Hi Steve,

I hope you can make the symposium.  I read about Robert Mooney in Carl Molesworth's excellent book, "Sharks Over China." I knew a memorial was erected in China (or should I say re-erected, since the original apparently was torn down in the 1960s by the Communists), but was unaware there was a replica at Wentworth.  Thanks for providing that information.   

According to Mr. Moleworth's book, one of Mooney's good friends was Robert Liles, who was actually present when Mooney passed away following his bail-out.  Liles went on to become an ace, and it's my understanding he was contacted regarding the upcoming symposium but unfortunately can't attend.  I'm a member of the NCF but not one of the directors so don't know all the details about the symposium, such as exactly which aces were contacted about attending, but I've volunteered to assist in whatever is needed to insure it comes to fruition.  As a result, I've been kept in the loop as to its progress.

By the way, here's a link to the Aerospace Museum of California:

 http://aerospacemuseumofcalifornia.org/

You'll notice there's no mention of the symposium yet on its website, but there should be once every little detail is finalized.  The previous two NCF symposiums, for P-47 and P-51 aces respectively, where held at the museum as well.  Most occur in the San Francisco Bay area, since I believe most of the NCF directors live around there, but the ones at the museum work out better for me since I live closer to it.  Unfortunately, the NCF does not have a website of its own.

Regards,

Mark

Very impressive work, Alex!  Will you be detailing an Allison engine for it as well?

Regards,

Mark

I wanted to pass on this information to those who are interested and, hopefully can attend:

On Sunday, August 31st, the Northern California Friends (NCF), which is associated with the American Fighter Aces Association (AFAA) is hosting a P-40 Warhawk aces symposium at the Aerospace Museum of California, located at the former McClellan Air Force Base in Sacramento, CA.  As of now, the aces who will attend are:

 -Robert Aschenbrener, 10 victory ace with the 49th FG;
 -Lynn Jones, 5 victory ace with the 23rd FG;
 -James Morehead, 8 victory ace with the 17th PS, 49th FG, and 1st FG;
 -Joel Paris, 9 victory ace with the 49th FG;

Feel free to post any questions regarding the symposium and I'll do my best to answer them.  The museum itself has been redone the last couple of years and has an excellent display of aircraft, including all of the "Century Series" jets that went into production.

Mark

Alex,

That is beautiful work!  What scale is it? 

By the way, nice website you have there with some outstanding builds on it.  When I have more time I'll check it out more thoroughly.  Thanks for the link!

Mark

If you haven't already, you might want to look into Squadron/Signal's book "P-40 Warhawk in Detail and Scale, Pt.1."  This book covers the P-40 through the B/C models.  I don't have this book but have Pt.2, which covers the later models and has numerous photographs and drawings, including the gunbays for the .50 caliber wing guns.  There's a good chance that Pt.1 has the same for the wing .30 calibers found on the early P-40s.

Good luck!

Mark

Are you looking for patches of units associated with sharkmouth P-40s?  If so, these P-40s are generally associated with 112 Sqn RAF, the American Volunteer Group (AVG), and its successor the 23rd Fighter Group.  Here's a link to a company that has some AVG patches, although these might be too large for sleeves:

https://www.uswings.com/patches3.asp

Hope this helps,

Mark

I'm saddened to have learned that John R. "Dick" Rossi passed away yesterday, April 17th, 2008.  Mr. Rossi was a flight leader with the 1st Squadron--the 'Adam and Eves'--of the American Volunteer Group, better known as the Flying Tigers.  He was credited with six victories while with the AVG.

When the AVG was officially disbanded on July 4, 1942, Mr. Rossi joined the China National Aviation Corporation (CNAC) flying supplies from India to support China's war effort.  By war's end, Dick held the record for the most "hump" flights over the Himalayas at 735 trips.

I don't know the details of his death, but learned about it on the AVG website:  www.flyingtigersavg.com

I met Mr. Rossi in 1999 at a fundraiser in Southern California.  He was a gracious gentleman.

Mark

Thanks Brad!  I've seen Brian's build, and it's a masterpiece.  What's really amazing about it is how he transformed the old 1/32nd Revell P-40E into such a stunning K.  I have the kit and had thought about trying to do the same, but soon realized it's way beyond my ablities!

Mark

This is the oldie but goodie AMT P-40K kit, representing the assigned aircraft of Wing Commander "Stocky" Edwards while he flew with 260 Sqn in the desert around January '43.  "Stocky" (who was called "Eddie" Edwards at the time) was one of the greatest Kittyhawk aces with at least 12 confirmed victories.



Thanks for looking!

