Subject: Number Forty in the series--the Curtiss P-40 (8 of 10)

From: [email-masked] (Joseph F Baugher)
Date: 6 Jan 93 17:39:37 GMT

>From Joseph F Baugher <[email-masked]>

In 1943, the scarcity of Packard Merlin engines necessitated that the 
Allison engine be reintroduced into the P-40 production line.  The 
result was the P-40M version.  The P-40M was essentially similar to 
the P-40K-20-CU, apart from the use of the Allison V-1710-18 engine 
rated at 1200 hp for takeoff and 1125 hp at 17,300 feet.  The P-40M 
could be distinguished by the introduction of a cooling grill forward 
of the exhaust stubs.  

The P-40M was built solely for Lend-Lease, the contract being approved 
on August 24, 1942.  The first P-40M appeared in November, 1942.  Most 
of them went to the RAF, the RAAF, and the RNZAF as the Kittyhawk III.  
The type served with British Commonwealth forces in the Far East.  A 
number were operated in Italy by No.  5 Squadron of the South African 
Air Force.  

The differences between the production blocks were as follows:

The P-40M-1-CU had reinforced ailerons.  

The P-40M-5-CU had improved carburetor air filters and further aileron 
improvements.  

The P-40M-10-CU had revised undercarriage warning systems and fuel 
system changes 

Serials of the P-40M were as follows: 

43-5403/5462 	Curtiss P-40M-1-CU Warhawk 
43-5463/5722 	Curtiss P-40M-5-CU Warhawk 
43-5723/6002 	Curtiss P-40M-10-CU Warhawk 

The RAF serials for the 264 P-40Ms supplied to the RAF as Kittyhawk 
IIIs were FR779/872 and FS100/269.  168 P-40Ms were supplied to 
Australia as Kittyhawk IIIs under the serial numbers A29-300/389, 
A29-400/414, A29-420/434, A29-442/460, and A29-473/502.  34 P-40Ms 
went to New Zealand as serial numbers NZ3066/3073, NZ3075/3089, 
NZ3109/3119, and NZ3180.  The P-40M equipped the No. 5 Squadron of 
the South African Air Force serving in Italy.  19 P-40Ms were 
transferred to Brazil.  

Sources:

  War Planes of the Second World War, Fighters, Volume Four, William Green,
  Doubleday, 1964.

  The American Fighter, Enzo Anguluci and Peter Bowers, Orion Books, 1987.

  United States Military Aircraft since 1909, Gordon Swanborough and Peter
  M. Bowers, Smithsonian Institution Press, 1989.

  Curtiss Aircraft, 1907-1947, Peter M. Bowers, Naval Institute Press, 1979.

  The Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawk I-IV, Ray Wagner, Aircraft in Profile, 
  Volume 6, Doubleday, 1969.

Joe Baugher       AT&T Bell Laboratories    2000 North Naperville Road 
		  Naperville, Illinois 60566-7033.   (708) 713-4548