Titan ReloadingInline FabricationWidenersLee Precision
Reloading EverythingLoad DataRepackboxMidSouth Shooters Supply
RotoMetals2
Results 1 to 19 of 19

Thread: My 20 yr time capsule. Ode to a P-40 Warhawk.

  1. #1
    Cast Hunter

    RugerFan's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    East GA
    Posts
    2,130

    My 20 yr time capsule. Ode to a P-40 Warhawk.

    As a young Staff Sergeant, I was stationed at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii for 3 years ('94-'97). When reenlisting, we were given the choice of where the event would take place (within reason). As a fan of the old WWII war birds, I chose to do it in front of a P-40 Warhawk that was parked on Wheeler.

    I haven't been back till now 20 years later thanks to a 10 work trip. I just had to seek out that old bird. She's been repainted, but still standing tall. Man I love those planes!

    Boone and Crockett Club member
    <<----------------<<<<<<
    Pope & Young Club member


  2. #2
    Banned
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Central Virginia
    Posts
    7,439
    The trees got taller !

  3. #3
    Boolit Master


    fecmech's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Buffalo NY area
    Posts
    4,030
    P-40's and the Flying Tigers are what got me started in aviation. As a boy I read Robert L. Scott's book, God is My Co-Pilot and was fascinated by the exploits of the AVG in China. When P-40's are scheduled at Geneseo for the air show I always make it a point to attend and I love the sound of the Allison engine on a fly by.
    "Masculine republics give way to feminine democracies, and feminine democracies give way to tyrannies.” Aristotle

  4. #4
    Moderator
    RogerDat's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2013
    Location
    Michigan Lansing Area
    Posts
    5,751
    +1 on the AVG and the Flying Tigers being fascinating intro to aviation and history.

    First "real" model airplane I made was a P-40 and my dad helped me with the decals. Half century ago and it is still a fond memory. We also made a wood Fury jet looked sort of like this. https://i.pinimg.com/736x/4c/a1/bc/4...s-november.jpg

    We sometimes see war birds at the Fowlerville pancake breakfast fly in.
    Scrap.... because all the really pithy and emphatic four letter words were taken and we had to describe this source of casting material somehow so we added an "S" to what non casters and wives call what we collect.

    Kind of hard to claim to love America while one is hating half the Americans that disagree with you. One nation indivisible requires work.

    Feedback page http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...light=RogerDat

  5. #5
    Boolit Master
    Mytmousemalibu's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2015
    Location
    Wichita, KS
    Posts
    1,277
    Thats cool! I'm a dyed in the blood plane nut and warbirds are my soft spot! Can't beat the sound of a big old radial or V-12 rumbling to life! I have had an infatuation with planes since day one and I am now an A&P so I go play with planes every day! I am often accused of being an aviation encyclopedia andcoften asked, "how do you know all this!" I can identify most aircraft including the obscure and tell you some details about it. Like I said, plane nut! I just went on a work trip to Dallas to fix a customers Hawker 4000 at Love Field. If you are in the area they have a fantastic air museum there! I highly recommend it for those of you into aircraft! They have some exceptionally rare items on display, many the only surviving example. Pretty cool to get to return to the P-40 after all those years!
    ~ Chris


    Casting, reloading, shooting, collecting, restoring, smithing, etc, I love it all but most importantly, God, Family, The United States Constitution and Freedom...

    God Bless our Troops, Veterans and First Responders!

    Diligentia, Vis, Celeritas
    Accuracy, Power & Speed

  6. #6
    Boolit Master Thumbcocker's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    East Central Illinois
    Posts
    4,490
    Maybe not the sexiest or the fastest but the P-40 carried it's share of the load and soldiered on through the war.
    Paper targets aren't your friends. They won't lie for you and they don't care if your feelings get hurt.

