Curtiss P - 36 Hawk The Curtiss P - 36 Hawk also known as the Curtiss Hawk Model 75 , was an American - designed and built fighter aircraft of the 1930s and 40s . A contemporary of both the Hawker Hurricane and Messerschmitt Bf 109 , it was one of the first of a new generation of combat aircraft — a sleek monoplane design making extensive use of metal in its construction and powered by a powerful radial engine . Obsolete at the onset of World War II and best known as the predecessor of the Curtiss P - 40 Warhawk , the P - 36 saw only limited combat with the United States Army Air Forces . The P - 36 was used more extensively by the French Air Force , both during the Battle of France and by the Vichy French ; and was used against French forces in the Franco - Thai War ( October 1940 – 9 May 1941 . ) It was also used by the British Commonwealth ( where it was known as the Mohawk ) , and by Chinese air units . Several dozen also fought in the Finnish Air Force against the Soviet Air Force s . With around 1 , 000 aircraft built , the P - 36 was a major commercial success for Curtiss . This article also covers the " YP - 37 " and the " XP - 42 " prototypes based on the P - 36 . Design and development . The Curtiss Model 75 was a private venture by the company , designed by former Northrop Aircraft Company engineer Don R . Berlin . The first prototype constructed in 1934 , featured all - metal construction with fabric - covered control surfaces , a Wright XR - 1670 - 5 radial engine developing , and typical United States Army Air Corps armament of one and one machine guns firing through the propeller arc . Also typical of the time was the total absence of cockpit armor or self - sealing fuel tank s . The distinctive landing gear which rotated 90° to fold the main wheels flat into the thin trailing portion of the wing , resting atop the lower ends of the maingear struts when retracted , was actually a Boeing - patented design for which Curtiss had to pay royalties . The prototype first flew on 6 May 1935 , reaching at during early test flights . On 27 May 1935 , the prototype was flown to Wright Field , Ohio , to compete in the USAAC fly - off for a new single - seat fighter but the contest was delayed because the Seversky entry crashed on the way to the contest . Curtiss took advantage of the delay to replace the unreliable engine with a Wright XR - 1820 - 39 Cyclone producing and to rework the fuselage , adding the distinctive scalloped rear windows to improve rear visibility . The new prototype was designated Model 75B with the R - 1670 version retroactively designated Model 75D . The fly - off finally took place in April 1936 . Unfortunately , the new engine failed to deliver its rated power and the aircraft attained only . Although its competitor , the Seversky P - 35 , also underperformed and was more expensive , it was still declared the winner and awarded a contract for 77 aircraft . However , on June 16 , 1936 , Curtiss received an order from USAAC for three prototypes designated Y1P - 36 . The USAAC was concerned about political turmoil in Europe and about Seversky ' s ability to deliver P - 35s in a timely matter , and therefore wanted a backup fighter . The Y1P - 36 ( Model 75E ) was powered by a 900 hp Pratt & Whitney R - 1830 - 13 Twin Wasp engine and further enlarged scalloped rear canopy . The new aircraft performed so well that it won the 1937 USAAC competition with an order for 210 P - 36A fighters . Its extremely low wing loading of just 23 . 9 lb / ft² gave it outstanding turning performance , and its high power - to - weight ratio of 0 . 186 hp / lb gave it superb climbing performance as well , especially for the time , although its lack of an engine supercharger handicapped it at high altitudes . Compared to the Allison - engined P - 40 , the P - 36 shared the later P - 40 ' s traits of excellent high - speed handling , of roll rate that improved at high speed and of relatively light controls at high speed . However , it was underpowered affecting its acceleration and top speed and it did not accelerate in a dive as well as the P - 40 . Curtiss YP - 37 . In early 1937 , the USAAC ordered Curtiss to adapt one P - 36 to the new liquid - cooled turbo - supercharged Allison V - 1710 engine with . Designated XP - 37 , the aircraft used the original Model 75 airframe with radiators mounted on the sides of the fuselage around the engine . The cockpit was moved far to the rear to make room for the radiators and the bulky turbocharger system , and to balance the aircraft . The aircraft flew in April 1937 , reaching at . Although the turbo - supercharger was extremely unreliable and visibility from the cockpit on takeoff and landing was virtually nonexistent , the USAAC was sufficiently intrigued by the promised performance to order 13 service test YP - 37s . Featuring improved aerodynamics and a more reliable turbo - supercharger , the aircraft first flew in June 1939 . However , the powerplant remained unreliable and the project was cancelled in favor of