Military Aviation Museum by Darin Bellis

Military Aviation Museum
by Darin Bellis

I got all touchy-feely with a P-40E today at the Military Aviation Museum located out near Pungo, VA. I thought you might like to have the shots I was able to get of it, even though it was jammed in the hangar pretty tight. The prop and spinner were off of it for maintenance (it is a flying example).

It was a real struggle to get the pics I did. Not just because of the way everything was jammed together, but also because of the glare from the bright sunshine coming through the massive windows. I really wanted to get a shot if the inside of the front of the cowl with the prop & spinner out of the way, but the wing of an Aeronca L-3 blocked that area completely.

(Click to enlarge)

I'm not sure that the drop tank is an original piece. I tried to ask one of the elderly gentleman docents some questions, but unfortunately I knew more about the airplanes than he did. Anyway, I don't recall ever seeing a wartime photo of a P-40 with that kind of drop tank. There doesn't seem to be any need for all those rivets, unless there's some kind of internal structure such as slosh baffles. In wartime, niceties like slosh baffles would have been unheard of on disposable equipment like drop tanks.

(Click to enlarge)

Here is a shot of how closely that P-40E is jammed in with other airplanes. This is from the relatively clear side of it...