Curtiss P-36
| Curtiss P-36 Hawk / Model 75 | |
|---|---|
 USAAF P-36 "Hawk" |
|
| Type: | Fighter plane |
| Design country: | |
| Manufacturer: | |
| First flight: |
May 1935 |
| Commissioning: |
1938 |
| Production time: |
1938 to 1941 |
| Number of pieces: |
1095 |
The Curtiss P-36 Hawk , also known as Hawk Model 75 , was an American fighter aircraft of Curtiss-Wright . With almost 1,100 aircraft built, it was a significant economic success for the manufacturer until the manufacturer began series production of the successor Curtiss P-40 in parallel in 1939 . The letter "P" was reserved in the designation system for aircraft of the US armed forces for hunters (pursuit).
In the 1930s, the Curtiss Hawk, along with the American Seversky P-35 , the British Supermarine Spitfire and the German Messerschmitt Bf 109, belonged to a new generation of low- wing fighter aircraft , which are characterized by a closed pilot's cockpit , retractable landing gear and all-metal construction characterized by the fuselage ( airframe ) and wings .
At the beginning of the Second World War , the model was already technically out of date and therefore only in limited combat use in the US Army Air Corps (USAAC). On a larger scale, P-36s flew with the French Armée de l'air as well as in the air forces of the British Commonwealth and the Republic of China .
This article also covers the YP-37 and XP-42 prototypes based on the P-36 .
Development history
The Model 75 was developed by Curtiss-Wright on his own initiative. Chief engineer Donovan Berlin , a former Northrop employee, designed the aircraft in 1934. The first prototype was an all-metal construction with fabric-covered control surfaces, a 14-cylinder double radial engine Wright XR-1670-5 with 900 hp (671 kW) and a Typical for the USAAC armament with two ( synchronized ) machine guns firing through the propeller circle of caliber 7.62 mm ( .30 AN / M2 ) and 12.7 mm ( M2 ). The lack of armor or self-sealing fuel tanks were also typical of the time . The retractable main landing gear, the wheels of which were rotated 90 degrees when retracting, so that they did not protrude from the underside of the wing, was a Boeing license design .
During the first test flights in May 1935, the prototype reached a speed of 452 km / h at an altitude of 3050 m. On May 27, the prototype flew to Wright Field in Ohio to take part in a comparison flight for a USAAC single-seat fighter aircraft. The competition did not take place, however, because the Seversky competing product failed on the way to the meeting. Curtiss took advantage of the delay to replace the unreliable engine with a Wright XR-1820-39 Cyclone with 950 hp (709 kW) and to make an indentation in the rear part of the airframe for better visibility to the rear. The new prototype was called the Model 75B , the version with the R-1670 later called the Model 75D .
The comparison flight then took place in April 1936. Unfortunately, the new engine was not delivering its rated output and the aircraft only reached 460 km / h. Despite its below-average performance and the higher purchase price, the winner was the Seversky P-35 . Seversky received an order for 77 aircraft. On June 16, 1936, however, Curtiss received an order from the USAAC for three prototypes called the Y1P-36 . Concerns about the political situation in Europe and Seversky's lack of adherence to schedules for the delivery of the P-35 led the USAAC to request a replacement fighter. The Y1P-36 ( Model 75E ) was powered by a Pratt & Whitney R- 1830-13 twin-Wasp radial engine with 900 hp (671 kW). The indentation in the rear part of the fuselage was expanded to include a cabin window. The troop trials were so successful that Curtiss received an order for 210 P-36A on July 7, 1937 . The delivery price was $ 4,113,550, a huge sum for the time.
Curtiss YP-37
At the beginning of 1937 Curtiss received an order from USAAC to equip a P-36 with the new liquid-cooled 12-cylinder V-1710 engine with turbocharger and an output of 1150 hp (858 kW). The original model 75 airframe was used for the XP-37 . The coolers were mounted on both sides of the fuselage. In order to achieve the correct center of gravity and to create space for the cooler, the cockpit was moved further back. During the first flight in April 1937, a speed of 547 km / h could be reached at an altitude of 6100 m. The USAAC was so fascinated by the promised performance that despite the highly unreliable turbocharger and a view from the cockpit that was zero at take-off and landing, 13 pre-series YP-37 aircraft were ordered. The first flight took place in June 1939 with improved aerodynamics and a more reliable turbocharger. However, the engine remained unreliable and the project was canceled in favor of another Curtiss design, the P-40.