another Curtiss design , the P - 40 . Curtiss XP - 42 . In an attempt to improve the aerodynamics of the air - cooled piston engines , the fourth production P - 36A ( serial 38 - 004 ) , designated the XP - 42 , was equipped with a long streamlined cowling resembling that of a liquid - cooled engine . Twelve different designs were tried with little success ; although the aircraft was faster than a standard P - 36A , engine cooling problems were never resolved . Since the new P - 40 was faster , the project was canceled . Late in its service life , the sole XP - 42 was fitted with a stabilator and used to study that control configuration . Operational history . Argentina . Argentina bought a number of the simplified , fixed landing gear Hawk 75Os , ( intended for rough - field operations and ease of maintenance ) and purchased a manufacturing license for the type . These aircraft used the same engine , Wright Cyclone R - 1820 - G5 as the Martin 139WAA ' s and Northrop 8A - 2 s used by the Argentine Army Aviation at the time . Usually armed with one Madsen machine gun and three Madsen light machine guns , there was provision for up to 10 bombs on underwing pylons . The last Argentinian Hawks remained in service until November 1954 . Brazil . In March 1942 , 10 USAAC P - 36As were transferred to Brazil . British Commonwealth . The Royal Air Force ( RAF ) also displayed interest in the aircraft . Comparison of a borrowed French Hawk 75A - 2 with a Supermarine Spitfire Mk I revealed that the Hawk had several advantages over the early variant of the iconic British fighter . The Hawk was found to have lighter controls than the Spitfire at speeds over , especially in diving attacks , and was easier to maneuver in a dogfight ( thanks to the less sensitive elevator ) and better all - around visibility . The Hawk was also easier to control on takeoff and landing . Not surprisingly , the Spitfire ' s superior acceleration and top speed ultimately gave it the advantage of being able to engage and leave combat at will . Although Britain decided not to purchase the aircraft , they soon came in possession of 229 Hawks by way of diverted shipments to occupied France and aircraft flown by escaping French pilots . The aircraft received the designations Mohawk I through IV , mirroring French Hawk 75A - 1 through A - 4 , and were fitted with 0 . 303 - cal . Vickers K machine guns and conventional throttles ( forward to increase power ) . Although they were considered obsolete , a number saw service with the RAF and Royal Indian Air Force ( RIAF ) in India and Burma . In April 1941 , the British government of India ordered 48 Cyclone - powered Mohawk IVz ( Hawk 75A ) for the RIAF , to be built by Hindustan Aircraft . The first such aircraft completed was test flown on 31 July 1942 . However , only four additional aircraft were completed before the project was abandoned . The Indian - built series were used by RAF / RIAF units . Similarly , Chinese license production of the Hawk 75A - 5 was moved to India , and these aircraft were also absorbed into RAF as Mohawk IVs . These aircraft were supplemented by 10 Hawk 75A - 9s captured during the Anglo - Soviet invasion of Iran in August 1941 , while 74 ex - French Mohawk IVs were shipped to India from the United Kingdom . The only RAF units to see combat in Mohawks were No . 5 Squadron RAF and No . 155 Squadron RAF , using the type mainly for Bomber escort and ground attack . The type was retired by the RAF / RIAF in 1944 . The South African Air Force received 72 Mohawks . Its first Mohawks were delivered to East Africa in mid - 1941 , where they were used by 3 Squadron SAAF to support operations in the East African Campaign , taking part in the Battle of Gondar which ended the campaign , and helping to patrol the border with Vichy French held Djibouti . These Mohawks were then sent to South Africa , where , supplemented by fresh deliveries , they were used for training and for home defence . China . The prototype of the Hawk 75H — a simplified version with fixed landing gear , like the 75O — was eventually sold to the Chinese Nationalist government who presented it to Claire L . Chennault for personal use . China also received two similar demonstrators , the Hawk 75Q . They also used a number of simplified Hawk 75Ms against the Japanese . The Hawk 75A - 5 was built under license in China , but production was later moved to India , and these aircraft were absorbed into the RAF as the Mohawk IV . Finland . After the fall of France , Germany agreed to sell captured Curtiss Hawk fighters to Finland in October 1940 . In total , 44 captured aircraft of five subtypes were sold to Finland with three deliveries from 23 June 1941 – 5 January 1944 . Not all were from the French stocks , but some were initially sold to Norway and captured in their wooden crates when the Germans conquered the country . The aircraft were given serial codes CU - 501 to CU - 507 ( A - 4 submodel with Cyclone ) and CU - 551 to CU - 587 ( all other submodels with Twin Wasp ) . In Finnish service , the Hawk was well liked , affectionately called " Sussu " ( " Sweetheart " ) . The Finnish Air Force enjoyed success with the type , credited with 190⅓ kills by 58 pilots , between 16 July 1941 and 27 July 1944 , for the loss of 15 of their own . Finnish ace Kyösti Karhila scored 13¼ of his 32 victories in the Hawk , while the top Hawk ace K . Tervo scored 15¾ victories . The Hawks were flown by " Lentolaivue " 32 throughout their wartime operational service . The Finnish Hawks were initially armed with either four or six 7 . 