P-40 Warhawk Allison vs. Merlin

My fathers friend " Rusty " flew P-40's in North Africa. When I was about 12-13 yrs. old I asked him about his service . I had been reading all about the various WW2 campaigns and was eager to hear a first hand account. His refusal to talk about the war brought home to my adolescent mind that war was not glamorous and something a person may want to forget they had ever been involved in. His one concession was he told me the P-40 would dive like a streamlined brick.

Greg…I’ve been an amateur WW2 historian since the third grade (I’m 62…hard to believe) and I must say, when it comes to explaining the aircraft of this period, you are so far ahead of the pack that no one else even comes close. Your videos are so crammed with technical facts and minutiae that I have to re-watch them several times to fully get everything you are throwing at me. It’s a real pleasure to watch/listen to your amazing shows. You effortlessly explain the differences in mechanical engineering as well as the flight characteristics of each aircraft. It has really fleshed out my understanding of the air war…far more than any dozen books on the subject could have…in my humble opinion. Thank you for your generosity in sharing your expertise and keep up the good work.

I had a relative who flew P40's in North Africa against BF 109's. He said they were competitive and he had two victories before being shot down. His engine took a flak hit and 3 German 109's were trying to claim him as a kill as he was glidiin for a landing. He said the three each took passes at him which he avoided by faking a turn and then reversing it once they committed. He was so slow with a seized engine that they were overshooting him on their gun runs. After doing a wheels up in the desert, he was strafed by one and was badly wounded through both legs and had some eye damage from splinters. He considered them strafing a downed pilot as very poor form. He was in an ambulance on bad roads from North Africa all the way to South Africa apparently. He flew ferry missions to front line bases after that, as he was not cleared for combat.

I used to give tours and talks on the P-40 we had back at a local Museum years back and have always had a large respect and affirmation for this aircraft. We had a P-40N-30 produced in 1944, at which point the P-40s were carrying a bombload of comparable size to the much larger P-47s. Very underrated airframe in my opinion and I am glad to see a video from Greg of all people discussing some subject on it. I certainly look forward to anymore videos on the P-40 in any capacity, and if you ever do need some P-40L documentation I have some old scans of archival material that may prove to be useful.

Saw a quote a long time ago about the Allison-powered Kittyhawks in British service in North Africa - "Quite a few German Messerschmitt pilots found out the hard way that the fighter-bomber Kittyhawks of the Desert Air Force were perfectly capable of defending themselves down at low level". This video explains why! Thank you very much!

Thanks Greg another great dive into the details! My dad was an engineer at Curtis during the war and was especially proud of the P-40 because of the in his words "the constant improvement process" he told me about a giant chalk board the was on the factory wall and how they charted the various parts and the improvements of that part during the entire build cycle of the P-40, he said "our boys deserve the best" and we are bound and determined to give them what they need. He was very proud of his war effort, even though very little ever gets mentioned of the thousands and thousands of "slide rule geeks of the day" he and other engineers/draftsman often slept under their drafting tables for a "few hours at a time" then back to work. He said "it was the most exciting and exhausting time to be and engineer" as they sometimes would make an improvement to a part and have it ready to be installed on the plane the next day!!!

Your graph at 18:12 with the 109F included is probably the key reason for the p40F. As I understand the fighting in the Mediterranean early on was particularly fierce. The attrition had yet to impact the Luftwaffe and they still had many aces in the ranks. The 109F's would frequently pounce from above and maintain an energy advantage hence the need for something to reach them. Thanks for the upload!

Thanks for mentioning Australian P40s. As I'm a Real Baby Boomer, the war was fresh in everyone's minds when I was small, and I think I knew about RAAF P40s even before I knew about Spitfires, though they were retired before I turned 2, so I don't recall seeing any. We were often behind the door when military aircraft were being given out, but managed to achieve quite a bit with the less spectacular but still effective aircraft like the Kittyhawk and the Beaufighter. Even the Boomerang, while not a great threat to enemy aircraft did at least frighten bombers off and prove effective in ground attack and pathfinder use -- and wasn't a bad achievement for an almost non-existent industry.

One thing about the Allison is that it is a modular design. It's cam gearbox and power takeoff could be bolted to either end. IIRC, it could run clockwise or counterclockwise. It was envisioned and engineered to be as versatile as possible. And strong. The Mustangs that race at Reno use Allison conrods in their Merlins because they're stronger.

Thanks Greg. Yeah, I believe the P-40 got a lot of it's bad mouthing from being used in Northern Europe where they flew at higher altitudes. Where they flew mostly at lower altitudes it was more highly regarded. One thing about New Guinea - was that while the Betty had a very high altitude - the Japanese didn't have a lot of choice about the altitude they were flying at if we were attacking their air fields. Here - as I tend to mention when talking about P-40's and F4F's - these two aircraft took on the cream of Japanese Naval Aviation and fought them to a stand still. Later aircraft were taking on enemies of a less denser experience base - because of all their veterans who died at the hands of someone in a P-40 or F4F. P-40's also saw extensive service North Africa - which is where the Flying Tigers got the idea for the Shark Nose the P-40 is such a natural for. .

Greg Boyington said in his book that for what faults the P40 may have had, nothing could catch a P40 in a dive.

i love the post war insanity of the Allison the hp numbers for 30seconds or less is truly nuts the tractor pulling guys sure push things hard

My Dad worked at the Curtiss-Wright plant here in Buffalo before joining the military. He went to University of Buffalo nights for engineering, and days at the Curtiss plant. The P-40 was a big deal to him. He had more stories about pre war Curtiss than he did about his war exploits, kind of understandable, huh.

Thank you Greg .....after quite a few years, "greetings this is Greg " still gets my undivided attention. Hoping this is the start of a deep dive into the P40 a truly underlooked aircraft

The P-40 is my favorite war bird. I think that stems from seeing the movie "God is My Copilot" back in the 40s. I also think it's the most aesthetically pleasing to the eye of all the WWII aircraft. As to the Allison, I remember reading an article that cited reliability testing on the design consisted of running one to destruction, strengthening the failed part(s) and doing it all over until a very reliable engine was developed.

As a little boy of ten I choose a P40 and a ME109 instead of a spitfire airfix kit because the P40 looked so right and indeed in a dive I think I was right. Had it been fitted with a two stage Merlin it would have been second to none in combat performance.

The P40 saved Australia in the air battles over New Guinea and that was against the best Japanese planes and pilots. Quality American engineering emphasises reliability making it easier for the RAAF to ring the neck of the Allison.

I love your analytical approach to comparing the various engine versions and 'field adaptations' etc. As a Brit I have a soft spot for the RR Merlin, but I also appreciate the Allison engine and the P40 for all it's pluses and minuses, it's very overlooked/underrated when compared with the P47 and P51 etc. Very much like the beautiful 'Spitfire compared with the more conventional 'Hurricane, I recall an RAF fighter ace asked about his favourite aircraft, he said, "to fly in a Spitfire, but fight in a Hurricane".

I have never watched a Greg’s Airplanes video that I didn’t finish. When he throws those charts up I end up pausing and staring at them for minutes and replaying that section. Thank you for your research and detail. The best WWII engineering channel I have found for several years.

Perfect. Turkey leftovers football and Gregs Airplanes! What a great day