United States' Curtiss P-36 Hawk fighter

Photos

Design

The Curtiss Model 75 Hawk was to compete for a United States Army Air Corps competition for a monoplane fighter. It lost to the Seversky P-35.

In November 1934 Curtiss finished the design for the Curtiss P-36.

Three were later ordered, for evaluation, by the Army Air Corps and they had Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp engines. This was flown in February 1937 and a contract was placed shortly afterwards.

Prototype

The prototype Curtis Model 75 flew for the first time on May 15, 1935.

The Y1P-36 prototype flew in February 1937.

Production

• Curtiss Y1P-36: 3
• Curtiss P-36A: 178
• Curtiss P-36C: 30, 31
  • Production: ? - 1939
• Curtiss P-36G: 30
• Total: 1,424
  • Manufacturer: Curtiss-Wright Corporation

Variants

• Curtiss Model 75: Prototype. Had a Wright R-1820 radial engine (900 HP).
• Curtiss Y1P-36: Prototype.
• Curtiss XP-36D: Prototype with different armament.
• Curtiss XP-36F: Prototype with different armament.
• Curtiss P-36:
• Curtiss P-36A:
• Curtiss P-36B: Experimental conversion to use more powerful Twin Wasp.
• Curtiss P-36C:
• Curtiss P-36G: Had Wright Cyclone engines. Were originally intended for the Norwegian Air Force but was taken over by the United States.
• Curtiss Hawk 75: Export version with fixed undercarriage. Had Wright Cyclone engine. Sent to Argentina, China, and Thailand.
• Curtiss Hawk 75A: Export version that had Twin Wasp engine.
• Curtiss Hawk 75-R: Experimental version with turbocharged engine.

Usage

The countries that used the Hawk were Argentina, Britain, China, Finland, France, Netherlands, Norway, Peru, Portugal, South Africa, Thailand, and United States.

20 Hawk 75s were assembled by FMA in Argentina. 30-40 Hawk 75As assembled by CAMCO in China. 5 Hawk 75As assembled in India by Hindustan Aircraft.

France

350 of 620 ordered were received by France by the time of the German invasion. They claimed to have shot down 311 Luftwaffe aircraft.

The rest that weren't delivered were sent to the Royal Air Force and were designated the Mohawk.

First Japanese

The Curtis P-36 was the first to shoot down a Japanese aircraft at Pearl Harbor. There were four Curtiss P-36s in operation at Pearl Harbor.