Here's a Hawk that made her public debut as a static display at Chino in 2012, and which undoubtedly
surprised many folks at the time. At the moment my info as to her wartime history is minimal... all
I know is that she was built as a P-40C and was delivered to the USAAC on April 6th, 1941. She flew
about 100 hours out of Patterson Feld, Ohio, then was sent to Puerto Rico, possibly serving with the
36th Pursuit Group. (That's speculation on my part.) In December of 1941 she was sent back to Curtiss
in Buffalo to be refurbished preparatory to shipment to the USSR as part of the Lend-Lease program.
I've no further information about this Hawk's wartime history at this time.

I also know relatively little about her post-war history... just that she was acquired by Stephen Grey
for The Fighter Collection and was restored by Matt Nightingale's California Aerofab. Her first post
restoration flight was made on August 5th, 2012 and she is finished to represent P-40 39-160, the fifth
production P-40, which served with the Air Corps Technical Training School at Chanute Field, Illinois.
That ship was one of just a few to be delivered to the USAAC in bare metal finish and, in the world of
warbirds, bare metal birds are often polished like mirrors... and this Hawk is no exception. Hence my
nickname for this Hawk... 'Shiny'... which is also a tip of the hat to one of my favorite sci-fi TV shows.

You can see several photos of the original 39-160 HERE...

Chino 2012

These first three photos taken by Jim Harley were among the earliest to surface on the web.


J.Harley photo - Larger Image


J.Harley photo - Larger Image


J.Harley photo - Larger Image

These two stunning shots were taken by Kevin Joyce at Chino in 2012.


K.Joyce photo - Larger Image


K.Joyce photo - Larger Image

These two photos were taken by Michael O'Leary during an early post-restoration flight in 2012.


M.O'Leary photo via The Fighter Collection - Larger Image


M.O'Leary photo via The Fighter Collection - Larger Image

Chino 2013

These next four photos were taken by Trent Bell at the Planes of Fame show in 2013.

See more of Trent's photos HERE...


T.Bell photo - Larger Image


T.Bell photo - Larger Image


T.Bell photo - Larger Image


T.Bell photo - Larger Image

Duxford 2014

'Shiny' arrived at her new home with The Fighter Collection in Duxford, Cambridgeshire,
England during early June of 2014. Here's some photos and a video documenting her arrival,
re-assembly, and participation in the Flying Legends show at held at Duxford in July of 2014.


D.Harbar photo (Source)


D.Harbar photo (Source)

Here's a groovy time lapse video showing the initial re-assembly of 'Shiny' by TFC.


Source

A couple'a super-groovy photos by Stuart Turnbull... see more of his photos HERE...


S.Turnbull photo - Larger Image


S.Turnbull photo - Larger Image

Great action shot of 'Shiny' at Duxford, July of 2014, by David Whitworth.

See more HERE...


D.Whitworth photo - Larger Image

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