Chapter 48 P40 Warhawk

1/24/2005

60 Years of History

Perhaps you’ve noticed that these swap drive chapters have never really been about driving a car, but enjoying the ride. For each assignment, if you don’t know where you came from, or where you are at, then you’ll not know where you are going whether it’s 100 miles or a lifetime journey. Thus it is that I’ve detoured from the rush hour of living to put together this chapter on the P40 Warhawk.

Swap drives have given me the opportunity to assemble some of the things in this chapter. You may think it’s just a model airplane made of paper and carved pine wood. Yeah, it is. But it is much more. Like placing the model cars in the auto museum I plan to contact an air museum.

Top of picture is June 18, 1943 news article that was published in the Airplane Mechanics newspaper at the Lincoln Air Base in Nebraska. Dad had taken a lot of airplane mechanics courses there studying a variety of inline, V, and radial Curtiss, Pratt-Whitney, Allison, and Merlin-Rolls Royce engines the P40 used and was offered an instructors job there. He was then suddenly transferred to Detroit for other engine specialist courses and qualified for sub-depot work, rebuilding engines either stateside or overseas. The model car he spoke of is probably the one in the museum now. We flew this P40 and bunches of other U-control planes as kids. My Honda Element swap pictured at the museum was doing double duty serving multiple functions and is at a crossroads in many ways. I did work the very successful Carroll Shelby event. He was a mesmerizing colorful 82 year old, full of character. Was chicken farmer like our neighbor and flew in the Army Air Corps.

At Lincoln Dad was proud to take many photos of this important airplane behind the apartment where he and Mom lived in. Photography was one of his hobbies including darkroom developing before, during and after the war including in our bathroom.

There were several Curtiss Wright airplane assembly plants. Dad worked at a few specializing in stabilizer control assemblies (movable vertical part of the tailfin) at the one on Genesee Street near the Buffalo Greater International Airport (Oct ’41-’42). It was here that his model car “damn near killed a little toddler while running in a cement wadding pool.”

These Curtiss Wright facilities later became Western Electric, Westinghouse, Cornell Aeronautical Laboratories, and CALSPAN. I had responsibility for water quality review for discharges from those exact facilities at DEC. Mentioned this to Dad once and he just grumbled. Recently have learned that Bill Milliken who was Asst Head of Flight Research at Curtiss Wright and later did research at CAL, and CALSPAN is related the guy who hired me at my Keeler dealership. Milliken has a race car in my museum, is an expert in automotive handling , founded aero/automobile research firm in Williamsville, was the founding member of the Watkins Glen Road Race and drove the first race there in 1948.

The P40’s were the only fighter attack planes the US had going into WW2, were used to combat the Japanese at Pearl Harbor, were the second or third most numerous fighter aircraft produced by the Allies, and the P40E (Kittyhawk) variation was used by the famous Flying Tigers assisting in China’s defense against Japan.

Next picture is Dad’s five by five 489the Bomber Group crew formed up at Gowen Field, Boise, Idaho. While at Detroit, was abruptly transferred to Salt Lake City, Utah for more airplane mechanics. One day instructor said, “Anybody interested in flying, go through that door.” When he walked through that door of fate, it defined his whole life. Had always wanted to fly but washed out due to vision and height. This time accepted due to the lesser requirements for bomber crew (coupled with the eventual loss of 160,000 Allied airmen in the air war over Europe). Aerial gunnery school at Wendover Field, Utah. Dale Glen born back in Buffalo, no pass home available. Night flight training exercises mixed in with daytime classroom study.

Dad & Uncle Nelson

Discharge- 30 missions from Halesworth, England in B24 named Cover Girl, after 1944 Rita Hayworth movie of same name. English film documentary made of plane & crew. The Memphis Belle (excellent movie) only had to do half as many missions.

Back home I’m being carried by Dad in his Cover Girl bomber jacket, apparently trying to kick Dale Glen in the head. Don’t ever remember seeing this picture- not flattering of Mom- I scanned from a found negative.

Interesting, the twists and turns of fate.

b24 plane numbers