The Royal Air Force and South African Air Force were some of the operators of the Curtiss Hawk 75, the export version of the P-36 Hawk. In RAF or SAAF service, these aircraft were called Mohawk. Here are a few examples, created for Phil Listemann’s book Squadrons! No. 17 – The Curtiss Mohawk.   This Mohawk…Continue reading Mohawks of the British Commonwealth

Out of more than 1,100 P-36 Hawk or Hawk 75 produced by Curtiss, only two are airworthy today (with a third being currently restored to airworthiness).* The first one is a Hawk 75A-1 which was among the first Hawks delivered to the French air force in 1939. It is now registered G-CCVH and operated by The…Continue reading The world’s only two airworthy P-36 Hawk / Hawk 75

The Curtiss Hawk 75, which saw some success during the Battle of France, was one of the first aircraft types I tackled. However, and despite some rework, these old illustrations were not very good so I recently took the P-40B/C template and converted it into a P-36/Hawk 75. Here is the result: The P-40 prototype…Continue reading Curtiss Hawk 75/P-36 on final

Hawk 75A-2, GC I/4, 2e escadrille, n°99 (X898), flown by Sergeant Georges Lemare, June 1940. Flying a Hawk 75, Lemare shot a Do 17 near Calais on 13 January 1940, a Ju 88 off the coast of Zeebruge on 20 May 1940 and later a British Swordfish off the coast of Dakar on 24 September.…Continue reading Curtiss Hawk of sergent Georges Lemare, GC I/4

11. Hawk 75A-7 of the NEIAF based at Andir AB, Java in 1940. 12. Hawk 75A-7 of the 1st patrol of 1. VI.G.IV flown by Sgt van Breen at Madioen, October 1941. 13. P-36A of the 79th Pursuit Squadron, 20th Pursuit Group, in 1940. 14. P-36C of the 27th Pursuit Squadron, 1st Pursuit Group, during…Continue reading Curtiss P-36 Hawk (2)

The Curtiss P-36 Hawk was a rather successful aircraft for its time but was on the verge of obsolescence when World War II began. It was widely exported, including to France where it proved inferior to its opponent, the Messerschmitt Bf 109, in most respects except for maneuverability. It was also extensively used by Finland…Continue reading Curtiss P-36 Hawk