Corgi AA35215 Curtiss P-40E Kittyhawk 1A – RAF ‘AK933′(N94466)/SU-E’ – Sneak Attack

The Kittyhawk was the name given by British Commonwealth air forces to the P-40E model and subsequent variants. Though not a first rate high altitude dogfighter, the Kittyhawk with its long range, bomb load and armour, became a formidable low-level fighterbomber. This P-40E was originally delivered to the Royal Canadian Air Force as ‘1057’, then sold on the civil register as N94466 in 1942, being owned by a succession of private owners until it was bought as a hulk by John R. Paul of Boise, Indiana, in 1966, who fully rebuilt it and flew it from Livermore, CA, in 1970. Painted as an RAF Kittyhawk in desert camouflage with ‘sharkmouth’ nose markings, it was given the serial ‘AK933’ and the code letters ‘SU-E’ as a tribute to John’s wife! N94466 was seen in the UK during 1984-89, when it was leased to the Old Flying Machine Company at Duxford and flown at many UK air shows by Ray and Mark Hanna.