The Curtiss P-36 Hawk, also known as the Curtiss Hawk Model 75, is an American-designed and built fighter aircraft of the 1930s and 40s. A contemporary of the Hawker Hurricane and Messerschmitt Bf 109, it was one of the first of a new generation of combat aircraft — a sleek monoplane design with a retractable undercarriage making extensive use of metal in its construction.
Perhaps best known as the predecessor of the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk, the P-36 saw little combat with the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. It was the fighter used most extensively and successfully by the French Air Force during the Battle of France.
After the retreat of the British from the continent, the Wehrmacht occupied northern France and the Luftwaffe took over the skies. Some French air units evacuated south. Many French pilots believed that West Africa would become a base from which to fight against German-occupied territories. But this hope was soon buried. Virtually all the army commanders in Africa recognized the terms of the armistice, and the airmen calmly awaited further developments. Opposition began to form in some units. French pilots began to think of fleeing to the British with their weapons.
From mid-1940, some P-36s en route for France and the Netherlands were diverted to Allied air forces in other parts of the world. The Hawks ordered by the Netherlands were diverted to the Dutch East Indies and later saw action against Japanese forces. French orders were taken up by British Commonwealth air forces, and saw combat with the South African Air Force (SAAF) against Italian forces in East Africa, and with the RAF over Burma. Within the Commonwealth, the type was usually referred to as the Curtiss Mohawk.
On April 17, 1940, the Dutch signed an order for twenty-four Curtiss-Wrights CW-21Bs for $ 1,747,905. What did they actually buy for the planes? What was their service in the Dutch Air Force? Did they intervene in the fighting? Who did they fight against? The following article will try to answer these questions.
The first Japanese raid on Java occurred on February 2, 1942. The Curtiss-Wrights remained on the ground that day. They first flew against the enemy the next day, February 3, 1942. The Japanese attacked seventy Mitsubishi G3M Nell bombers from Takao Kókútai, Kanoya Kókútai and 3. Kókútai, whose air cover was provided by forty-four fighters Mitsubishi A6M Reisen (Zero) from Tainan Kókúi. Kókútai.
The Douglas XA-2 was an American prototype attack aircraft converted from a Douglas O-2 observation aircraft in the spring of 1926 by Douglas Aircraft. Only one prototype aircraft was built and the type was not ordered into production.
In mid-September 1941, members of the 126th IAP appeared at Kadnikov Airport. The base was located 140 km from the city of Vologda, near the railway line connecting this agglomeration with the port of Arkhangelsk. At the airport, pilots from the 126th IAP were awaited by, for the Soviets at that time, very unusual aircraft: American fighters Curtiss Tomahawk. They were provided by the new allies of Stalin's Soviet Union - the British. A special-purpose alliance was formed less than three months ago, after the German attack on the USSR. Fighter jets perched around the airport's runway were one of its first practical implications.
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