P40s ordered by the French but delivered to the RAF

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24 years 2 months

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Can anyone recommend a source of information on this particular group of early P40s please? I am particularly interested in what special adaptions the French had requested.

I went to the National Archives today, but could not find any specific mention in the files.

Thanks in advance

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9 years 6 months

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If they were for the French then presumably they were LHD? :highly_amused:

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13 years 2 months

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Might be worth talking with Selwyn Williams Elliott, the P40 on Chesil beach was the French variant and I know he has recently done a lot of work on this aircrafts history as well as that of the pilot. If you message me I can pass on his details if you wish.

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11 years

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The throttles worked the wrong way.

Very disconcerting, that.

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15 years

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Yes I had read somewhere that about that time French aircraft had their throttle setups working in the opposite way around I.e forward for closed and backward for open. You’ve just confirmed that I hadn’t imagined it Dave

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19 years 2 months

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Several instruments were marked in French. I have a wing tank gauge from a H81A that came down on the Plain. Marked aile for wing

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19 years 2 months

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If anyone's interested, there is a small booklet by Hugh Harkins on the operational use of the Tomahawk with the RAF in Europe (c.1941).

https://www.bookdepository.com/Tomahawk-III-Combat-Log-Hugh-Harkins/9781903630495?ref=grid-view&qid=1515991956301&sr=1-33
(If the link doesn't work try searching for Hugh Harkins & Tomahawk in Book Depository or Amazon or other good bookshops.)

...geoff

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15 years 2 months

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I AM interested- wasn't aware of that volume- thanks!

bob

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24 years 2 months

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I am trying to confirm this throttle part was used in one of the French P40s. It is identical to those used in the French Curtiss Hawk 75s. It would be logical for it to have been carried over to the early P40s as the cockpits were pretty much the same as far as I can see. Can anyone confirm please?

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13 years 6 months

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Yes I had read somewhere that about that time French aircraft had their throttle setups working in the opposite way around I.e forward for closed and backward for open. You’ve just confirmed that I hadn’t imagined it Dave

Yes, all backwards.

I guess the reason is, if one has hard landing, the throttle lever would be slammed forward, closed.