5mm machine guns . While sufficient during the early phase of the Continuation War , the increasing speeds and armor of Soviet aircraft soon showed this armament was not powerful enough . From 1942 , the State Aircraft Factory replaced the fuselage machine guns with either one or two Colt machine guns and installed two or four Browning machine guns in each wing . The 12 . 7mm Berezin UB or LKk / 42 heavy machine guns were also used . The installation of heavier armament did not change the very good flying characteristics of the fighter , but the armament was much more effective against Soviet aircraft . The Finnish Hawks were also equipped with Revi 3D or C / 12D gunsight . Surviving Finnish aircraft remained in service with the FAF aviation units HLeLv 13 , HLeLv 11 and LeSK until 1948 . France . Even before the P - 36A entered production , the French Air Force entered negotiations with Curtiss for delivery of 300 aircraft . The negotiating process ended up being very drawn - out because the cost of the Curtiss fighters was double that of the French Morane - Saulnier M . S . 406 and Bloch MB . 150 , and the delivery schedule was deemed too slow . Since the USAAC was unhappy with the rate of domestic deliveries and believed that export aircraft would slow things down even more , it actively opposed the sale . Eventually , it took direct intervention from U . S . President Franklin Roosevelt to give the French test pilot a chance to fly the Y1P - 36 . Detroyat ' s enthusiasm , problems with the MB . 150 , and the pressure of continuing German rearmament finally forced France to purchase 100 aircraft and 173 engines . The first Hawk 75A - 1 arrived in France in December 1938 and began entering service in March 1939 . After the first few examples , aircraft were delivered in pieces and assembled in France by the " Société Nationale de Constructions Aéronautiques du Centre " . Officially designated Curtiss H75 - C1 ( the " Hawk " name was not used in France ) , the aircraft were powered by Pratt & Whitney R - 1830 - SC - G engines with 900 hp and had instruments calibrated for the metric system , a seat for French dorsal parachutes , a French - style throttle which operated in reverse from U . S . and British aircraft ( full throttle was to the rear rather than to the front ) and armament of four ( i . e . later models had six with two firing through the prop and four in the wings ) 7 . 5 mm FN - Browning machine guns , aimed with a French supplied Baille - Lemaire gun sight . The aircraft evolved through several modifications , the most significant being the installation of the Wright R - 1820 Cyclone engine . This variant , designated as Curtiss H751 - C1 , saw little operational use due to its late delivery and reliability problems with the new engine . A total of 316 H75s were delivered to France before the German occupation . On 8 September 1939 , aircraft from " Groupe de Chasse " II / 4 were credited with shooting down two " Luftwaffe " Messerschmitt Bf 109 Es , the first Allied air victory of World War II on the Western front . During 1939 – 1940 , French H75 pilots claimed 230 air to air kills ( of a total of 1 , 009 air to air kills by the French Air Force during the 1939 - 40 time period ) and 81 probable victories in H75s against only 29 aircraft lost in aerial combat . While only 12 . 6 % of the French Air Force single - seater fighter force the H75 accounted for almost a third of air - to - air kills during the 1940 Battle of France . Of the 11 French ace s of the early part of the war , seven flew H75s . The leading ace of the time was Lieutenant Edmond Marin la Meslée with 15 confirmed and five probable victories in the type . H75 - equipped squadrons were evacuated to French North Africa before the Armistice to avoid capture by the Germans . While under the Vichy government , these units clashed with British aircraft over Mers el - Kébir and Dakar . During Operation Torch in North Africa , French H75s fought against U . S . Navy F4F Wildcat s , losing 15 aircraft while shooting down seven American aircraft . From late 1942 on , the Allies started re - equipping the formerly Vichy - controlled French units with the H75s replaced by P - 40s and P - 39 s . Iran . A total of 10 Hawk 75A - 9s were delivered to Persia , but were captured by the British while still in crates . These were then used by the RAF in India as Mohawk IVs . Dutch East Indies . In October 1939 , The Netherlands ordered 24 Hawk 75A - 7s for their Oost Indië possessions or the Dutch East Indies . These planes were powered by 1 , 200 hp Cyclones . Factory armament was one . 