Plane: Curtis P40E KittyHawk IA
Weight (Empty/Loaded/Max): 6,550lb / 7,400lb / 8,720lb
Wing Area: 236sq ft
Wing Loading: 27.8lb/sq ft / 31.4lb/sq ft / 36.9lb/sq ft
Length: 33' 4"
Span: 37' 4"
Wing Aspect Ratio: 5.9
Engine: 1,150hp Allison V-1710-39
Flaps: 5settings
Visibility:
Control Feel:
Stall Speed 1k (No Flaps/Full Flaps) 90/85mph
Guns:
| type/ammo | ROF | Duration | WB Punch | Muzzle Velocity | Ammo/Gun | |
| Primary: | 2x.50cal Browning MG | 12/s | 22.1 | 3x.50cal/ping | 2810ft/s | 265 |
| Secondary: | 4x.50cal Browning MG | 12/s | 24.1s | 6x.50cal/ping | 2810ft/s | 290 |
Ordnance:
0: none
1: 1x500lb bomb
2: none
3: none
Fuel Time/Percent: 42 seconds/percent
Power/weight (Empty/Loaded/Max): 5.7lb/hp / 6.4lb/hp / 7.6lb/hp
Corner Velocity: 260mph
Durability: Fair
WEP time: 5 minutes
Maximum Angle-of-Attack (no flaps/full flaps): 17/17 degrees
Wing Incidence Angle (no flaps/full flaps): 3/3 degrees
Accleleration:
| 1,000ft | 5,000ft | 10,000ft | 15,000ft | |
| Stall-200mph | 28.6s | 32.4s | 35.1s | 55.6s |
| 150mph-200mph | 15.8s | 18.2s | 20.9s | 32.5s |
| 200mph-250mph | 24.9s | 30.3s | 34.5s | 46.3s |
| 250mph-300mph | - | - | - | - |
Climb:
1k-5k: 70s
5k-10k: 106s
10k-15k: 119s
Zoom Climb:
1k 400mph: +4,900ft
1k 300mph: +2,900ft
Dive:
| Max Speed | After 30s | After 60s | |
| 15,000ft to 10,000ft | 365mph | 320mph | 305mph |
| 15,000ft to 5,000ft | 490mph | 360mph | 320mph |
| 10,000ft to 5,000ft | 395mph | 335mph | 315mph |
| 10,000ft to 1,000ft | 495mph | 360mph | 325mph |
| 5,000ft to 1,000ft | 380mph | 340mph | 320mph |
Max Speed
| 1,000ft | 5,000ft | |
| Climbing before levelling | 290mph | 290mph |
| Diving before levelling | 305mph | 300mph |
Turn Performance
| 300mph | 1,000ft | 5,000ft | 10,000ft | 15,000ft |
| One 360 | 12.2s | 13.4s | 14.8s | - |
| Two 360s | 27.2s | 30.0s | 33.1s | - |
| 250mph | ||||
| One 360 | 12.5s | 13.2s | 14.8s | 16.1s |
| Two 360s | 28.5s | 31.0s | 35.0s | 39.6s |
| Sustained | ||||
| No Flaps | 18.3s | 19.6s | 22.4s | 26.8s |
| Full Flaps | 18.9s | 21.0s | 23.1s | 28.4s |
| Best Flap | none | none | none | none |
| Speed/best | 120mph | 115mph | 115mph | 110mph |
Corner Speed and Radii (1,000ft):
Speed: 260mph
Radius: 492ft
Sustained Turn Speed: 140mph
Sustained Turn Radius: 597ft
Full Flaps Speed: 115mph
Full Flaps Radius: 507ft
| Corner Times | 1,000ft | 5,000ft | 10,000ft | 15,000ft |
| 180 degrees | 5.9s | 6.3s | 6.5s | 7.1s |
| 360 degrees | 12.8s | 13.6s | 14.3s | 16.1s |
Roll Rate:
150mph: 6.1s
200mph: 4.6s
250mph: 3.6s
300mph: 3.1s
350mph: 2.7s
400mph: 4.8s
Minimum Full-Flaps Full-Power Split-S altitude:
150mph: 1,000ft
200mph: 1,200ft
250mph: 1,300ft
300mph: 1,900ft
Hoof's Tips and Opinions:
The Curtis P40E KittyHawk was used in all parts of the war, from the Pacific to the Mediterranean, against Japan and Germany, and was flown for the air forces of twenty-eight different countries worldwide. Over 15,000 different P40s of all flavors were made, making it one of the more populous planes of WWII.
The Warbirds P40E is definitely an early-war plane. Performance-wise, it is inferior to all other planes with the exception of maybe the F4F. Even the FM2 outperforms the P40E in almost all areas. The plane accelerates poorly, climbs poorly, has poor vertical performance, is outturned by most of the Turn 'n' Burn planes of the game, is outrolled in the high and low ends of its speed range, and compresses a bit at high speeds. It does have one of the best roll rates from 250mph to 375mph, and handles real nicely at speeds of 300-400mph and thus is a decent diving attack plane.
As it was historically, the P40E can do quite well if it has a chance to climb to altitude and isn't attacked from above. Her turn rate is sufficient to deliver killing tracking shots, and her firepower is the standard American 6x.50cal machine guns. Like most American planes, the P40E can dive quite well and thus one should learn to use this diving performance and excellent mid-to-high speed handling to good use.
It it interesting to compare this plane to the P39D. Both use slightly different variants of the same engine (although the P40E's engine has a turbo-supercharger while the P39D does not, while the P39D has almost 200hp extra over the P40E). Both have similar wing loadings. The P40E is a heavier plane than the P39D. As far as acceleration, climb and diving performance the P39D has the edge although the P40E handles better in most situations. In TnB both planes are about equal, but the extra horsepower that the P39D has gives it an edge in vertical moves.
The trick with the P40E is similar to the P39D, get above the opponent. The P40E doesn't have the Big Stick 37mm cannon the P39D has to aid it in crippling a plane, so it has to work quite a bit harder to earn kills. When against better turning opponents, keep fast, and stay above opponents when not swooping on them. This can be tough, as her low horsepower-to-weight ratio makes gaining E a real waiting game. Like many of the "expert" planes, this plane requires a fair bit of tactical restraint to be successful in. Once in a bad situation, the P40E is really in a bind, since she can't gain E fast like other planes, is quite slow compared to the rest of the planes, and has only diving performance to really help out, nor can she use turning performance to hold the enemy at bay. At high speeds, though, she is quite good to defend in due to excellent roll rate, but she needs to keep diving to get at these speeds, and eventually Mother Earth starts to take exception to a P40's diving :)