Hangar 9’s
P-40B
Fly a scale model of the unsung hero of Haleiwa Field!
By Chris Susicke
PHOTOGRAPHY: CHRIS SUSICKE & JENNIFER ALLAN T 38
he Curtiss P-40 Warhawk has something of a mixed reputation nowadays regarding its perfor- mance during WWII. The main rea- son behind this is that, unlike most other high-performance fighters of the time, it lacked a two-stage supercharger. This meant that the P-40’s capabilities were se- verely limited at higher altitudes where most of the air combat was taking place over Europe at the time.
However, the P-40 found its niche in the- aters like the Pacific, North Africa and (fa- mously) over China. In the hands of pilots there the Warhawk was renowned for its in- credible toughness and reliability, and it racked up an impressive number of kills. The P-40 was the third most-produced air- craft design by the U.S. during the war af- ter the P-51 Mustang and P-47 Thunderbolt. Hangar 9 has faithfully reproduced the venerable P-40 in this 50-size, 55.5-inch span ARF. Now the P-40 design isn’t new to Hangar 9; they have offered electric and
glow versions in the past. What is new is that this is the rarely modeled P-40B. Sub- tle differences in the shape of the canopy and cowl set the “B” apart from the much more commonly seen “D” and later models. You also get the choice between two famous P-40Bs, White 316 and White 160. These two aircraft were flown by Lieutenants Ken Taylor and George Welch respectively. Taylor and Welch were two of the few air- men who managed to get airborne during Japan’s surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. Without orders or clearance during the chaos Taylor and Welch jumped into their planes, took off and attacked the Japanese aggressors. Both airmen claimed kills and, amazingly, lived to tell about it. These brave young men were the first US Army Air Corps pilots to down enemy aircraft in the Pacific war. Now I consider myself to be something of a warbird buff, so when I got word about the Hangar 9 P-40B I was excited to add it to my menagerie. Before long I had the colorfully
adorned
box in front of me, and even quicker I had all of the components laid out before me. Being that
this wasn’t the first Hangar 9 product I have gotten my hands on, I had high expectations in the quality department. First impres- sions did not disappoint, with an immacu- late covering job, great paint work and ex- cellent
hardware. After taking a few
minutes to page through the comprehensive manual I got into the nitty gritty of it. If you have built even one ARF you prob-
ably know how the first few steps go. Hinge the ailerons and secure them with a few drops of thin CyA and then install the aileron servos. In this first step I ran into the one and only quality issue with this ARF, that being that the hinge slots on one
NOVEMBER 2012
Warhawk
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