Curtiss XP-42
To improve the aerodynamics of the air-cooled piston engines, the fourth production P-36A (serial number 38-004) was equipped with the long, streamlined fairing of a liquid-cooled engine. Twelve different designs were tested with little success - although the aircraft was faster than a regular P-36A, it failed to fix the engine cooling problems. Since the new P-40 was faster, the project was suspended. At the end of its service life, the only XP-42 received a fully articulated horizontal stabilizer to examine this configuration of the horizontal stabilizer.
commitment
The Hawk in the USA
The first P-36A produced went to the 20th Pursuit Group in Barksdale Field , Louisiana , in April 1938 . The flight operations suffered from numerous teething problems; there were problems with the exhaust system, distortions in the landing gear well and at certain points on the fuselage due to strength problems in the airframe. Many months could only be flown with restrictions. No sooner had all problems been solved than the P-36 was considered obsolete and was given to training units or to units overseas. The P-36 made a brief glorious appearance during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Four of 39 P-36s stationed there were able to take off and shot down two Japanese Nakajima B5N bombers. Lieutenant G. H. Sterling achieved the first US aerial victory in World War II. This remained the only combat mission of the P-36 on the part of the USAAC. In March 1942, ten USAAC P-36A were transferred to Brazil.
The Hawk in France
While the P-36 had only a brief career in the US, it was flown all the more abroad. Shortly before the P-36A went into production, the French Air Force began negotiations with Curtiss for the delivery of 300 fighters. Since the cost of the Curtiss fighter was twice as high as that of the French Morane-Saulnier MS406 and the Bloch MB.150 and the delivery schedule was considered too hesitant, the negotiations turned out to be very lengthy. USAAC also opposed the purchase because it was not happy with the domestic production numbers and believed that exporting would not help either. After all, it took direct intervention from US President Franklin Roosevelt . The French test pilot Michel Detroyat was given the opportunity to fly the Y1P-36. The enthusiasm for Detroyat, problems with the MB.150, and the pace of German rearmament eventually forced France to buy 100 aircraft and 173 engines. The first Hawk 75A-1 arrived in France in December 1938 and entered service in March 1939. After the 16th copy, the aircraft were delivered separately according to sub-assemblies and assembled by the Societe Nationale de Constructions Aéronautiques du Center in Bourges .
The aircraft, officially named Curtiss H75-C1 , had a Pratt & Whitney R-1830-SC-G engine with 900 hp (671 kW). Instruments, weapons and oxygen systems came from France and were manufactured in the metric system. The pilot's seat was modified to accommodate the Lemercier back parachute. In contrast to American and British aircraft, the engine only delivered full power when the throttle lever was pulled back completely. The armament consisted of four 7.62 mm Browning machine guns. The first tests in France revealed some shortcomings, including an overly complex fuel system, under-armament, under-armor and machine-guns freezing at high altitudes. Over time, all weaknesses of the aircraft were eliminated and at the beginning of the war the Armée de l'air had 291 Hawk 75As in service. On September 8, 1939, the Groupe de Chasse II / 4 achieved the first aerial victories of the Western Allies in World War II with the shooting down of two Messerschmitt Bf 109E. From May 10 to June 24, 1940, the French took 230 confirmed and 80 unconfirmed kills with the Hawk 75 with only 29 losses of their own. Of eleven French aviator aces, seven flew the Hawk. The leading flying ace was Lt. Edmond Marin La Meslée with 15 confirmed and five unconfirmed victories. The planes captured by the Germans were used by the Vichy regime against the Allies. During Operation Torch in North Africa, the Vichy aircraft fought the US Navy . In the aerial battle against Grumman F4F Wildcats , the French lost 15 aircraft in seven of their own kills.
The hawk in Finland
After the Compiègne armistice , Germany approved the sale of the captured French Hawks to Finland in October 1940. A total of 44 aircraft were delivered to Finland in three deliveries from June 23, 1941 to January 5, 1944. Not all of them came from French stocks, some of which were originally sold to Norway. There they captured the Germans during the Weser exercise .
The Hawk was a very popular fighter aircraft during its service in Finland and it was used with good success. In the period 1941-1944 58 pilots had 190 with the Hawk 1 / 3 kills. The Finnish flying ace Kyosti Karhila won 13 1 / 4 of its 32 victories with the Hawk, most victories with the Hawk achieved K. Tervo with 15 3 / 4 . During the war, the Hawks were only flown by the LentoLaivue 32 (later HävittäjäLentoLaivue ) squadron .
Initially, the Finnish Hawks were armed with four or six 7.5 mm machine guns. In the early stages of the Continuation War this was still sufficient, but with increasing speed and improved armor of Soviet aircraft, this armament no longer proved to be sufficiently powerful. From 1942, the Finnish State Aircraft Factory replaced the machine guns in the fuselage with one or two 12.7 mm Colt, Beresin UB or LKk / 42 MK and the MG in the wings with two 7.7 mm each -Browning MG replaced in each wing. The heavier armament did not restrict the Hawk's good flight characteristics, but increased its effectiveness against Soviet aircraft. The Finnish Hawks were also equipped with a Revi-3D or C / 12D reflex sight. The remaining aircraft were in service until 1948.