Mark

AMT originally released several P-40 variants, including the short-tailed "F," the "K," and the "N."  AMtech obtained these molds to utilize for its "E," long-tailed "F/L" with the resin nose, and "K" with the resin tail.  For some reason, all of AMtech's releases seem to have those fuselage bulges; none of the AMT releases did.  What I've done with the AMtech P-40's is simply sand down the bulges and rescribe if necessary.

For gaps that aren't too large, say less than 1/8", I'll use either putty (usually Tamiya) or Mr. Surfacer 500.  Once dried, either can be sanded or gently smoothed using nail polish remover (for Tamiya) or rubbing alcohol (for Mr. Surfacer) and a Q-tip.  For larger gaps, I'll use strip styrene (basically the same plastic used in the model) with perhaps gap-filling superglue.  If you try to use putty or the equivalent with larger gaps, it will usually crack.

With AMtech's P-40E, what I've done to reduce or eliminate the gap between the wing and fuselage is first glue one upper wing to the lower wing section, then glue this wing assembly to the fuselage, concentrating on that one wing/fuselage gap.  Once dry, I'll glue the other upper wing to the lower wing section.  I'll then take a long piece of tape, attach it to one wing tip, and pull it tight over the cockpit area and onto the other wing tip.  This usually pulls both wings upward, which helps both with the proper dihedral and to eliminate the wing/fusleage gap.  While the tape is on, I'll apply glue (usually Tamiya extra thin cement) with a brush along the gap and leave it to dry.

HTH,

Mark   

I'm saddened to learn that Don Lopez has made his last flight.  Mr. Lopez flew with the 23rd Fighter Group in WWII and achieved ace status, gaining four of his five victories in P-40s.  I have a copy of his book, "Into the Teeth of the Tiger," which is a very entertaining and insightful read.  He was definitely one of the 'Greatest Generation,'  with too many lifelong achievements to list here, and his death is a tremendous loss.  My thoughts and prayers are with his family, although I'm sure they are saddened there is the realization that few people have lived such a full, productive life. Here's a link to a press release regarding his passing:

http://www.nasm.si.edu/events/pressroom/releaseDetail.cfm?releaseID=185

Godspeed,  Mr. Lopez

I thought this little tidbit of information wasn't quite adequate enough, at least in length, to fit in the 'Veteran's Stories' section, so decided to share it here.

On November 11th, 1942, Lt. (later Capt.) James E. Reed of the 33rd Fighter Group was piloting one of the 77 P-40Fs that was catapulted off the carrier 'Chenango,' a converted Great Lakes oil tanker, for a landing at an airport at Port Lyautey, 90 miles north of Casablanca, as part of Operation Torch--the invasion of North Africa. Not long after the landing, Lt. Reed had to turn over his P-40F, named 'Irene' in honor of his then-girlfriend and later wife, to the French Lafayette Escardrill Squadron, much to his chagrin (along with that of the other pilots who had to give up their planes as well).  Lt. Reed ultimately completed 83 missions flying P-40s.  Many of these missions were against German fighters, especially the Me-109.

A few years ago, I had the opportunity to correspond with Capt. Reed via telephone, snail mail, and email.  In one of my emails, I asked about how the P-40F and L (which he also flew) compared to both the Me-109 and Fw-190, which also flew in North Africa but to a lesser degree (more often as a fighter-bomber).  Here is Capt. Reed's emailed reply:

"Regarding performance aginst the Me-109 and FW-190.  The 190 was tough to out-turn.  I could out-turn the 109, but it was hard to do.  I, at times, had to drop a few degrees of flaps and slow down to out-turn it.  On one mission dropping the flaps was not enough so I had to drop my landing gear to slow down enough to out-turn the Me-109 and get away from his fire.  I think dropping the flaps and landing gear probably saved my life.  I never had a one-on-one with the FW-190 so am not sure what I could do with it.  I understand that it was harder to get away from than the Me-109."

I hope this is of interest to some.  The Americans and allies that flew the P-40/Tomahawk/Kittyhawk had a tough time against the Axis fighters in North Africa, especially the Me-109 and Italian Macchi 202, but the old Curtiss fighter was a tough, well-armed aircraft that, when flown to its potential by experienced pilots, could dish it out as well as take it.

Regards,

Mark

Nice photos!  Thanks for sharing them.

Regards,

Mark

Thanks, Gregory and Brad.  I appreciate the comments!

Regards,

Mark

Thanks, Brad.  Most of the decals, including the noseart, are from AMtech.  The decal for the wording "Miss Fury" was provided by Carl Molesworth, author of many P-40 books including Osprey's "P-40 Warhawk Aces of the MTO," which has a profile of this airplane. 

Regards,

Mark