Customer Reviews

P-36 Hawk Aces of World War 2 (Aircraft of the Aces)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

My initial thought when I saw the Osprey adverts for P-36 HAWK ACES OF WORLD WAR 2 was: WHAT P-36 Aces!?! Then the attic light went on and I realized P-36 = Hawk 75 = French aces. And, as chronicled in this interesting 'Osprey Aircraft of the Aces' book, some 39 l'Armee de l'Air pilots made ace in the aircraft. Finnish pilots likewise made good use of Hawk 75s against Russian aircraft, some 15 aces being produced. Along with the odd USAAF and RAF kill, Curtiss' scrappy little fighter compiled quite a combat record.

Lest the reader think the P-36 was a second-stringer warbird, consider these facts. The FIRST Luftwaffe pilot downed by l'Armee de l'Air Hawks was Werner Molders! French Hawks were credited with 234 kills in the 1939/40 fighting with Vichy Hawks later adding a few more victories over RAF and USN aircraft. Aces like Camille Plubeau, Georges Baptizet, Edouard Sales, Maurice Tallent, Michel Dorance and Georges Lefol used the highly maneuverable, heavily armed Curtiss fighter to deadly effect. Finnish aces like Eino Koskinen, Aaro Kiljunen and Kalevi Tervoa likewise exploited the Hawk 75's strengths to help down 190 Russian aircraft between 1941 and 1944. Interestingly enough the P-36 Hawk was one of the few warbirds to fly for AND against the Allies in WWII!

Authors Persyn, Stenman and Thomas do a nice of tracing the Hawk's combat career in various air forces and conflicts. Many first-hand combat accounts liven up the text as do some 80 photographs and eight pages of color profiles of P-36s/Hawk 75s/Mohawks by Mark Styling.

P-36 HAWK ACES OF WORLD WAR 2 is a wonderful addition to the 'Aircraft of the Aces' series. It sheds light on a little-known but very effective warbird that saw service around the global in various air forces and is a good read to boot. Recommended.
*****

NB. If several pilots helped down an e/a, the l'Armee de l'Air did not divide the credit for the kill but gave a full victory credit to each pilot!

`P-36 Hawk aces' is one of the best Osprey books I've read (other than John Weal and George Mellingers' books). I was very pleased with the amount of information the book offered.

The book starts with the French early in the war, battling the Germans, then taking sides with them, then fighting them again. Then the book explains about the Finnish and their unmatched victory-to-death ratio (other than the Germans), then a brief overview on the Americans at Pearl Harbor then finally the British battling against the Japanese. I was surprised that the elderly P-36 could hold its own against the Bf-109s, LaGG-3's (other than speed) and Ki-43s. The Mohawk would even come out on top in some battles!

I thought the all the authors did a wonderful job explaining about the obsolete plane that still held its own against the new fighters of WWII.
In all a well put together book.

The P-36 was the aircraft that preceded the more famous P-40. What I liked about this book is it gave a fair write up of the aircraft. Also, it gave some very good information about the follow up P-40, such as that aircraft weighed a full 3/4 ton heavier than the initial P-36. I always knew the P-40 was a dog in combat, its speed sort of kept it out of trouble. The P-36 was generally nimble enough to avoid the worst of the fray.

This book gives little tid-bits of information that I love. Did you know the P-36 was at least as maneuverable as the KI-43 "Oscar"? When the USAF was busy getting rid of the P-36 the US Marine Corps was flying the dreadful Brewster Buffalo. At least the P-36 would have given the Marines at Midway a good fighting chance.

Anyway, I was sort of amazed at how well the book has positive things written about the P-36. Now, the aircraft does have some debits. First, it had poor armor. Second, it was somewhat pokey in the European theater. Last, it does not have a good punch. The .30 caliber machine guns just were not up to the European cannon armed aircraft. This problem could have been solved by giving more .50 calibers to the P-36. Then one French ace noticed the more lightly armed P-36 aircraft have better maneuverability.

This book is broken down into four parts. First there is a general write up on the P-36. Second, the reader is given the French story on the P-36. Honestly, I had no idea the P-36 was so highly successful against the Luftwaffe. Indeed, while the ME-109E has speed over the P-36 (about 50 MPH) it does not turn at all as well as the P-36. Furthermore, the P-36 is more than a match for the ME-109D of the "Phony War" period of 1939 to 1940. The French Air Force Pilots do a superb job flying the tough little P-36. But a complaint comes through that the aircraft is too lightly armed and is a little slow. The French keep the P-36s as trainers past 1945 and it's not scrapped until 1953.

