Would the P-35 had been better.??

[Haztoys]

The Curtiss Hawk 75 won out over the Seversky P-35 as the Air Force fighter of the late 30's...And the Hawk was ground work for the P-40..And I've "herd" that the P-35 was the ground work for the P-47..(not sure how true the P-35/P-47 info is)

Would the Air Force been better off had they gone with the P-35...??

(Just got some old Airplane Magazines are a yard sale from the 70s and 80s..So Im a happy guy...LOL)

[evangilder]

It's hard to say if the P-35 would have been better.

In some ways, the P-35 is the ground work for the P-47. They were both designed by the same guy, Alexander Kartveli. Seversky Aircraft would later become Republic Aircraft.

The pictures below show the 2 aircraft in flight. You can definitely see a lot of similarity. The P-35 designed obviously had an influence on the P-47

[pbfoot]

I'd still like to see that P35

[timshatz]

There were some P35s that flew against the Japanese in the PI during the early part of the war. Were used mostly as ground attack and considered second class to the P40. The P36 was used by the Brits in CBI until about 1943 or 44. Did ok, not great but ok.

Good books that cover both are the "Bloody Shambles" series and "Doomed from the Start".

[pbfoot]

Originally Posted by timshatz

There were some P35s that flew against the Japanese in the PI during the early part of the war. Were used mostly as ground attack and considered second class to the P40. The P36 was used by the Brits in CBI until about 1943 or 44. Did ok, not great but ok.

Good books that cover both are the "Bloody Shambles" series and "Doomed from the Start".

Mohawks over Burma is also not bad at the end the p36's were hard pressed to get up to 20000ft

[Juha]

IMHO no
one must remember that the most successful French AF fighter 1939-40 was Hawk 75 which was an export version of P-36A. Also Finnish Hawk 75s did well in 1941-42, 1944 they were outclassed by La-5s and Yak-9s but could survive because of their excellent horizontal manoeuvrability but their climb rate was quite poor.

Juha

[HoHun]

Hi Haztoys,

>Would the Air Force been better off had they gone with the P-35...??

Probably not. From what I have read, the P-35 used a "wet wing" for fuel storage, which proved difficult to maintain and - not being self-sealing, or suitable for being made self-sealing - would have made the type very vulnerable in combat.

The P-43, which was a re-designed type following the same philoshopy, still was considered inferior to the P-40, which was just a re-engined P-36.

http://www.warbirdforum.com/richdunn.htm

Regards,

Henning (HoHun)

[Mangrove]

If my memory serves me correctly some of the pilots from Hävittäjälentolaivue 32 test flew the captured P-40M in 1944. The squadron had been flying the Curtiss Hawk 75A since 1941. The pilots though the P-40M was a little better than the Hawk.

[FLYBOYJ]

The P-35 was an extremely stable and wonderful flying aircraft from accounts I read. Too stable. It made a better advanced trainer by the time WW2 started.

The P-36 (especially the export version) was another very under-rated aircraft. If flown properly it was handful for the 109E. Even over Burma, considering the situation, it fought well.

P-35? It took great formation photos in the late 1930s!

[Haztoys]

As the Hawk 75 lean to the P-40

If the P-35 would of been picked over the Hawk ... Would the p-47 have been on the battle field sooner... ???

[V-1710]

The P-35, P-41, P-43 Lancer, and P-44 Rocket were all forerunners of the P-47. The P-44 was a version of the P-43 that was to have used a turbocharged Wright R-2600. When it was found that the R-2600 didn't respond well to turbocharging, a new design was started that used a turbocharged Pratt and Whitney R-2800 under the XP-47B designation (the original P-47 was a Republic proposal for a lightweight V-1710 powered fighter).

[Graeme]

Originally Posted by Haztoys

The Curtiss Hawk 75 won out over the Seversky P-35 as the Air Force fighter of the late 30's
Would the Air Force been better off had they gone with the P-35...??

Should this be the other way round? Everywhere I look I read that it was the P-35 that won the contract to produce 77 airframes (36-354/430) on 16 June 1936. It was the Curtiss Model 75 that came second in the USAAC trials. As a consolation prize Curtiss received a contract for three service-test Y1P-36s (37-68/70), delivered in February 1937.

[V-1710]

The Hawk did come in second to the P-35, but I think there was an issue with the XP-36's engine. I seem to remember that Curtiss submitted the plane for testing with a different engine than what they intended to use. The A.A.C. was aware of this, and awarded the Y1P-36 contract to keep the project alive until it could be tested with the correct engine.

[Graeme]

Originally Posted by V-1710

The Hawk did come in second to the P-35, but I think there was an issue with the XP-36's engine. I seem to remember that Curtiss submitted the plane for testing with a different engine than what they intended to use. The A.A.C. was aware of this, and awarded the Y1P-36 contract to keep the project alive until it could be tested with the correct engine.

Thanks. You're right, I'm 'stuck' in 1936. Reading on, the Air Corps awarded Curtiss a contract to build 210 P-36A/C airframes on July 7, 1937 worth $4 million-the largest peacetime contract the Air Corps had ever awarded for fighters. Production began 1938 and concluded early 1939.

Eric, what exactly is this aircraft. Too much perspex to be the Seversky P-35.


I keep coming up with Republic/Seversky AT-12/2PA Guardsman. When exactly did Seversky become Republic?

[FLYBOYJ]

"By April 1939, the Seversky Aircraft Corporation had lost $550,000, and Seversky was forced out of the company he had founded. The board, lead by financier Paul Moore, voted Wallice Kellet as President to replace him, and in September 1939, the company was reorganized as the Republic Aviation Corporation. Seversky continued to fight for his company, and the matter was not resolved to his satisfaction until September 1942."