Curtiss H75-C1 fighter.
Registration: G-CCVH.
The Curtiss P-36 Hawk, also known as the Curtiss Hawk Model 75, is an American designed and built fighter from the '30s and '40s. It was a contemporary of the Hawker Hurricane and Messerschmitt Bf 109 and one of the first of a new generation of fighter aircraft: a sleek monoplane design with a retractable undercarriage that made extensive use of metal in its construction.
The Curtiss H75-C1 (the name Hawk was not used in France), received several modifications such as a Pratt & Whitney engine, instruments that were calibrated for the metric system, a seat for French parachutes, a French-style throttle that worked in reverse to American and British aircraft (full throttle was aft instead of forward) and armament of four (later models had six, two of which shot through the propeller and four in the wings) 7.5 mm FN-Browning machine guns, aimed with a French-supplied sight. The aircraft evolved through several modifications, the most important of which was the installation of the Wright engine. The H75-C1 variant received little operational use due to late delivery and reliability problems with the Wright engine. Before the German occupation, a total of 316 H75's were delivered to France.
The aircraft in the picture bears the colours of the French Air Force and the Escadrille de La Fayette.
This photo was taken on 18 May 2018 during the airshow at Aérodrome de Cerny - La Ferté-Alais.
I am Jaap van den Berg and photography has become a great passion of mine since 2010. Since then I travel all over the world to take pictures of military aircrafts. But besides aircraft I also love to photograph other subjects like landscapes, architecture, flowers, animals, .. Read more…