Curtiss Hawks - P-36C & H-75 - Duxford Battle of Britain Airshow 2023

The Fighter Collection's Curtiss P-36C Hawk and Curtiss H-75 Hawk displaying as a pair representing aircraft of the 'Battle of France', during the Imperial War Museum's Battle of Britain Airshow 2023.
The Curtiss P-36 Hawk, also known as the Curtiss Hawk Model 75 was a private venture which flew for the first time in May 1935. Following development and a new engine, three prototype aircraft were ordered by the US Army Air Corps under the designation Y1P-36. This eventually led to the P-36 lineage which went on to serve with around a dozen air arms across the world, including the USAAC as the P-36, the RAF as the Mohawk, and France as the H-75.
Curtiss Hawk H75-C1, No 82 X881 / G-CCVH:-
This Hawk is one of the 100 in the first production batch sent to the French Air Force, and given the individual aircraft number 82, arriving in April 1939. Issued to 1ére Escadrille, Groupe de Combat 11/5 Lafayette at Reims, where she carried the command stripes on the fuselage of the personal aircraft of Commandant Murtin, CO of both GC 1/5 and GC 11/5. She moved to Toul during the Battle of France, and then on to Oran in Algeria before the Armistice. From 1940 to 1942 Hawk No.82’s Squadron, now part of Vichy French Forces, was engaged in sporadic skirmishes with Royal Air Force (RAF) and United States Navy (USN) aircraft over Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco. Between 1946 and 1949 Hawk No.82 was with the 4th Training Squadron at Cazaux in Western France serving as an advanced trainer with 22 other H-75s.
Hawk No.82 was saved from scrapping in the 1950’s and was placed in storage in France until acquired by The Fighter Collection in 1995. Following a major overhaul in the United States she made her British debut in 2005.
It wears an authentic Armée de l’Air standard three-tone scheme, with her GC 11/5 markings on her port, and the Lafeyette Escadrille Sioux Indian head motif (The Fighter Collection logo) on her starboard side.
The Fighter Collection’s Hawk is a very rare aircraft, along with their P-36 they are the only versions of this aircraft currently airworthy anywhere in the world.
Curtiss P-36C Hawk PA-50 / G-CIXJ :- This Curtiss P-36C Hawk was delivered to the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) on 5 April 1939 at Selfridge Army Airfield (now Selfridge Air National Guard Base), Michigan, manufacturers construction number 12624. It participated in the Cleveland Air Races in September 1939, wearing experimental camouflage and then was assigned to the 1st Pursuit Squadron at Maxwell Army Airfield (now Maxwell Air Force Base), Alabama, where it participated in War Games. On 19 June 1940 she was transferred to Wright Army Airfield (now part of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base), Ohio and then sent to Dayton, Ohio for testing, until August 1940.
She was damaged, due to overshooting the runway on landing, on 21 January 1942 at Bendix Field (now Teterboro Airport), New Jersey.
She was assigned to the 61st Pursuit Squadron at Bridgeport Army Airfield (now Bridgeport-Sikorsky Airport, Connecticut) on 20 March 1942. She sustained category 3 damage in a taxying accident at Maxwell Army Airfield (now Maxwell Air Force Base), Alabama on 12 April 1942 and again 4 June 1942 at Bridgeport, when she ground looped on take off.
During 1942 she was sent to Chanute Army Airfield, Illinois, Technical Training Command as a ground instructional aircraft, but was subsequently labelled obsolete and flown to Buckley Field in Colorado and struck off charge on 3 December 1942.
She was put into a Technical School following her decommissioning and was later acquired by a Pratt & Whitney Technical instructor in Canada, where she resided until a Florida collector acquired her, before passing her on to The Fighter Collection, based at The Imperial War Museum airfield at Duxford, England.
Her restoration commenced in 2011, under the leadership of Matt Nightingale at Chino, California, when sufficient original parts capable of overhaul were recovered to ensure that the aircraft could be completed to fly. Steve Hinton carried out the subsequent shakedown test flights and the United States Federal Aviation Administration certified the P-36C, on the US Civil register as N80FR. It made its first public appearances at the 2015 Planes of Fame Airshow, in unique flights with the Museum’s Sikorsky P-35 which has similar markings.
A few months later, on 10 February 2016, the Curtiss P-36 moved to England and joined the fleet of the The Fighter Collection, carrying the UK Civil registration G-CIXJ. The aircraft is powered by a Pratt & Whitney R-1830-92 (/17) engine driving a Curtiss Electric C532D-F44/89301-15 Propeller.
It wears the colours of a P-36C from the 27th Pursuit Squadron, 1st Pursuit Group, USAAC.
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[@Paladin1873]

Excellent camera work of one the prettiest pre-war fighters.

[@ingosippel9653]

Wow i cannot beleave that a hawk is still alive

[@mikes4564]

Can't handle the coolness. Drooling uncontrollably...