  7. #7
    Moderator Emeritus

    Treetop's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Texas
    Posts
    623
    Quote Originally Posted by fecmech View Post
    P-40's and the Flying Tigers are what got me started in aviation. As a boy I read Robert L. Scott's book, God is My Co-Pilot and was fascinated by the exploits of the AVG in China.
    fecmec, I also read God Is My Co-Pilot as a boy, in the 1950s, and it's still one of my all time favorite books! Semper Fi, Treetop
    "Treetop"
    Sgt. USMC
    1968-71

    "Accuracy has a suppressive power all by itself."
    Lt. Gen. George Flynn, USMC

    “The Second Amendment was not written to protect your right to shoot deer.
    It was written to protect your right to shoot tyrants…”
    Judge Andrew Napolitano

  8. #8
    Boolit Master


    fecmech's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Buffalo NY area
    Posts
    4,030
    A couple things from the book always stuck with me. The first was when he climbed above Mt Everest in the P-40 and the poem "High Flight". The other when he attacked the bridge from 4 different directions and painting his nose spinner a different color each time to make the enemy think they had more a/c than they did.
    "Masculine republics give way to feminine democracies, and feminine democracies give way to tyrannies.” Aristotle

  9. #9
    Vendor Sponsor

    DougGuy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Location
    just above Raleigh North Carolina
    Posts
    7,394
    Quote Originally Posted by Treetop View Post
    fecmec, I also read God Is My Co-Pilot as a boy, in the 1950s, and it's still one of my all time favorite books! Semper Fi, Treetop
    +3!! I had Robert Lansing (TV show 12 O'clock High) autograph my copy, where is it now?
    Got a .22 .30 .32 .357 .38 .40 .41 .44 .45 .480 or .500 S&W cylinder that needs throats honed? 9mm, 10mm/40S&W, 45 ACP pistol barrel that won't "plunk" your handloads? 480 Ruger or 475 Linebaugh cylinder that needs the "step" reamed to 6° 30min chamfer? Click here to send me a PM You can also find me on Facebook Click Here.

  10. #10
    Boolit Master
    woodbutcher's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    LaFollette Tn
    Posts
    1,398
    That is an excellent book.Also saw the movie based on the book.
    Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
    Leo
    People never lie so much as after a hunt,during a war,or before an election.
    Otto von Bismarck

  11. #11
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Posts
    4,635
    I have a gas powered control line flying model of a P40 in my closet right now. Had it since I was a youngster.
    I've been meaning to restore it to working condition.

  12. #12
    Boolit Master



    Echo's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    Tucson AZ
    Posts
    4,603
    The P-40 was an honest airplane, and good looking, too. And Roger on the AVG - one of my Psych profs was in the USAAC that took over from the AVG, he flying B-25's. One of my best profs, Al McCormick. Many great books about the AVG, one I liked was "The Lady and The Tigers", written by Olga Greenlaw, wife of the adjutant of the Tigers. And Don (Dave?) Lopes wrote one, too, about his escapades in the USAAC there, don't remember the title.
    And they tried putting Merlin's in the P-40, but I believe the Packard-built Merlin's were prioritized to the P-51's, and some folks don't know, many Lancaster's flew with Packard Merlin's...
    Echo
    USAF Ret
    DPS, 2600
    NRA Benefactor
    O&U
    One of the most endearing sights in the world is the vision of a naked good-looking woman leaving the bedroom to make breakfast. Bolivar Shagnasty (I believe that Lazarus Long also said it, but I can't find any record of it.)

  13. #13
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Posts
    4,635
    The P-40 was a development of the radial engine P-36 which is where its elegant lines came from.

    The design was ahead of its time in 1940 but was in the end a dead end. It couldn't take full advantage of more advanced engine designs. A great aircraft just the same.

    The first Mustangs were also a bit outclassed until many minor improvements were made before and after adopting the Merlin.
    The A-36 Apache was the cousin of the Mustang and performed much like the P-40.

