Flying Tigers: Curtiss H81-A3 aircraft

The planes that went to China

Curtiss-Wright gave a distinct factory model number to the China-bound Hawks: H81-A3. These planes were taken at random from a line assembling H81-A2 fighters for Britain and should have been indistinguishable from the RAF Tomahawk IIB. However, there is evidence that Curtiss-Wright may have fitted the China-bound fighters with parts intended for the Tomahawk IIA (equivalent to the U.S. Army P-40B). See Erik Shilling's comments on the Tomahawk manual posted on this website.

This material is adapted from 100 Hawks for China: The Story of the Shark-Nosed P-40 That Made the Flying Tigers Famous with contributions by Daniel Ford, Erik Shilling, and Tye Lett, copyright 2014 by Warbird Books.

January allotment

Taken from a block with RAF serials AK100/570. Other aircraft in this series went to No. 73, 112, and 250 squadrons in North Africa, and some went to Russia--including three since returned to the U.S. No machineguns fitted. Arrived Rangoon May 1941.


Tail #	Mfg #	RAF #	fuselage #	flown by	remarks
P-8101	15337	AK466	92	Hedman	last plane assembled in Rangoon
P-8102	15338	AK467	13	Cross	-
P-8103	15339	AK468	3	Rossi, Bartling	abandoned Rangoon
P-8104	15423	AK471	5/9/24?	Bond, Burgard?	Bond recalls this as his aircraft
P-8105	15424	AK472	67	Hodges	Wrecked 23 Oct 1941
P-8106	15425	AK473	11?	Sandell?	first aircraft assembled in Rangoon
P-8107	15430	AK478	-	Schiel	crashed Toungoo
P-8108	15431	AK479	37	Ricketts	-
P-8109	15432	AK480	68	Older	damaged in forced landing near Lashio, March
P-8110	15433	AK481	42	Fish	-
P-8111	15438	AK486	-	-	first a/c with thrust bearing sump
P-8112	15439	AK487	-	Armstrong	crashed Toungoo
P-8113	15444	AK492	2	-	-
P-8114	15445	AK493	11?	Sandell?	crashed Rangoon?
P-8115	15452	AK500	69	Bishop, Martin, McGarry	crashed Thailand 24 Mar 42; see below
P-8116	15453	AK501	89?	-	crashed Rangoon 23 Jan 42
P-8117	15459	AK507	-	Bright	crashed Toungoo
P-8118	15460	AK508	70	Olson	-
P-8119	15466	AK514	71	Overend, C Smith, Shilling	-
P-8120	15467	AK515	43	Keeton	-
P-8121	15473	AK521	88	Jernstedt	-
P-8122	15474	AK522	-	-	-
P-8123	15480	AK528	36	Rector	-
P-8124	15481	AK529	-	-	leaky thrust bearing
P-8125	15487	AK535	1	Atkinson	crashed Toungoo
P-8126	15488	AK536	-	Hammer	crashed Toungoo
P-8127	15494	AK542	47	Petach, RT Smith, Layher?	crashed in China; see below
P-8128	15495	AK543	54	Christman	crashed Rangoon?
P-8129	15501	AK549	-	-	-
P-8130	15502	AK550	-	-	-
P-8131	15508	AK556	35/27	Blackburn, Prescott?	-
P-8132	15509	AK557	15	Martin	-
P-8133	15514	AK562	49	Swartz, Haywood	Caricature of a panda orating from a soapbox
P-8134	15515	AK563	48	Hill	-
P-8135	15521	AK569	79	Hedman, Reed	-
P-8136	15522	AK570	40	Cole	-

Note: Engine from #47 (P-8127?) said to be on display at Torrence airport in California. Wreckage of P-8115 is on display at Chiang Mai Air Force Base, Thailand.

February allotment

Taken from a block with RAF serials AM370/519 (other aircraft in this series went to No. 73 and 112 squadrons in North Africa). Arrived Rangoon June 1941.


