P-40 Warhawk
The P-40, developed from the P-36, was America's foremost fighter in service when World War II began. Curtiss developed the P-40 from its P-36. The first P-40 flight took place on October 14th, 1938. It was evaluated in May 1939 and immediately selected for procurement under a first contract worth nearly $13 million, then the largest order placed for a US fighter.
P-40s engaged Japanese aircraft during the attack on Pearl Harbor and the invasion of the Philippines in December 1941. They also were flown in China early in 1942 by the famed Flying Tigers and in North Africa in 1943 by the first Army Air Forces all African-American unit, the 99th Fighter Squadron.
The P-40 served in numerous combat areas -- the Aleutian Islands, Italy, the Middle East, the Far East, the Southwest Pacific and Russia.
Though often outclassed by its adversaries in speed, maneuverability and rate of climb, the P-40 earned a reputation in battle for extreme ruggedness. At the end of the P-40's brilliant career, more than 14,000 had been produced for service in the air forces of 28 nations, of which 2,320 were of the "E" series.
The entire P-40 fleet was phased our prior to June 11th 1948, when the newly formed United States Air Force renamed all pursuit aircraft as fighters.
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