Scale Aircraft Modelling Magazine August 2018 Back Issue

A GLOBAL HAWK
The Curtiss Model H75 Hawk, designated P-36 in early US service, was first flown in 1935. The type was one of those early metal monoplane designs that saw service throughout the war across different theatres but on the
periphery of the main actions. The type was the precursor to the better known, and somewhat more elegant, Curtiss P-40 series that included
the RAF Tomahawks and Kittyhawks. Broadly similar looking from most angles, the H75 had a large radial engine whereas the P40 series were
fitter with sleeker inline power plants. Ordered by a number of air arms prior to hostilities, the advent of war put a brake on the P-36 deliveries. The French Armée de l’Air, desperate to re-equip as the clouds of war darkened, placed a significant order for a type that could be rapidly built and delivered by the US. The French mobilised the H75 just in time to give a pretty good account of itself during the short lived Battle of France in early 1940. Manoeuvrable and tough, it won respect even if its design and power could not really match the more modern Bf 109.