P-36 Hawk ( H 75 )

British Commonwealth


The [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] (RAF) also displayed interest in the aircraft.

Comparison of a borrowed French Hawk 75A-2 with a [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] Mk I revealed that the Hawk had several advantages over the early variant of the iconic British fighter.

The Hawk was found to have lighter controls than the Spitfire at speeds over 300 mph (480 km/h), especially in diving attacks, and was easier to maneuver in a dogfight (thanks to the less sensitive elevator) and better all-around visibility.

The Hawk was also easier to control on takeoff and landing.

Not surprisingly, the Spitfire's superior acceleration and top speed ultimately gave it the advantage of being able to engage and leave combat at will.

RAF Mohawk IV India2

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Although Britain decided not to purchase the aircraft, they soon came in possession of 229 Hawks by way of diverted shipments to occupied France and aircraft flown by escaping French pilots.

The aircraft received the designations Mohawk I through IV, mirroring French Hawk 75A-1 through A-4, and were fitted with 0.303-cal. [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] machine guns and conventional throttles (forward to increase power).

A Royal Air Force Curtiss Mohawk Mk.IV fighter being serviced in India in January 1943. No 5 and No 155 squadrons RAF used the Mohawk in India in 1942/43.

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Although they were considered obsolete, a number saw service with the RAF and [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] (RIAF) in
India and Burma. In April 1941, the British government of India ordered 48 Cyclone-powered Mohawk IVz (Hawk 75A) for the RIAF, to be built by [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

The first such machine completed was test flown on 31 July 1942.

However, only four additional aircraft were completed before the project was abandoned.

The Indian-built machines were used by RAF/RIAF units.

RAF Mohawk maintenance 1943

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Similarly, Chinese license production of the Hawk 75A-5 was moved to India, and these machines were also absorbed into RAF as Mohawk IVs.

These aircraft were supplemented by 10 Hawk 75A-9s captured during the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] in August 1941,
while 74 ex-French Mohawk IVs were shipped to India from the United Kingdom.

The only RAF units to see combat in Mohawks were [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] and [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], using the type mainly for Bomber escort and ground attack.

The type was retired by the RAF/RIAF in 1944.

The [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] received 72 Mohawks. Its first Mohawks were delivered to East Africa in mid-1941, where they were used by[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] to support operations in the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], taking part in the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] which ended the campaign, and helping to patrol the border with Vichy French held [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

These Mohawks were then sent to South Africa, where, supplemented by fresh deliveries, they were used for training and for home defence.

Mohawk IV RAF armed India 1943

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China

The prototype of the Hawk 75H - a simplified version with fixed landing gear, like the 75O – was eventually sold to the Chinese Nationalist government who presented it to [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] for personal use.

China also received two similar demonstrators, the Hawk 75Q.

They also used a number of simplified Hawk 75Ms against the Japanese.

The Hawk 75A-5 was built under license in China, but production was later moved to India, and these machines were absorbed into the RAF as the Mohawk IV.

Finland

After the fall of France, Germany agreed to sell captured Curtiss Hawk fighters to Finland in October 1940. In total, 44 captured aircraft of five subtypes were sold to Finland with three deliveries from 23 June 1941 to 5 January 1944.

Not all were from the French stocks, but some were initially sold to Norway and captured in their wooden crates when the Germans conquered the country. The aircraft were given serial codes CU-551 to CU-585.

In Finnish service, the Hawk was well-liked, affectionately called Sussu ("Sweetheart").

The Finnish Air Force enjoyed success with the type, credited with 190⅓ kills by 58 pilots, between 16 July 1941 and 27 July 1944, for the loss of 15 of their own.

Finnish ace [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] scored 13¼ of his 32 victories in the Hawk, while the top Hawk ace K. Tervo scored 15¾ victories.

The Hawks were flown by [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] throughout their wartime operational service.

Curtiss Hawk 75A-3 (s/n 13805) at Kuorevesi Depot.

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The Finnish Hawks were initially armed with either four or six 0.295 in (7.5 mm) machine guns.

While sufficient during the early phase of the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], the increasing speeds and armor of Soviet aircraft soon showed this armament was not powerful enough. From 1942, the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] replaced the fuselage machine guns with either one or two 0.5 in (12.7 mm) Colt machine guns and installed two or four 0.303 in (7.7 mm)

Browning machine guns in each wing. The 0.5 in (12.7 mm) [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] or LKk/42 heavy machine guns were also used.

The installation of heavier armament did not change the very good flying characteristics of the fighter, but the armament was much more effective against Soviet planes.

The Finnish Hawks were also equipped with Revi 3D or C/12D gunsight.

Surviving Finnish aircraft remained in service with the FAF aviation units [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] and [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] until 1948.

France

Even before the P-36A entered production, the French Air Force entered negotiations with Curtiss for delivery of 300 aircraft.

The negotiating process ended up being very drawn-out because the cost of the Curtiss fighters was double that of the French [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] and [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], and the delivery schedule was deemed too slow.

Since the USAAC was unhappy with the rate of domestic deliveries and believed that export aircraft would slow things down even more, it actively opposed the sale.

Eventually, it took direct intervention from U.S. President [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] to give the French test pilot [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] a chance to fly the Y1P-36.

Detroyat's enthusiasm, problems with the MB.150, and the pressure of continuing German rearmament finally forced France to purchase 100 aircraft and 173 engines.

The first Hawk 75A-1 arrived in France in December 1938 and began entering service in March 1939.

After the first few examples, aircraft were delivered in pieces and assembled in France by the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].