Flying Tiger

Claire Lee Chennault, born in 1890 and raised in Louisiana, attended L.S.U., won his flier's wings in 1919, commanded a fighter squadron in Hawaii for three years, and by 1935 was chief of fighter training at Maxwell Field, Alabama, where he experimented with aerial tactics. In 1937 he became air adviser to the Chinese government, built an air force, obtained U.S. aircraft, and put his theories into combat against Japanese pilots. To address a shortage of pilots, he recruited men in the United States for the American Volunteer Group, known as the Flying Tigers, and through original training methods made them a potent fighting force. Recalled by the army in April 1942, he headed the U.S. air war in China until July 25, 1945. The Curtiss P-40 was one of the aircraft flown in China against the Japanese, and this type included the P-40 B, P-40 E, and P-40 N as well as the P-51. The planes' markings combined the Chinese Star, the Panda Bear, and the Flying Tiger emblem of the 1941 American Volunteer Group's 2nd squadron with later markings associated with Louisiana ace Captain Wiltz Segura, including the plane's number, name, and a score of one Japanese bomber and five fighters. Between October 14, 1938, and November 30, 1944, 16,802 P-40s were built, including 5,229 N models. The P-40 weighed 6,208 pounds empty and 8,350 pounds at maximum gross weight under combat conditions, had a wingspan of 37 feet 4 inches, measured 33 feet 5 inches long and 12 feet 4 1/2 inches tall, used an Allison V-1710-F-20-R 12-cylinder engine producing 1200 horsepower, and had a Curtiss Electric 3-blade propeller 11 feet in diameter. Its maximum speed was 366 miles per hour, its cruising speed was 308 miles per hour, and its range was 716 miles. Its armament consisted of six .50 caliber Browning machine guns in the wings outside the propeller arc, and it could carry either one 500-pound bomb, a 52-gallon auxiliary fuel tank, or six 20-pound anti-personnel bombs. Armor plating around the cockpit and self-sealing fuel tanks, together with advanced fighter tactics taught by Colonel Claire L. Chennault, contributed to a combat record with the Flying Tigers of 286 kills to 4 losses, or 71.5 to 1. After the United States entered the war on December 7, 1941, this group formed the nucleus of the 14th Air Force under General Claire L. Chennault and remained in China throughout the war. The Curtiss P-40 served in World War Two with the United States, China, Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Brazil, Chile, and the U.S.S.R., and fewer than 12 flying P-40s remain in the world today.

Baton Rouge, Louisiana · United States