Thursday, June 11, 2015

Curtiss P-36 Hawk in Minor Air Forces




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 (B-10) and Northrop 8A-2s used by the Argentine Army Aviation at the time. Usually armed with 1 x 11.35 mm Madsen machine gun and 3 x 7.65 mm Madsen light machine guns, there was provision for up to 10 bombs of 30 pounds each 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.

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.

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.

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.

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