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Spotting Differences Between P40 & P42

The P-40 and P-42 both were World War II-era fighter aircraft produced by the Curtiss Company. But there were substantial differences between the planes. Both planes were developed in 1938 to be a successor to the venerable Curtiss P-36 fighter. The biggest visible difference between the planes was the exhaust ports along the P-40's nose for its in-line engine. The other big difference is that no Curtiss P-42s exist today.

P-42 Experimental
- The Curtiss P-42 was an experimental single-seat, single-engine monoplane research aircraft built in 1938 to study ways of reducing the drag of radial piston engines. Radial engines with their cylinders arranged in a circle offered great power and resistance to battle damage but required a flat nose to ensure enough cooling air, resulting in significant drag that cut the aircraft's speed. The XP-42 prototype was built on a P36A Hawk airframe and was powered by a 1,050 hp Pratt &Whitney R-1830 radial 12-cylinder engine driving a three-bladed propeller in the nose through a long driveshaft.
Bullet Nose
- The engine and driveshaft were housed within a streamlined bullet nose. Cooling air for the engine was supplied by a large scoop under the nose, while combustion air to the carburetors was supplied from twin scoops on top of the nose. The XP-42 had a wingspan of 37 feet 4 inches, was 30 feet 3 inches long, measured 12 feet tall and weighed 4,818 lbs. without fuel or pilot. The XP-42 was a disappointment. It was only 32 mph faster than the P-36. The XP-42 also faced chronic engine overheating problems and driveshaft vibration issues that couldn't be overcome. As a result, only one XP-42 was ever built. It was scrapped in 1947.
P-40 Development
- While Curtiss was experimenting with the P-42, its engineers were also developing another warplane derived from the P-36A airframe that would become the famed P-40 Warhawk. The P-40 was a single-seat monoplane fighter fitted with an Allison V-1710 liquid-cooled 12-cylinder inline piston engine connected directly to the front three-bladed propeller. The engine produced 1,050 horsepower at 10,000 feet. Work on the XP-40 prototype began in July 1938, and it made its first flight in October 1938. In January 1939, the plane won a fighter faceoff and the Army Air Corps placed an initial order for 540 planes. The P-40 had a wingspan of 37 feet 3.5 inches, was 31 feet 2 inches long and stood 10 feet 7 inches high. It weighed 6,300 lbs. without fuel and pilot.
Flying Tiger Fame
- The P-40 went into full production in March 1940 and would remain in production until November 1944 with 14,318 planes produced in 11 variants that differed in engine type, number and placement of guns and the external bomb load. The P-40 was the most modern fighter plane in the U.S. arsenal when the U.S. entered the war in December 1941 and won fame when it equipped the famous Flying Tigers in China in early 1942. P-40s served in the Mediterranean and North Africa, Europe, China, the Philippines, Guadalcanal, Australia and New Guinea, India and Burma, and the Aleutian Islands. It served as a fighter, fighter-bomber and ground attack plane.

Aviation