The Curtiss P-40 was an American single-engine, single-seat, all-metal fighter and ground attack aircraft. Flown by the air forces of 28 nations, when production of the P-40 ceased in November 1944, 13,738 had been built.
By the fall of 1944, the United States Army Air Forces had already retired most of the early versions (P-40B/P-40L) and was in the midst of withdrawing the final variants from combat units. By VJ Day, the only remaining P-40 were in Operational Training Units (OTUs). These aircraft were struck-off charge and placed into storage. Most foreign users of the P-40 also quickly retired their P-40s as well – the Royal New Zealand Air Force stored their last P-40s in 1947 (scrapping them by 1962) and the last military to use the P-40 operationally was the Brazilian Air Force who used them until the late 1950s.
In 1947 the Royal Canadian Air Force auctioned off their surplus P-40s. Mr. Fred Dyson purchased 35 P-40E Ms and Ns for $50.00 each, and barged them from Vancouver to Seattle to resell. Other ex-RCAF P-40s were purchased to strip the aircraft of hardware, which was in short supply after the war. For the next 30 years the RCAF machines would make up the majority of the flying P-40s. The FAA classified P-40Es and Ms as experimental aircraft, restricting their operations. The P-40N was in the limited category typical for most warbirds, but to circumvent FAA regulations many P-40Es were licensed as P-40Ns.
The Korean War in 1950 delayed USAF plans to retire the P-51 Mustang, and the Canadian P-40s were the only high performance aircraft available. It was not until the late 1950s that the P-51 became available but by this time, the Kittyhawks/Warhawks had found a popular niche for airshows. Having an aircraft which could be painted in AVG markings made them popular.
From the mid 1970s to late 1980s, collectors from the United States started traveling to former South Pacific airfields and recovered a second generation of P-40 survivors. The majority of these were RNZAF and RAAF veterans. Examples are still being returned to airworthy status.
The fall of the Soviet Union in the late 1980s made a third generation of P-40s survivors available and numerous examples were recovered from former battlefields near Murmansk. Other examples also included airframes being recovered from Alaskan wartime crashes during this same time frame.
There are still numerous example of wrecked P-40s that have yet to be recovered in China, United States, Canada as well as Russia in addition to the South Pacific sites. Many governments regulate wreck site recoveries and have placed many off-limits so as to remain untouched as grave sites, somewhat limiting further recoveries.
Airworthy
41-25109/VH-KTY - owned by Pay's Air Service PTY LTD in Scone, New South Wales. Was NZ3094 with the RNZAF.
41-14112/VH-HWK - owned by Judy Pay of the Old Aeroplane Company in Tyabb, Victoria.
42-104687/VH-ZOC - owned by Arthur Pipe & Steel Australia PTY LTD in East Albury, New South Wales. Was NZ3125 in RNZAF service.
On display
41-36084 - Australian War Memorial in Canberra.
42-104947 - Precision Aerospace/Pacific Fighters Museum in Victoria, Australia.
Under restoration
41-35974/VH-AJY - owned by Reevers Pastoral PTY LTD in Mylor, South Australia.
41-5336 - RAAF Museum in RAAF Point Cook, Victoria.
41-5632 - under restoration by Ben Saunders in Melbourne, Victoria.
41-13522 - under restoration by Moorabbin Air Museum in Melbourne, Victoria.
41-35984 - under restoration by P-40E Syndicate in Queensland.
41-36843 - under restoration by Murray Griffiths in Deniliquin, New South Wales.
42-104954 - under restoration by Edwin Sedgman in Melbourne, Victoria.
42-105051 - under restoration by Keith W. Hopper in Townsville, Queensland.
42-105472 - under restoration by Bruno Carnival in Melbourne, Victoria.
42-105513 - under restoration by Ian Whitney Romsey, Victoria.
P-40N
44-7700 - Museum Aerospacial, Rio de Janeiro.
Airworthy
42-104827 - Vintage Wings of Canada in Ottawa.
On display
AL135 - Canada Aviation Museum in Ottawa.
P-40
ET574 - was recently found in the desert and is fairly well-preserved. The Royal Air Force Museum in London, England expects to recover the aircraft and return it to the U.K.
Airworthy
42-105915 - Christian Amara/SDPA in La Ferté-Alais.
Wrecks
s/n unknown - A fairly complete wreck of a P-40 is immersed in 18 feet of water near the semi-decommissioned French fleet air arm station of Aspretto, Ajaccio, Corsica. It was found in much deeper waters by military divers and moved in present time location for training purposes. It is theoretically off limits but has been much dived in the past 30 years, images and video footage are visible on internet.
P-40L
42-10857 - on display in its recovered condition at the Piana delle Orme near Latina, Lazio.
New Zealand
Airworthy
41-25158/NZ3009 - Old Stick and Rudder Company in Masterton as ZK-RMH.
42-104730/A29-448 - Warbird Adventure Rides Ltd in Auckland as ZK-CAG.
On display
AK803/1034 - on five-year lease to, and on static display at, the Omaka Aviation Heritage Centre, Blenheim. Formerly resident at Victoria International Airport in British Columbia. For sale as of August 2016.
41-36385/NZ3039 - Museum of Transport and Technology in Auckland.
41-14205/"NZ3000" - restored to E-model status and on display at the RNZAF Museum.
