Curtiss-Wright P-40 Warhawk Production Color Photographs Part III

A series of color photographs detailing the production of early P-40 Warhawks at the Curtiss-Wright Plant at Buffalo, New York, Summer 1941.  With war in Europe and U.S. Army Air Corps orders exceeding the normal capacity of the plant, production spilled out into the open air around the factory.  LIFE Magazine photographer Dmitri Kessel took this series of pictures, part III.

A finished P-40 taxis at the Buffalo Airport.

Running up the engine during final assembly.

Delivery pilots in flight gear, with brand-new Warhawks.

A fitter at work inside a fuselage at the Curtiss plant.

Final engine adjustments.

A good view of the radiator assembly under the engine.

Details of the propeller markings.

A Warhawk on a test flight. “247” is marked on the cowling ant the vertical tail.

“247” again, showing the standard four-position placement of the national insignia.

A new Warhawk in formation with another Curtiss design, an SBC-4 Helldiver.