50 and one . 303 MG in the cowl with two . 303 MGs in the wings . After delivery , the . 50 cowl MGs were replaced to standardize parts and ammo . The plane could carry six 23 kg bombs . The fighters were shipped in 1940 and almost rerouted to the Netherlands when Germany invaded . But as the mainland surrendered , the aircraft came to the colonies where they were used extensively against the Japanese attack on the Far Eastern part of the kingdom . By that time , the aircraft had flown so many hours that the engines were showing serious wear and tear . These Dutch Hawks formed 1 - VlG IV , or 1ste JachtVliegAfdeling ( 1ste JaVA ) - VliegtuigGroep IV of the ML - KNIL ; some flew with 1 - VlG V . They saw action over Malakka , Soematra and Java , successfully bombing the railroad and intercepting bombers and participated in the extensive dogfights over Soerabaja , where USAAC , RAF and ML aircraft fought Japanese bombers and fighters together . Norway . Norway ordered 24 Twin Wasp - powered Hawk 75A - 6s , of which 19 were delivered and seven assembled at the time of the German invasion . None of the aircraft were combat - ready . The disassembled aircraft were disabled by a single customs employee who smashed the instruments and cut all the wires he could reach . Norwegian Hawks captured by the Germans were part of the batch sent to Finland . Norway also ordered 36 Cyclone - powered Hawk 75A - 8s . Most of this batch ( a total of 30 ) were delivered as advanced trainers to " Little Norway " near Toronto , Ontario , Canada , a Norwegian training base established by the London based government - in - exile . Still later , they were resold to the U . S . and redesignated the P - 36G model . Peru . In 1943 , the U . S . sent 28 Hawks to Peru under the Lend - Lease agreement . These were ex - Norwegian P - 36Gs that had served in Canada . Portugal . Portugal was officially neutral during World War II , although the Allies were allowed to use or establish ports and airfields on various Portuguese territories . One result of these friendly relations was the transfer by the British government of 12 Hawk 75A variants to the " Força Aérea Portuguesa " ( FAP ) , which assigned them to air defense duties in the Azores . Thailand . A few Hawk 75Ns were used by Thailand during the French - Thai War . They also fought at the Battle of Prachuab Khirikhan against Japanese forces during the Japanese Invasion of Thailand . On 28 January 1941 , the Royal Thai Air Force ( RTAF ) dispatched nine Ki - 30 Nagoyas , escorted by three Hawk 75s , to bomb Pailin and Sisophon in French Indochina . Thailand was perhaps the only country operating both Japanese and American aircraft just before World War II . United States . The first production P - 36As were delivered to the 20th Pursuit Group at Barksdale Field in Louisiana in April 1938 . The aircraft ' s service history was marred by numerous teething problems with the engine exhaust , skin buckling over landing gear , and weak points in the airframe , severely restricting the performance envelope . By the time these issues were resolved , the P - 36 was considered obsolete and was relegated to training units and overseas detachments at Albrook Field in the Canal Zone , Elmendorf Field in Alaska , and Wheeler Field in Hawaii . The P - 36s had been delivered to Hawaii in February 1941 by being loaded on the carrier the USS " Enterprise " in California , then in a first for the USAAC , flown off the carrier ' s deck by the P - 36 ' s U . S . Army Air Corps pilots when the " Enterprise " neared the coast of Hawaii . This saved considerable time over the traditional shipping method of having the fighters first disassembled , crated and then loaded by crane in the hold of a freighter , then unloaded and reassembled in Hawaii . The only combat by U . S . - operated P - 36s took place during the Pearl Harbor attack . Five of the 39 P - 36A Mohawks at Pearl Harbor , delivered previously by the USS " Enterprise " , were able to take off during the attack and were credited with shooting down two Japanese Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero s for the loss of one P - 36 , among the first U . S . aerial victories of World War II . Survivors . P - 36A ( s / n 38 - 001 , the first P - 36 to be delivered to the Air Corps ) is on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton , Ohio . It is displayed in the markings of the P - 36A flown by Lt . Phil Rasmussen during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor . A complete and restored Hawk 75N survives in the Royal Thai Air Force Museum ; unknown serial number . A French H75C - 1 , has been restored to flying condition and is owned by The Fighter Collection at Duxford , United Kingdom . It has been flown and is shown in French camouflage with markings on either side , for the same example ( n°82 ) at two different periods in its career .