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P-40 Warhawk Serial Number 39-184 P-40, Serial Number 39-184, Over

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P-40 Warhawk Serial Number 39-184 P-40, Serial Number 39-184, Over P-40 Warhawk serial number 39-184 P-40, serial number 39-184, over Arizona By Dave Trojan, Aviation Historian [email protected] Aug 2018 This particular aircraft, P-40 Warhawk, serial number 39-184, has gathered much interest from modelers and aviation enthusiasts. It was made famous by Life magazine when it was given a photo spread about Luke Field published in 1942, including a number of color in-flight photos while it was assigned there as an advanced pursuit trainer. It may be the most photographed P-40 Warhawk of its specific production variant type, but what happened to it has remained a mystery until now. This story documents its history and its last flight. Photos of P-40 Warhawk, s/n 39-184 while it was assigned to Luke Field 1942: Brief history of P-40 Warhawk, serial number 39-184 P-40 Warhawk, serial number 39-184 P-40 (Curtiss Model 81A-1) serial number 39-184 was 29th out of 199 of the first production variant built. The first flight of a P-40 (Serial# 39-156) was on April 4, 1940. The P-40 used the 1040 hp V-1710-33 (C15) engine. Maximum speed was 357 mph at 15,000 feet, service ceiling was 32,750 feet, and initial climb rate was 3080 feet per minute. An altitude of 15,000 feet could be reached in 5.2 minutes. Cruising speed was 272 mph, landing speed was 80 mph, and the range at 250 mph was 950 miles. The length of the P-40 was 31 feet 8 3/4 inches. Weights were 5376 pounds empty, 6787 pounds gross, and 7215 pounds maximum. Armament was the standard USAAC armament of the day-two 0.50-inch machine guns, mounted in the upper nose and synchronized to fire through the propeller arc. The P-40 lacked armor for the pilot, self- sealing fuel tanks, and a bulletproof windshield. On October 22, 1942, those P-40s still in USAAF service, including serial number 39-184, were ordered restricted from combat duty and were re-designated RP-40. Sometime during late 1942 or early 1943, P-40 Warhawk s/n 39-184 was named “IRENE” in block letters on the engine. Curtis P-40 Warhawk training began at Luke Field on June 22nd, 1942. The last phase of training at the Advanced Flight School at Luke Field was to fly the P-40 Warhawk for 10 hours. It was the first flight for the student pilots in a real fighter aircraft. You can imagine the thrill of flying an airplane like the P-40 after having been in nothing but trainers. One pilot remembered that during his first flight in the P-40, he marveled at how short the wings were and how the machine responded so beautifully to his every control input. The first class at Luke Field to complete P-40 training was on October 2nd 1942. Luke’s P-40 operational training unit revised into the P-40 fighter transition training program March 14th 1943 and in April 1943 the first P-40 fighter transition class graduated at Luke. By war’s end, Luke Field instructors graduated 2,483 U.S. and 331 Chinese Air Force P-40 pilots. History of accidents and assignments for P-40 Warhawk s/n 39-184: Date Squadron Group Home Base Type accident 410411 35PI 8PI Mitchel Field, NY Taxiing Accident, level 3 damage, pilot Lydon, Lenord C. Location of accident- Evansville, IN 420321 56PS 54PG Harding Field, LA Take-Off Accident Ground Looped, level 3 damage, pilot Paris, Ferdinand B. Location of accident- Harding Field, LA 420424 56PS 54PG Harding Field, LA Landing Accident level 3 damage, pilot Wood, Don B. M. Location of accident- Harding Field, LA 420825 66ABSq Luke Field, AZ Landing Accident causing a Ground Loop, level 3 damage, pilot Kraus, Russell B. Location of accident- Luke Field, AZ 430522 544 SEFTS Luke Field, AZ Forced Landing due to Engine Failure, level 5 damage, pilot Lieto, Dominick J. Location of accident- Luke Field, AZ Photo from the 430522 accident report shows burnt engine and name “IRENE” Description of the last flight of P-40 s/n 39-184 from the official accident report: Aviation Cadet Student Pilot Dominick J. Lieto was assigned to the 544th Single Engine Flying Training Squadron at Luke Field Arizona and he had a total of 201 pilot hours. During his first flight in a P-40 type aircraft, on May 22nd 1943, he took off at 0745 in the morning in RP-40, serial number 39-184. The RP-40 had a total of 769.9 hours on the airframe and the engine had 116.9 hours to date. The pilot made a normal take-off, and went through the normal procedure of checking RPM and pulled up the landing gear. He then proceeded up to 7,000 feet, leveled off, made more checks of his engine and then flew straight and level for about five minutes. Suddenly, smoke started coming out of the engine and the plane vibrated violently. Then the throttle, prop pitch, and mixture control started to slide back. The student advanced them; then the prop pitch ran away. The student decreased RPM manually and told the control tower that he was coming in on a forced landing. On his first approach to the field, the airplane came in too hot and the student had to go around again. The student just barely climbed up off the runway and dragged the airplane around for a second approach. All the while the engine shook violently and continued to smoke. Then the prop slowed down so the student pilot increased RPM manually. By the time the student pilot came in for his second approach, smoke and flames were so thick that the student pilot could not see, but he brought it home and was able to safely land the damaged plane with no injuries to the pilot. His first flight in a P-40 lasted 18 thrilling minutes. Aviation Cadet Student Pilot Dominick J. Lieto photo from Luke Field class 43F book. Good job getting the P-40 down safely Aviation Cadet Student Pilot Dominick J. Lieto! The cause of the engine smoke and fire were attributed to failure of the engine connecting rods. According to the accident report, a portion of the airplane forward of the firewall was destroyed and the damage to the entire aircraft was listed as level 5 damage. The accident report recommended that all aircraft of this type should be sent to the Sub-Depot to await further action. P-40, 39-184 was most likely scrapped shortly this last flight due to the damage. There were a total of 117 accidents in all types of P- 40s assigned to Luke Field during the period Feb 1943 and April 1944. Now we know the rest of the story. Good Night Irene… Fade to Black... Modelers Page: References: Joe Baugher.com listed the serial number as midair fire May 22, 1943 at Luke Field, AZ, but incorrectly said the pilot bailed out Aviation Archaeological Investigation and Research http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/dbasn.asp?SN=39-184&Submit4=Go P-40 Hawks Nest http://p40hawksnest.co.nf/Service/USAAF/Luke.html The Warbird information Exchange http://www.warbirdinformationexchange.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=15472 WW2Aircraft.net https://ww2aircraft.net/forum/threads/p-40-esoterica-a-question-for-the-true- experts.47794/ .
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