Curtiss P-40 Warhawk

The Air Zoo’s Curtiss P-40 Warhawk

Only three and a half months before Curtiss ceased Warhawk production at its Lake Erie plant, the Air Zoo’s P-40, s/n 44-7619, rolled off the line on August 12, 1944. The aircraft became part of the training fleet for the 372nd Fighter Group at Pollock Field, Louisiana. As part of this unit, it moved to many fields generally in the south over the next year and a half.

During its last duty at Esler Field, Louisiana, the P-40 was named “Icy”, though this may have been its recognition letters. It was placed in the hands of the Reconstruction Finance Corp. in June of 1946 and was sold as surplus to Chowchilla Union Schools, California for the grand total of $350 - delivered! (Its original cost was $45,000.)

Floyd Park, a shop teacher at the high school, used the aircraft to teach the high school students in an aeronautics program. The program was halted and “Icy” was illegally sold to another teacher who parked it behind a local car dealer’s garage until 1949. It had suffered considerably from kids playing on it.

In 1952 it was bought by “three men thought to be from the Los Angeles area” according to Mr. Park. With some repair the aircraft was ferried to Montebello, California, where it was to be turned into a racer.

The Warhawk’s wingtips were removed and a P-80 canopy was attached, with the cockpit being moved well back on the fuselage. Evidently the money ran out and the P-40 was put up for sale. In 1959, Ed Maloney of the Ontario (California) Air Museum bought the P-40 for $800, but the plane sat as a derelict until 1973.

It was crated up and sent to Addison, Texas, for restoration, and the existence of the plane came to the attention of Suzanne Delano Parish. Ms. Parish had flown AT-6 Texans as part of the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots during World War II, but she always wanted something more powerful - the Warhawk would fit the bill.

The plane went through three years of restoration and was completed in 1976. Parts of the aircraft came from other planes, but the majority of the aircraft is from 44-7619.

Ms. Parish trained with Gary Meermans simulating the flight of the P-40. Darryl Greenamyer made the first check flight of the restored P-40 and was pleased with the aircraft. A second seat was installed behind the pilot, and Ms. Parish learned how to fly the aircraft from that position. She then flew the aircraft to Kalamazoo.

In 1977, the Warhawk was painted in its now-famous Libyan desert pink paint scheme. Ms. Parish took her coveted bird to the Confederate Air Force Airsho and received a standing ovation when she landed. For years thereafter, Ms. Parish flew the P-40 to air shows all over the U.S. It was awarded Reserve Grand Champion at the EAA convention in 1978.

When she and her husband Pete Parish established the Kalamazoo Aviation History Museum in 1977, the Warhawk became one of the original aircraft in the collection. The aircraft was retired in 1993 and now hangs in the Atrium of the Air Zoo.

Plane Stats

Powerplant: One Allison V-1710-99-F22R liquid-cooled in-line engine developing 1,360 HP

Armament: Six .50-cal. Machine guns; field modifications allowed for a centerline shackle for bombs of fuel tank

Paint Scheme: Libyan desert pink

Wingspan: 37 ft. 4 in.

Length: 33 ft. 4 in.

Height: 12 ft. 4 in.

Weight: 6,000 lbs. (E); 8,850 lbs. (L)

Speed (max.): 378 mph at 10,000 ft.

Service Ceiling: 38,000 ft.

Range: About 240 miles

Crew: 1