The mohawk
The Royal Air Force also showed considerable interest in the aircraft. Comparing a borrowed French Hawk 75A-2 with a Supermarine Spitfire Mk.I revealed that the Hawk had some advantages over the early variant of the British cult aircraft. The Hawk had a more balanced control than the Spitfire, especially when nosediving at speeds above 483 km / h. In addition, there was better maneuverability in close combat due to the less sensitive elevator and superior all-round visibility. The Hawk was also easier to control during takeoff and landing. The Spitfire's superior acceleration and speed potential, however, enabled it to better intervene and abort in air combat.
Although Britain decided not to buy the aircraft, it soon came into possession of 229 Hawks. The inventory comprised aircraft that had been flown over by French pilots to England, as well as shipments diverted after the surrender of France. The aircraft was named Mohawk I to IV , corresponding to the French Hawk 75A-1 to A-4, and was equipped with a 7.7 mm MG Vickers K and a conventional power lever (full load front). Since the aircraft no longer met the requirements of the European theater of war, 72 Mohawks were passed on to South Africa and several more to India and Burma. Twelve Mohawks were given to Portugal, where they secured the airspace over the Azores from 1944.
Other states
In April 1941, the Government of India ordered 48 Hawk 75A-5s powered by Wright Cyclone engines to be built by Hindustan Aircraft in Bangalore . The first machine built in India flew on July 31, 1942. By the time the project was canceled, four more machines had been completed. Machines built in India were adopted by the Royal Air Force as Mohawk IV.
Norway also ordered 24 Hawk 75A-6s powered by the Twin Wasp, of which 19 had been delivered and seven assembled at the time of the German invasion of Norway. None of the planes were operational. The dismantled planes were made unusable by a customs officer - who smashed the instruments and cut all the cables he could reach. Norwegian hawks captured by the Germans were part of the batch that had been sent to Finland. Norway also ordered 36 Wright Cyclone powered Hawk 75A-8s, most of which were delivered to a Norwegian training base (founded by the Norwegian government in exile in London as Little Norway ) near Toronto, Canada. There they were used as advanced trainers. In 1943 the USAAF called her back; some were sold to Curtiss and the rest to Peru.
The Netherlands ordered 35 Hawk 75A-6s powered by the Wright Cyclone engine (later reduced to 24). As a result of the German occupation of the Netherlands, these machines were diverted to the Dutch East Indies. There they were used against the Japanese invaders after their arrival in 1940.
The Model 75H with rigid chassis was developed by Curtiss for use on unprepared slopes and because of the low maintenance requirements . The demonstration machine was finally purchased by the Chinese national government in 1937. Another demonstration model, the Hawk 75Q with retractable landing gear, was handed over by Madame Chiang Kai-shek to Claire Lee Chennault , commander of the American Volunteer Group deployed in China . Some Hawk 75Ms were used by China against the Japanese with apparently little success. Several Hawk 75Ns were used by Siam in the campaign against French Indochina (two unconfirmed kills by French MS.406 fighters) and in the unsuccessful battle against the Japanese armed forces. Argentina acquired some simplified Hawk 75Os and a manufacturing license for this type. From 1940 onwards, 200 aircraft were manufactured on this basis. The Argentine Hawks remained in active service until 1954. Some of them were kept in operation by high-ranking Argentine officers until the 1960s.
present
The only still airworthy Hawk 75 was restored by the "Fighter Collection" between 2002 and 2004. The Hawk 75A-1 (No. 82) comes from the first delivery to the Armée del l'Air in 1939. The aircraft was stationed in Toul during the Battle of France . Shortly before France's surrender, the Hawk was relocated to Oran in Algeria , where it was taken over by the Vichy regime and used against the US Navy during Operation Torch. After the end of the war, the Hawk was used as an advanced trainer in Cazaux in western France until 1949 . The aircraft was then stored by a French collector and purchased by Stephen Gray for TFC in the 1980s.
