P-40

[BadBud]

Comments on the P-40 vs. all the other planes available (good and bad). Wondering should I add to my hanger.

BadBud

[JtD]

An aviation icon. Not a good performer. Firepower's pretty decent, but that's about it.

 

However, you don't buy it because it's good, you buy it because if you shoot something in it, you look good.

[LukeFF]

15 minutes ago, BadBud said:

Comments on the P-40 vs. all the other planes available (good and bad). Wondering should I add to my hanger.

BadBud

 

Lots and lots of topics here covering the P-40.

[Finkeren]

Buy it because it’s interesting - not because it’s good.

[blitze]

Buy it cause John Belushi flew it

 

It also is a reasonable early mud mover just treat the engine with respect.

[56RAF_Roblex]

In a nutshell - The engine is very tricky to manage and quick to blow up.  It is very fast in a dive (VNE 860) but slow in  climb.   Can carry a 500kg bomb.   Will not outmaneuver a 109.   Six powerful guns with flat trajectory and lots of ammo so can take a bomber apart in one pass without getting into effective range of his gunners  or  use 'spray & pray' to shoot down a fighter who thinks he is safe because he is 800m away and turning tighter than you can.   Did I mention the very tricky engine?  

[sevenless]

Because Wild Bill Kelso showed everybody in it how you really have to enjoy your Coke with style.

 

 

[=362nd_FS=RoflSeal]

Like the Macchi, a meme machine that is there to make you look good and humiliate scrubs in their vastly superior Yaks and 109s when you kill them.

Edited April 3, 2018 by RoflSeal

[Ehret]

You need to climb in the P-40 and have a stopwatch. Your "secret" trump-card is the 100% throttle at 3000rpm - it will blow engine after 30s (or 45s if you are lucky) but it will develop untold amounts of hp. You can outrun and out-climb anything for a very brief time - just enough to deny the 109 rope'n'dope, or outrun the 190 in dive. You can pull a bit better at high speeds than those, too.

 

You may discard +50% fuel and 2 50cals - it does help and doesn't reduce the effectiveness that much. The 600 rounds per gun mod is great for strafing.

 

The P-40 is very conductive to team tactics. Going solo for distances longer than 30km from nearest friendly AF is a little scary, thought. The last thing you want is to be found by the enemy afar at ground level.

[HandyNasty]

59 minutes ago, Ehret said:

trump-card is the 100% throttle at 3000rpm - it will blow engine after 30s (or 45s if you are lucky)

30seconds??????? You sure? Whenever I've tried max rpm and max manifold pressure on p-40 because in terrible situation,  my engine has never lasted more than 10 seconds

[Ehret]

57 minutes ago, HandyNasty said:

30seconds??????? You sure? Whenever I've tried max rpm and max manifold pressure on p-40 because in terrible situation,  my engine has never lasted more than 10 seconds

 

Just checked a few times in the quick mission: 15s until "emergency mode time exceeded" and up to 30s of random time for 45s maximum. My perceived average in combat is around 30s but engine must not be worn out.

 

IMHO, it's best to augment a maneuver when things are still under control.

Edited April 3, 2018 by Ehret

[Eicio]

1 hour ago, RoflSeal said:

Like the Macchi, a meme machine that is there to make you look good and humiliate scrubs in their vastly superior Yaks and 109s when you kill them.

 

Except that if you shoot a yak it means that you're a treator, and we don't really like bloody treators over there 

[ShamrockOneFive]

I enjoy the P-40... Not as a competitive fighter but, as others say, because it looks good and its an interesting plane to fly. It's an underdog and an interesting aircraft with a lot of history. Buy it because you like it but not because you want something that is going to put you on the top of the killboards in a dogfight server.

 

I've been flying a Career on Stalingrad with the P-40 and I'm having fun. Its desperate but you can get kills sometimes and even do really well in some circumstances. When they send us on attack missions I'm really happy there too as the P-40 is a pretty good fighter bomber with stable gunnery and plenty of firepower from those six .50cals.

 

 

[Sambot88]

The P40 is so much fun to be terrible at. I'd say go for it man.

[Lensman]

I've eliminated 10 P40s in my last 3 missions with a bf 109 F2 and F4; it's a turkey shoot. The P40 is fun to fly but hopeless in fighter to fighter combat unless it gets lucky.

[DD_Arthur]

15 minutes ago, Lensman said:

 The P40 is fun to fly but hopeless in fighter to fighter combat unless it gets lucky.

 

Er....