The second part of the book deals with the Finnish AF use of the P-36. The Author gives a break down of the FAF success rate when using the aircraft. The P-36 was more than a match for the early Soviet Aircraft. What is weird is the aircraft holds its own against the very good later Soviet Aircraft. Now, a mention is made that the P-36 defeated MiG-1 aircraft over Finland in 1942 and 1943. The Author speculates the aircraft were Lagg-5. However, this reviewer speculates that the P-36 may have met the American lend-lease P-40 aircraft and beat them. The P-40 and MiG-1 would have looked nearly identical. The Lagg-5 looked sort of like a Spitfire. Anyway, this second part of the book is quite good and well worth the price.

The third part of the book deals with the P-36 in British Empire Service. The strange thing is the P-36 is a much better aircraft than the Brewster Buffalo. But the P-36 does not really see that much action. However, it does outlast the Buffalo in squadron service and the P-36 isn't phased out of British service until mid-1943. The RAF is intelligent enough to replace the Buffalo equip squadrons first. Also, the best compliment is paid to the P-36 when a pilot says the P-36 is the equal of the Hawker Hurricane. The two disappointing things the P-36 has in British service are lack of firepower and an almost negligible bomb load of two 20 pound bombs, little more than mortar rounds.

The last part of the book deals with the USAAF (USAAC?) use of the P-36. Great numbers of the aircraft were in use at Pearl Harbor and the Philippines. However, after the initial success the P-36 only sees squadron use at the Panama Canal in the post 1942 period. The P-40 was seen as a much better warplane.

The book given a by-ace break down of all the P-36 aircraft aces. Also, there are by-kill listings. Last. The author has some drawings given of the aircraft.

Now, why did I only give the book 4 stars? There are two distinct reasons. First, it's a little confusing to read the section on the French use of the P-36. Second, there are no charts on performance break downs of the various models of the P-36. So, you have to reference other sources to find out the flight parameters, weight, range, and particulars of the P-36. I'm an aircraft "geek" and live for that sort of stuff. Since it's not in the book then I took a star off.

By in large Osprey's "Aircraft of the Aces" is a great series of books and this one is no exception, though it might be considered more valuable than some since there is so little written about it's subject to be found elsewhere.

The authors do a wonderful job covering all the plane's and its pilot's fields of endeavor, with my favorite parts concerning combat over Finland and Pearl Harbor... the latter being very short obviously, as it was the P-36's one day of combat in U.S. colors.

I dare say that one would have to be quite an expert indeed to read this book and not learn at least a few tidbits of information. And therein lies my enjoyment with this series in general and this book in particular... if you're looking for some long, scholarly, in-depth tome covering every aspect of the P-36's development, deployment, servicing and operation, this isn't it. If instead you'd like some well written, light reading about a mostly forgotten airplane (usually overshadowed by its inline-engined offspring) and the valiant young men who flew it into harm's way you will enjoy this book!

As the previous reviewer suggests this latest Osprey 'Aces' title is a little light reading devoted to the P-36 Curtiss Hawk. One of the compilers is my friend Lionel Persyn, a talented young French author who recently published a magisterial 400-page overview of the H-75 (as the Hawk was known) in Armée de l'Air service for French publisher Lela Presse [...]. The English language photo captions in that work alone (which I translated) amount to some 35 pages of text..rather more than is devoted to the Hawk in French service here..
As usual with Osprey the book provides a somewhat cursory overview of the operational 'history' of the P-36/H-75 (including service in Finland & North Africa among others). A decent - if rather truncated - effort. Not a bad buy at the Amazon discount...otherwise over-priced as ever with Osprey

When it comes to this aircraft there is little written. That is strange given its importance. As one of the two main fighting aircraft for the French during the first year of the war, more information should be available. As our first mass produced aircraft to find its way to war we should know much more. Alas, this isn't so. This is the first publication that I have found devoted to this subject. Considered in that light it is very informative. However, a more detailed comparison of the P-36 and the model 75 to its competitors would be nice. But, for the time being this is as good as it gets!

A very good read to everybody ho wants to know more about this little rugged fighetr and it's unknown exploits in WWII.What the book lacks is tecnical data comparing the Curtiss fighter against it's competitors.The french did very well with them.

Lionel Persyn, et.al's P-36 HAWK ACES OF WORLD WAR II joins others in the 'aircraft of the aces' series to focus on WWII military battles and service. The Hawk saw extensive service and this book documents all the battles and keys to its importance. Highly recommended.