variants
- Model 75A - demonstration machine that flew with various engines
- Model 75B - Prototype with Wright R-1820 engine
- Model 75D - first prototype with Wright R-1670 engine
- Model 75H - internal name for a simplified export version with fixed chassis; two slightly different aircraft were built - the first to China, the second to Argentina
- Model 75J - factory 75A, temporarily equipped with an external supercharger fan
- Model 75P - Serial P-36A (serial number 38-010), equipped with a liquid-cooled Allison V-1710 engine, prototype for the Curtiss P-40
- Model 75R - factory 75A, at times equipped with a R-1830-SC2-G engine with turbocharger, reached a top speed of 530 km / h, but proved to be too complex and unreliable
- Y1P-36 (Model 75E) - USAAC prototype, Pratt & Whitney R-1830 engine
- P-36A (Model 75L) - USAAC version
- P-36B - serial P-36A equipped with an R-1830-25 engine with 1100 hp (820 kW), reached 504 km / h; was dismantled into a P-36-A
- P-36C - an additional 7.62 mm MG was installed in each wing, with external ammunition containers under the wings, R-1830-17 engine with 1200 hp (895 kW), the last 30 production aircraft were called P-36C completed
- XP-36D - modified series P-36A with two 12.7mm machine guns in the nose and four 7.62mm machine guns in the wings
- XP-36E - Series P-36A with four 7.62mm machine guns in the wings; the standard armament in the nose was retained
- XP-36F - Series P-36A with two 23mm Madsen cannons under the wings; dismantled into a P-36A because the cannons reduced the top speed to 427 km / h
- P-36G - Hawk 75A-8, destined for Norway but confiscated by the US government after the occupation of Norway, Wright R-1820-G205A engine with 1200 hp (895 kW). Initially used as an advanced trainer for the Free Norwegian Forces in Canada, in 1943 the aircraft were split between the USAAF and Curtiss. Since the P-36G was out of date and had a different engine than the US variant, all twelve USAAF aircraft were handed over to Peru under the lend lease agreement.
- Hawk 75A-1 - French export version, 4 × 7.62 mm MG, R-1830-SC-G engine 900 hp (671 kW), British aircraft designation Mohawk I.
- Hawk 75A-2 - French export version, R-1830-SC2-G engine with 1,050 hp (783 kW), 6 × 7.62 mm MG, British aircraft designation Mohawk II
- Hawk 75A-3 - French export version, Hawk 75A-2 with R-1830-S1C3G engine with 1200 hp (895 kW), British aircraft designation Mohawk III
- Hawk 75A-4 - French export version, Hawk 75A-2 with Wright-R-1820-G205A-Cyclone engine with 1200 HP (895 kW), British aircraft designation Mohawk IV
- Hawk 75A-5 - built under license in China (production later relocated to India), taken over by the RAF as Mohawk IV
- Hawk 75A-6 - Norwegian export version, captured aircraft went to Finland
- Hawk 75A-7 - Dutch export version, diverted to the Dutch East Indies after the German occupation of the Netherlands, all twenty aircraft were destroyed by the advancing Japanese in February 1942
- Hawk 75A-9 - ten aircraft for Persia , still in boxes captured from the British and used by the RAF in India as Mohawk IV
- Hawk 75M - simplified fixed chassis version with Wright R-1820 cyclone engine, built for China by Curtiss and the Central Aircraft Manufacturing Company of China
- Hawk 75N - simplified version for Siam,
- Hawk 75O - simplified version for Argentina, 29 built by Curtiss, plus 200 licensed builds by Fabrica Militar de Aviones
- Hawk 75Q - two additional, simplified demonstration aircraft for China
- XP-37 - with liquid-cooled Allison V-1710, cockpit was moved to the tail of the fuselage
- YP-37 - 13 pre-production aircraft of the XP-37
- XP-42 (Model 75S) - Test aircraft for testing streamlined engine covers for air-cooled engines
Technical specifications
| Parameter | Curtiss P-36A data |
|---|---|
| Length: | 8.68 m |
| Wingspan : | 11.38 m |
| Height: | 2.80 m |
| Drive: | Pratt & Whitney R-1830 -SC-G Twin Wasp-13 with 1050 PS / 783 kW takeoff power |
| Top speed: | 518 km / h |
| Range: | 1320 km |
| Crew: | 1 man |
| Service ceiling : | 10,300 m |
| Empty weight : | 2116 kg |
| Takeoff mass : | 2661 kg |
| Armament: | one 7.62mm machine gun, one 12.7mm machine gun |
literature
- Peter Bowers : Curtiss Aircraft, 1907-1947. Naval Institute Press, 1979, ISBN 0-87021-152-8 .
- Peter Bowers: Aircraft in Profile No. 80: The Curtiss Hawk 75. Profile Publications, 1966.
- G. Swanborough, PM. Bowers: United States Military Aircraft Since 1909. Smithsonian, 1989, ISBN 0-87474-880-1 .
- Michael O'Leary: Export Hunter. Aviation Classic, February 2005.
- Michael O'Leary: Hell Hawks. Flying Legends Airshow Program, July 2005.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Even after the merger of Curtiss and Wright in 1929, the products of the two former companies were marketed under their old names until the Second World War. The manufacturer of the P-36 was therefore the Curtiss Airplane Division of the Curtiss-Wright Corporation (see Peter M. Bowers: Curtiss Aircraft 1907-1947 , 1979, p. 16 f.)
- ↑ Website of the Fighter Collection in Duxford ( Memento of the original from September 17, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
