This P-40N was delivered to the RCAF as a Kittyhawk IV and given the serial '858'. She apparently shot down a
Japanese incendiary balloon off the coast of British Columbia, but I currently have no additional information
concerning that incident, and know absolutely nothing about the rest of her wartime history.
After the war many RCAF aircraft were auctioned off, including a number of Kittyhawks. This particular ship
is one of many that went to Fred Dyson of Seattle, Washington, and she spent some time at Boeing Field prior
to passing through the hands of several owners before ending up with a weather modification outfit in 1955.
She was operated as a cloud seeder until 1958, when she was damaged in a belly landing.
After a couple of years she was acquired by Ed Maloney, founder of The Air Museum. She was restored to static
and displayed for a number of years. The museum underwent a couple changes of name and location before finally
ending up in Chino, California in 1970, with the name by which it is still known today...
Planes of Fame.
The P-40 remained as a static display for a few more years before restoration to airworthy condition was begun
in 1977. Four years later, in 1981, P-40N 42-105192 again took to the air after spending almost a quarter of a
century on the ground. She has since flown for many an airshow crowd and for Hollywood cameras, and has worn a
variety of paint schemes over the years. Her current guise honors the 325th Fighter Group... the 'Checkertail Clan'.
42-105192 is seen here while with 'The Air Museum' at Ontario Airport, California in 1970.
She was just a static museum piece at this point.
Super-groovy shot outta the port side... date and location unknown.
When I look at this photo, I think of shadow gunnery training at Landhi
India, as described by Don Lopez in his book, 'Into the Teeth of the Tiger'.
Courtesy of Fighting Classics Aircraft Restoration -
Larger Image
This snap of 42-105192 was taken at the MCAS El Toro Airshow in April 1997.
More 'movie makeup'... this time they got her nice and dusty for the film 'Valkyrie'.
These two photos were taken at the 2009 open house at Luke AFB, Arizona.