  14. #14
    Boolit Master

    Kraschenbirn's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    East Central IL
    Posts
    3,448
    Perhaps the best flyable P-40E restoration is part of Rudy Frasca's collection, about a 1/2 mile down the road from my home. Airplane is ex-RCAF (1940 build IIRC) painted in the camo and markings of the AVG 2nd Squadron ('Panda Bears'). Even though Rudy is in poor health the airplane is still flown for local airshows and veteran's events. This aircraft was Rudy's 2nd Warbird (the first was an FM-2 Wildcat) and, in the early 1970s, I actually worked (as a volunteer) on the restoration.

    http://www.rodbearden.com/Av09/Rudy%...NX40PE%203.jpg

    Bill
    "I'm not often right but I've never been wrong."

    Jimmy Buffett
    "Scarlet Begonias"

  15. #15
    Boolit Buddy
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Location
    Oklahoma
    Posts
    377
    P-40 is my WW2 favorite plane.

  16. #16
    Boolit Master



    Echo's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    Tucson AZ
    Posts
    4,603
    Quote Originally Posted by Multigunner View Post

    The A-36 Apache was the cousin of the Mustang and performed much like the P-40.
    Same airframe as the P-51, but all had Allison engines...
    Echo
    USAF Ret
    DPS, 2600
    NRA Benefactor
    O&U
    One of the most endearing sights in the world is the vision of a naked good-looking woman leaving the bedroom to make breakfast. Bolivar Shagnasty (I believe that Lazarus Long also said it, but I can't find any record of it.)

  17. #17
    Banned

    Join Date
    Dec 2015
    Posts
    1,481
    Quote Originally Posted by Echo View Post
    The P-40 was an honest airplane, and good looking, too. And Roger on the AVG - one of my Psych profs was in the USAAC that took over from the AVG, he flying B-25's. One of my best profs, Al McCormick. Many great books about the AVG, one I liked was "The Lady and The Tigers", written by Olga Greenlaw, wife of the adjutant of the Tigers. And Don (Dave?) Lopes wrote one, too, about his escapades in the USAAC there, don't remember the title.
    And they tried putting Merlin's in the P-40, but I believe the Packard-built Merlin's were prioritized to the P-51's, and some folks don't know, many Lancaster's flew with Packard Merlin's...
    The British also used the Merlin engine in a good number of their tanks too!

  18. #18
    Banned

    Join Date
    Dec 2015
    Posts
    1,481
    Quote Originally Posted by Multigunner View Post
    The P-40 was a development of the radial engine P-36 which is where its elegant lines came from.

    The design was ahead of its time in 1940 but was in the end a dead end. It couldn't take full advantage of more advanced engine designs. A great aircraft just the same.

    The first Mustangs were also a bit outclassed until many minor improvements were made before and after adopting the Merlin.
    The A-36 Apache was the cousin of the Mustang and performed much like the P-40.
    Allison wasn't real happy that Merlins were used in the P-51 and later on developed an engine that actually would blow the doors off the Merlin. It was too late of course so the rest is history. I've read where the Merlins had to be worked on all the time. Another thing in the Spitfire the merlin was carbereted and in a dive the carb would lose the fuel level and the engine would cut out. The Germans exploited this fault. The Messerschmitts used fuel injection from the get go because the engines were in the plane upside. Thus the reason for a dry sump oil system.

    I think they really improved the P-51 when they put the bubble canopy on it.

  19. #19
    Boolit Master


    Join Date
    Oct 2011
    Location
    Atlanta, NY 14808
    Posts
    2,163
    Quote Originally Posted by Treetop View Post
    fecmec, I also read God Is My Co-Pilot as a boy, in the 1950s, and it's still one of my all time favorite books! Semper Fi, Treetop
    God Is My Co-Pilot, and "The Man Who Rode the Thunder", both from Scholastic Books in the late '50's, early 60's
    Micah 6:8
    He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

    "I don't have hobbies - I'm developing a robust post-apocalyptic skill set"
    I may be discharged and retired but I'm sure I did not renounce the oath that I solemnly swore!

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check