 

[MAJ_stug41]

10 hours ago, blitze said:

Buy it cause John Belushi flew it

 

It also is a reasonable early mud mover just treat the engine with respect.

 

The name's Wild Bill Kelso, and don't you forget it!

[MarderIV]

It does well enough in Moscow and perhaps the opening stages of Stalingrad, but there's a point when you're flying it that despite you finding that it's a pretty good plane on its own and you could make it work in dog-fights, there's really just that feeling in the back of your mind that hey, I really wish I was fighting in another plane besides this. 

 

It's a fun plane to fly, it's very docile (with the updated FM at least), and you can probably even call it demure. But it's not something I'd be keen on fighting in. Specially when things heat up and I start to get picked on by multiple 109s. 

 

Don't get me wrong, I've had a tremendous time running the P-40 as a main in Moscow. It looks good, it can fight, and soft column attacks are a blast with the P-40. But in dog-fights and in the  Campaign in general, you might be liable to run as Major and start spamming P-40s as many as you can take in a single sortie. If you get stuck in the deck with multiple 109s ganging up on you, it's rather difficult to get yourself out of that situation (unless of course you cheese the 109 AI into dives where they lawn-dart. I find they can't recover from dives as easily as the P-40). 

 

Another thing is if you get tasked to intercepting Ju-88s at a high altitude, you better make your first head-on pass count or lighten your plane altogether because catching up with these formations is really difficult in a P-40. 

 

There's a lot of compromises you need to make in it and pull a lot of hard work to really make the P-40 competitive. But once you find a way to do it, it really feels like you've achieved something great. Personally that's what made it really fun for me. 

[Field-Ops]

 

[InProgress]

I just bought P40 :D even tho i don't fly russians, but i am hoping it will be a plane to fly in pacific expansion soo good investment for future

[CrazyDuck]

It's a decent bomber destroyer and/or strafer (as long as you manage to keep your fine porcelain engine away from enemy bullets).

6 guns give you awesome firepower, 4 guns give you an option of virtually unlimited ammo (600+ .50 cal bullets per gun).

 

It sucks at dogfighting, but so does a Ju 52 - and yet they're both awesome.

[=IL2AU=chappyj]

it doesnt suck at dogfighting at all. 

It has an awesome dive and holds speed after the dive . will run down a diving 109e7/f2

The guns are amazing and will hit and kill something at 500m no worries even if not in convergence

It takes a LOT of damage and keeps going. so does the engine usually too. many times i've rtb'd a black windscreen and shaking engine 10mins plus RTB time and made it.  

[blitze]

yup, she soaks up punishment well and get's you home.  A precursor to the P47.  Also her slender waist makes for easy viewing behind.

 

I also like her forward visibility especially for gunnery unlike most aircraft.  I go mental in the 109 G's with the cockpit frames all over the place.  Hard to keep a track of UFO Yaks

[CanadaOne]

I didn't like the P-40 at first but I learned to love it. Good ground pounder and fun the fly.

 

And ya gotta love the 6x.50s.

[TexasWarbird]

19 hours ago, JtD said:

An aviation icon. Not a good performer. Firepower's pretty decent, but that's about it.

 

However, you don't buy it because it's good, you buy it because if you shoot something in it, you look good.

Enough said - Don't quote that guy ^

Spoiler

 

I was novice at best at this recording; you can easily tell - jerking the bird into stalls; not utilizing the flaps to the best ability. 

 

Just add it to your hanger, if you appreciate birds that take a little bit more skill to fly but reward you for it buy this bird. But if you want to stick to a bird you can train your grandma in 15min to fly, keep what you have.

Keep in mind, this bird dives like a champ. Even 190's famous for their diving escape tactic realize it's a big mistake when the 40 is on it's tail. I've chomped down/out dived countless 190's thinking of a quick escape. So take the extra 5-6mins near the AF to gain some altitude. Anything below you doesn't stand a chance. 

Edited April 4, 2018 by TexasWarbird

[=LD=Hethwill]

She delivers. A lady of her own nose, treat her well and she will pay back in earnest. Keep her out furballs, slide through them with grace and guns blazing.

 

And yep, she is a great choice as ground and even air interdictor.

[xThrottle_Geek]

Okay. My 2 cents? This is my favorite way to use her. Specifically on TAW server. Strap that 500 on her belly and climb to 10-15 thousand feet. Choose a ground target. Dive on said target dropping your big a@# bomb no lower than 3000' ft and use the 400mph you just generated to escape with a quickness. Also, you can be competitive vs E7's and F2's in the early maps of TAW. Great fun!