Curtiss P-40M-10 Warhawk - The Exporter

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Curtiss P-40M-10 Warhawk

   Hello everybody. I’d like to introduce and suggest the Curtiss P-40M-10 Warhawk for USA Aviation, and this is one of my series of suggestions for the P-40 variants in the US Army Air Corps and US Army Air Force services. The P-40M-10 variant was a development of a similar version to the P-40K with some changes.


TL;DR:

A P-40 variant (Kittyhawk Mk. III) akin to the P-40K but with a 1,200-hp Allison V-1710-81 uprated for better performance at altitude and extended fuselage akin to the P-40F-10.


History

The P-40M was a continued development of the Allison-powered P-40K due to the scarcity of Merlin engines in 1943. All P-40Ms were built with an extended fuselage like the P-40F and powered by a 1,200 hp Allison V-1780-81 engine, which gave a better performance at altitude compared to the previous Allison versions. The cooling grill was added on each side of the nose, forward of the exhaust stubs. The grill allowed the carburetor bypass air to enter through metal filters on each side. Another change was that the reinforced ailerons were added on all P-40Ms.

The production of 600 P-40Ms was divided between three production blocks; the first block was 60 P-40M-1s, followed by 260 P-40M-5s with permanent carburetor air filter and 280 P-40M-10s with mechanical landing gear indicator added to each wing. The small rods stick out from the top of the wing when the landing gear is down and locked, or the rods retract when the landing gear is up and locked.

Additional 466 P-40Ms were built for the Royal Air Force, Royal Australian Air Force, and Royal New Zealand Air Force under the export designation - Kittyhawk Mk. III alongside P-40Ks. These typically operated in the Far East. Some were diverted to the Soviet Union and No. 5 Squadron of the South African Air Force operating in Italy.

Although the P-40M was supposed to be an export variant of the P-40K, a few P-40Ms deployed to the US Army Air Forces units in the Pacific and the China, Burma, and India theaters, and many P-40Ms remained in the United States for advanced training.

One noteworthy use of P-40Ms with P-40Ns from the Fourteenth Air Force served their main role as fighter bombers to disrupt the major Japanese offensive in China in 1944. The number of P-40 losses reached high that year, as the American air units in China sustained a long retreat in the autumn of 1944. The reinforcements of new P-51 Mustangs arrived in significant numbers, and consequently, the P-40 Warhawks were beginning to withdraw from the frontline.


Specifications

Curtiss P-40M-10 Warhawk

General Characteristics

  • Crew: 1 (Pilot)
  • Length: 33 ft 3.72 in (10.15 m)
  • Height: 10 ft 7.34 in (3.23 m)
  • Span: 37 ft 3.5 in (11.37 m)
  • Wing Area: 236 sq ft (21.9 m)
  • Propeller Type: 3-bladed constant speed propeller
  • Powerplant: Allison V-1710-81 piston engine
    → 1,200 hp (895 kW)
  • Internal Fuel: 157 US gal. (594 L)
  • Empty Weight: 6,484 lb (2,941 kg)
  • Gross Weight: 8,000 lb (3,629 kg)
  • Max. Takeoff Weight: 8,900 lb (4,037 kg)

Performance

  • Power-to-Weight Ratio: 0.15 hp/lb (0.25 kW/kg)
  • Cruising Speed: 290 mph (467 km/h)
  • Critical Altitude Speed: 360 mph @ 20,000 ft (580 km/h @ 6,096 m)
  • Wing Loading: 33.9 lb/sq ft (165.5 kg/sq m)
  • Rate of Climb: 2,050 fpm (10.4 m/s)
  • Service Ceiling: 30,000 ft (9,114 m)
  • Combat Range: 700 miles (1,127 km)

Engine ratings

  • Takeoff:

    → 1,200 bhp @ 3,000 rpm @ S.L.

  • War Emergency:

    → 1,360 bhp @ 3,000 rpm @ S.L.

  • Military:

    → 1,125 bhp @ 3,000 rpm @ 14,600 ft

  • Maximum Continuous:

    → 1,000 bhp @ 2,600 rpm @ 13,800 ft

Armament

  • Guns:

    • 6 x .50-cal. M2 Browning machine guns (281 rpg; 1,686 rounds)
  • Bombs:

    • 1 x 1000-lb bomb
    • 1 x 500-lb bomb
  • Drop Tank:

    • 52-gal drop tank

Supplemental Data


Diagrams


Images


Conclusion | Why it should be in the game

   I made this suggestion to request more World War II-era vehicles for War Thunder. Like the P-40K, I feel the P-40M has a significant history, as this was another variant that many were exported to the Allied powers for their operations in Russia, CBI, and the Far East. The American units also used the P-40Ms in the CBI theater alongside the P-40Ns. Perfomance-wise, the P-40M-10 was akin to the P-40K but lighter and should perform somewhat better than the P-40K and P-40E, thanks to the tuned output from the V-1710-81. Thus, this P-40M-10 would make a good candidate as the tech tree or premium addition to the P-40 Warhawk family for US Aviation in War Thunder.


See Also – P-40 Family


Sources


Thank you for taking the time to read my suggestion! 😃

1 Like

A +1 from me, the M would be pretty cool to see added. Plus, it can also be added to the Finnish Tree as they operated a captured Soviet P-40M. Pretty neat history there actually

3 Likes

Plus +1