Curtiss P-36 Hawk

The launch of the first series of P-36 “Hawk”, awakened interest in him from the French Ministry of Defense. Negotiations began on the supply of three hundred aircraft to the French air force. However, the first weak point of the proposed contract was the price of the P-36, which was twice as high as the French-made Morane-Saulnier MS.406 and Bloch MB.150 fighters. The second place was the slow pace of deliveries of the new fighter to Europe offered by the Curtiss company, which did not suit the French side.

Moreover, the US Air Force was alarmed by the possibility of a new contract, which, as they believed, could have slowed down the delivery of Curtiss to domestic military aircraft. And the Americans began to openly oppose the conclusion of this treaty.

Only the intervention of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt shifted the deadlock. He personally invited the French test pilot (fr.) To try out a new aircraft, like the pilot.

Detroi's enthusiasm, the problems with the MB 150 and the pressure of such a factor as the intense and almost unconcealed rearmament of the Luftwaffe forced the French to buy 100 P-36 “Model 75” aircraft and 173 aircraft engines.

The first aircraft, the Model 75A-1, arrived in France in December 1938. From March 1939, they took up combat duty . All newly arrived aircraft have undergone a number of upgrades. The Curtissas 75-C1 (Hawk's aircraft were not named in France) were retooled by Pratt & Whitney engines (900 hp), avionics were transferred to the metric system, the control system was somewhat changed, the armament was changed from the standard American version - one 7.62 mm machine gun and one 12.7 mm synchronized trans-blade per four 7.5 mm machine guns, a number of less significant changes were also made.

On September 8, 1939, the Curtissas 75 shot down two Messerschmitts 109 , the first aircraft destroyed by Allied forces on the western front.

In total, in 1939–1940, the French pilots on the Curtis 75 won 230 confirmed victories. At the same time, the French Air Force believed that the Curtis was only lost 29 units.

After the capture of France, Germany agreed to sell the captured Curtis to Finland. In total, 44 P-36s of five modifications were sent to the Finnish side from June 23, 1941 to January 5, 1944. Not all of these aircraft were French, some were previously owned by the Norwegian Air Force.

The Finnish military highly appreciated the merits of the American aircraft. According to Finnish statements, from July 16, 1941 to July 27, 1944, the Finnish Air Force lost 15 fighters such as the Curtis. The crews of the Curtis at the same time claimed 190 air victories.

Acquired by the Finns, the Curtis 75 had French equipment (four or six 7.5 mm machine guns). But the development of Soviet aviation showed insufficient firepower of such a variant of aircraft armament. Beginning in 1942, Finnish R-36s began to rearm with one or two large-caliber 12.7 mm machine guns in the fuselage and two or four 7.7 mm machine guns on each wing. The installation of heavy machine guns did not affect the speed of the aircraft due to its good thrust-to-weight ratio and qualitatively increased its firepower.

The airplanes that survived after the war were in service until 1948.

• Fuselage - all-metal
• Wingspan - 11.37 m
• Length - 8.71 m
• Max speed - 501 km / h
• Ceiling - 10,000 m
• Flight range - 1300 km
• Empty weight - 2070 kg
• Take-off weight - 2700 kg
• Engine - 1 × Pratt & Whitney R-1830-17 1050 l. with. (783 kW)
• Power / weight - 0,186 l. s./lb (306 W / kg)
• Armament - 1 12.7 mm machine gun and 1 7.62 mm machine gun
• Crew - 1 person

• Haruk A.I. Fighters of the Second World War. The most complete encyclopedia. - M .: Yauza, Eksmo, 2012. - 368 p. - 1500 copies - ISBN 978-5-699-58917-3 .

• Curtiss P-36 Hawk
• Mikhail Bykov (Moscow). 75th of the "Hawks" (Russian) .