Tail #	Mfg #	RAF #	fuselage #	flown by	remarks
P-8137	15828	AM375	-	-	-
P-8138	15834	AM381	57	Howard	-
P-8139	15841	AM388	99	Olson	-
P-8140	15848	AM395	96	-	-
P-8141	15855	AM402	-	-	-
P-8142	15862	AM409	41	Paxton, Merritt, Bacon, Boyington	-
P-8143	15869	AM416	10	Farrell	crashed Rangoon 23 Jan
P-8144	15876	AM423	25	Mickelson	-
P-8145	15882	AM429	-	-	-
P-8146	15884	AM431	7?	Neale?	-
P-8147	15886	AM433	52	Shilling, Martin, Hill	photo plane?
P-8148	15888	AM435	98	McMillan	-
P-8149	15890	AM437	58	Shapard, Houle	-
P-8150	15892	AM439	91	McMillan	-
P-8151	15894	AM441	33	Little	-
P-8152	15896	AM443	56	Bright	-
P-8153	15898	AM445	71?/78?	Shilling	photo plane?
P-8154	15900	AM447	97	Foshee, Moss	-
P-8155	15902	AM449	8?	-	crashed Rangoon 23 Jan
P-8156	15904	AM451	46	Lawlor	-
P-8157	15906	AM453	100	-	assembled Loiwing, March; see below
P-8158	15908	AM455	5?	Bond?	-
P-8159	15910	AM457	-	-	-
P-8160	15911?	AM458?	-	-	see note
P-8161	15913?	AM460?	59	Bacon	see note
P-8162	15915	AM462	94	Haywood, Neale, Groh	-
P-8163	15916	AM463	-	-	-
P-8164	15918	AM465	11?	Sandell?	crashed Rangoon?
P-8165	15920	AM467	45	Bartelt, Moss	forced landing near Lashio, March
P-8166	15921	AM468	-	-	-
P-8167	15923	AM470	-	-	-
P-8168	15925	AM472	85	Brouk, Hurst, Greene	Shot down 23 Dec 1941
P-8169	15926	AM473	43	Keeton	-

Notes: P-8157 was the "hundredth" Tomahawk. Its wing assembly went to complete P-8194, whose own wings had been ruined by immersion in salt water while being off-loaded in Rangoon. The fuselage of 8157 was eventually trucked north to Loiwing and made whole by canibalizing wings from another plane.

One of the AVG Tomahawks may have been wrongly identified. One RAF source shows AM598 as serving in North Africa; another says that AM460 did. The plane that went to China in its stead may have been AM498 (Curtiss serial 15951).

March allotment

Taken from the same block as February allotment. Arrived Rangoon July 1941.


Tail #	Mfg #	RAF #	fuselage #	flown by	remarks
P-8170	15928	AM475	53/13	Layher, Little, Hill	-
P-8171	15930	AM477	50?	Ricketts, Hill?	-
P-8172	15931	AM478	50/7?	Ricketts, Neale	-
P-8173	15933	AM480	77	RT Smith, Rossi	belly landing Magwe
P-8174	15935	AM482	-	-	-
P-8175	15937	AM484	-	-	-
P-8176	15939	AM486	-	-	-
P-8177	15940	AM487	38	Geselbracht	-
P-8178	15942	AM489	76? 5?	McMillan? Bond?	-
P-8179	15944	AM491	-	-	-
P-8180	15945	AM492	-	-	-
P-8181	15947	AM494	51	Cole	-
P-8182	15949	AM496	21	Boyington, Schiel	-
P-8183	15950	AM497	83	Hodges	-
P-8184	15952	AM499	44	Laughlin, PWright	-
P-8185	15954	AM501	13?	Cross?	-
P-8186	15955	AM502	75	Reed	RAF roundels?
P-8187	15957	AM504	6	Dean	belly landing
P-8188	15959	AM506	23/45?	McGarry, Jones, Bartelt?	-
P-8189	15961	AM508	-	-	-
P-8190	15962	AM509	16/6?	Dean	-
P-8191	15963	AM510	90	Dupouy	-
P-8192	15964	AM511	-	-	inherited by 23rd FS, flown by Pete Atkinson's brother Lt Ed Atkinson May 1943
P-8193	15965	AM512	74	Conant	belly landing 31 Oct 1941
P-8194	15966	AM513	7?	Sawyer, Neale?	wings from P-8157; see note above
P-8195	15967	AM514	84	Greene	crashed Rangoon?
P-8196	15968	AM515	34	Newkirk	crashed Thailand
P-8197	15969	AM516	18	Kuykendall	-
P-8198	15970	AM517	5?	Bond?	destroyed Loiwing?
P-8199	15971	AM518	-	Neale	-
P-8200	15972	AM519	39	Moss	-

Notes: A photograph of Bob Neale with fuselage No. 7 seems to show a tail number of P-8194, though the 9 seems more roughly painted than the other numbers. Possibly a replacement for an earlier No. 7?

Tomahawks numbered 1-33 were assigned to 1st Squadron, 34-66 to 2nd Squadron, 67-99 to 3rd Squadron. Some sources say that P-8119 carried fuselage number 71. In addition to aircraft identified above, the following fuselage numbers are known: #17 Croft, #19 Hoffman, #30 Moss, and #67 Prescott, but these numbers cannot be tied to a specific aircraft. Note, however, that pilots often flew any plane available.

Erik Shilling said that his photo plane was #53, probably meaning the tail number P-8153.

Compiled from Pentecost, Bowers, Christy, Clements, Rawlings, Chennault Papers, Tullis, Baisden, Losonsky, AVG Archives (see the AVG bibliography), and a photo by R T Smith. Additional input by Jim Settle, Craig Busby, Paul McMillan, James Atkinson, and Pablo Calcaterra.

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