oscar.
Very interesting commentary, Dave, but how could the P-40 outturn a Zero? Also, how did the P-40 fare vs the Me109 in combat?
Awesome video! Loved the commentary!