- Yes
- No
Hello and welcome to my suggestion for the second British iteration of the Curtis H-81 (more popularly known as the P-40) I feel this could come to the lower ranks of the british Tree to provide a capable multirole fighter around 2.3.
History
Spoiler
The Tomahawk a rather forgotten about aircraft of WW2 considering its importance and is based of the Curtiss Model 81 aircraft that like its predecessor, the Model 75 (aka P-36), saw wide success on the domestic US and export markets, being sold to a large variety of customers even before the war such as the USAF, ROCAF and the French Armée de L’air. The First Variant of the Tomahawk was redirected from a french order after the fall of france in 1940 these were slightly modified and known as Tomahawk Mk.Is. The Mk.I was quickly considered to be obsolete against more modern German aircraft such as the Bf 109F series due to its lack of Self sealing tanks or Armour for the cockpit despite these setbacks the Tomahawk still showed promise in the skies over north Africa.
This lead to the creation of the improved H-81A-2 Series of which the RAF ordered 110 aircraft to be dubbed the Tomahawk Mk.IIA, these were equipped with British 7.7mm machine guns instead of the american 7.62mm machine guns (the Mk.II was an interim designation for the Few delivered with American 7.62mm guns) This improved variant featured a couple of significant improvements over the previous Mk.I including Armour protection for the Pilot, and the addition of a Self-sealing (albeit not very good) fuel tank system.
These newer models were roughly similar to the P-40B variant based of the same H-81 variant, however aside from the minor armament changes there were a few other changes such as the use of British Radio equipment which lead to the addition of an antenna on the top of the fuselage. The Airframes in british service received the serials AH881 to AH 990.
these aircraft filled most of the similar roles of the Tomahawk Mk.I with some units being kept in the UK for training, whilst most were sent to North Africa where the Whole Tomahawk line gained fame during their service with the Desert Air Forces in Libya, Egypt and Syria against Italian, German and Vichy French forces.
Images
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A Tomahawk Mk.IIA shortly after its delivery in late 1940
Two Tomahawk Mk.IIAs flying in formation
A Tomahawk Mk.IIA in service with the RSAAF
RAF Crews running to prepare their Tomahawks for a Scramble
Specs/Armament
Spoiler
Crew: 1
Length: 31 ft 8.5 in (9.665 m)
Wingspan: 37 ft 3.5 in (11.367 m)
Height: 10 ft 8 in (3.25 m)
Wing area: 236 sq ft (21.9 sq m)
Airfoil: root: NACA2215; tip :NACA2209
Empty Weight: 2,439 kg (5,376 lbs)
Gross Weight: 3,061 kg (6,748 lbs)
Max Weight: 3207 kg (7070 lbs)
Powerplant: Allison V-1710-33, 12-cylinder V, liquid-cooled, 1,040 hp
Max Speed: 352 mph (566 km/h) at 15,000ft (4,572m)
Armament
Guns:
- 2 x 12.7mm (.50 cal) Browning Machine guns above the engine
- 4 x 7.7mm (.303 cal) Browning Machine guns in the wings (2 per wing)
Bombs
- 1 x 250/500 lbs bomb mounted centreline
any other info regarding potential armament would be greatly appreciated!
Place in game
Spoiler
Personally I feel this would be a good aircraft for rank II of the british Tech tree and would provide and an alternative playstyle to the Turn fighting of the Hurricanes and Spitfires. it would also see some minor usability in ground battles as its 12.7mm armament can be a potent tank killer at lower BRs as well as its minor bomb load.
In terms of BR I would expect this to sit at 2.3 as the aircraft is very similar to the Chinese H-81A-2. Personally I would have it either after the Hurricanes or in a seperate line for non domestic/Heavier fighters potentially folded after the Mk.I at 2.0
Sources