Under restoration
41-43570 - with Pioneer Aero Restorations, Ardmore, Auckland. Will fly with two seats and dual control. Recovered from a lake in Russia in August 1997.
Stored
41-36410/NZ3043 - stored by John R. Smith in Nelson, NZ.
42-10178/A29-183 - stored pending restoration by Graham Orphan in Blenheim.
42-104818/A29-405 - stored pending restoration by Graham Orphan in Blenheim.
43-22962/NZ3220 - stored by John R. Smith in Nelson, NZ.
P-40C
s/n unknown - TsAGI in Moscow.
Thailand
P-40C
AK498 - on display as a crashed diorama at the Royal Thai Air Force Museum.
Airworthy
41-13357 - The Fighter Collection at IWM Duxford.
41-19841 - The Fighter Collection at IWM Duxford.
43-5802 - Hangar 11 Collection in North Weald, Essex.
On display
42-106101/A29-556 - Royal Air Force Museum London.
Airworthy
41-13297 - Collings Foundation in Stow, Massachusetts.
41-13390 - Flying Heritage Collection in Everett, Washington.
AK295 - Lewis Air Legends in San Antonio, Texas.
AK752 - Stonehenge Air Museum in Lincoln County, Montana.
AK753 - Fagen Fighters WWII Museum in Granite Falls, Minnesota.
AK827 - Yanks Air Museum in Chino, California.
AK905 - Frasca Air Museum in Champaign, Illinois.
AK933 - Warhawk Air Museum in Boise, Idaho.
AK940 - Banta Aviation Corp. in Dover, Delaware.
AL152 - War Eagles Air Museum in Santa Teresa, New Mexico.
ET573 - Military Aviation Museum in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
42-9733 - Claire Aviation Inc. in Wilmington, Delaware.
42-10083 - Fagen's Fighters WWII Museum in Granite Falls, Minnesota.
42-10256 Aleutian Tiger - Texas Flying Legends Museum in Houston, Texas.
43-5795 The Jackie C II - American Airpower Museum in Farmingdale, New York.
43-5813/NZ3119 - Tri-State Warbird Museum in Batavia, Ohio.
42-104959 - Legacy Aviation Partners LLC in Wilmington, Delaware.
42-104977/N977WH - John F Davis III in Elizabeth, Colorado. Formerly VH-MIK when owned by Cairns Airport Hangars PTY LTD in Cairns, Queensland.
42-105192 - Planes of Fame in Chino, California.
42-105306 - Hawks Zero Q3 LLC in Sonoma, California.
42-105861 - Chuzy Suzy LCC in Lafayette, Louisiana.
42-105867 - Commemorative Air Force (P-40 Sponsor Group) in Fredericksburg, Texas.
42-106396 - Warhawk Air Museum in Boise, Idaho.
44-7084 - Palm Springs Air Museum in Palm Springs, California.
44-7369 - Cavanaugh Flight Museum in Addison, Texas.
44-7983 - Skyfire Corp. in Wilmington, Delaware.
44-47923 - Fantasy of Flight in Polk City, Florida.
On display
AK255 - National Naval Aviation Museum at NAS Pensacola in Florida.
AK875 - Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center of the National Air and Space Museum in Chantilly, Virginia.
AK979 - Pacific Aviation Museum Pearl Harbor on Ford Island in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
AK987 - National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton, Ohio.
42-9749 - Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville, Oregon.
42-105270 - Hill Aerospace Museum at Hill AFB in Utah. This aircraft is actually a composite of a P-40E fiberglass replica and a wrecked P-40N recovered from Alaska. The dataplates were unreadable so the Hill Aerospace Museum chose the serial number of a scrapped P-40 that had been flown by the same squadron that the wrecked aircraft belonged to.
42-105927 - Museum of Aviation at Robins AFB in Warner Robins, Georgia.
44-7192 - Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington.
44-7619 - Air Zoo in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Under restoration or in storage
40-401 - to airworthiness by Christopher Provost in Sonoma, California.
AK863 - in storage at Fagen's Fighters WWII Museum in Granite Falls, Minnesota.
AL171 - in storage at Fantasy of Flight in Polk City, Florida.
42-45946 - to airworthiness by Dwight Jones in Anchorage, Alaska.
42-45984 - for static display at the Pima Air & Space Museum adjacent to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona. Crashed in 1942 in New Guinea, it was recovered in 2000 and donated to the Pima Air & Space Museum in 2002.
s/n unknown - to airworthiness by C&G Air in Wilmington, Delaware.
42-104949 Kathleen II - to airworthiness by Mickael Rabilloud in Framingham, Massachusetts. Flown by the comedian Dan Rowan in World War II.
42-104961 - for static display at the Pima Air & Space Museum adjacent to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona. Crashed in 1943 in New Guinea, it was recovered in 1974 by the Military Aircraft Restoration Corporation and loaned to the Pima Air & Space Museum in 2004.
42-105526 - to airworthiness by Craig Schultz in Santa Rosa, California.
P-40 mounted on plinth at entrance to the March Field Air Museum, March ARB (former March AFB), in Riverside, California.
P-40 mounted on pylon at Peterson AFB, Colorado.
P-40 mounted on pad at Wheeler AAF (former Wheeler AFB), Hawaii.
P-40 mounted on pylon at Hanscom AFB, Massachusetts.
