Origin Flying Tigers

1 origin

1.1 original american volunteer group
1.2 chennault fighter doctrine
1.3 curtiss p-40

origin

chennault in kunming office, may 1942. wears army brigadier general s star on left shoulder chinese insignia otherwise.

the american volunteer group largely creation of claire l. chennault, retired u.s. army air corps officer had worked in china since august 1937, first military aviation advisor generalissimo chiang kai-shek in months of sino-japanese war, director of chinese air force flight school centered in kunming. meanwhile, soviet union supplied fighter , bomber squadrons china, these units withdrawn summer of 1940. chiang asked american combat aircraft , pilots, sending chennault washington adviser china s ambassador , chiang s brother-in-law, t. v. soong.

since u.s. not @ war, special air unit not organized overtly, request approved president franklin d. roosevelt himself. resulting clandestine operation organized in large part lauchlin currie, young economist in white house, , roosevelt intimate thomas g. corcoran. (currie s assistant john king fairbank, later became america s preeminent asian scholar.) financing handled china defense supplies – tommy corcoran s creation – money loaned u.s. government. purchases made chinese under cash , carry provision of neutrality act of 1939. in 1930s, number of american pilots including annapolis graduate frank tinker had flown combat during spanish civil war on republican side. members organized yankee squadron.

chennault spent winter of 1940–1941 in washington, supervising purchase of 100 curtiss p-40 fighters , recruiting of 100 pilots , 200 ground crew , administrative personnel constitute 1st avg. laid groundwork follow-on bomber group , second fighter group, though these aborted after pearl harbor attack.

original american volunteer group

3rd squadron hell s angels, flying tigers, on china, photographed in 1942 avg pilot robert t. smith



p-40 warhawk painted flying tigers shark face @ national museum of united states air force

of pilots, 60 came navy , marine corps , 40 army air corps. (one army pilot refused passport because had earlier flown mercenary in spain, 99 sailed asia. ten more army flight instructors hired check pilots chinese cadets, , several of these join avg s combat squadrons.) volunteers discharged armed services, employed training , instruction private military contractor, central aircraft manufacturing company (camco), paid them $600 month pilot officers, $675 month flight leaders, $750 squadron leaders (no pilot recruited @ level), , $250 skilled ground crewmen.

some of pilots orally promised bounty of $500 each enemy aircraft shot down, no 1 knew if happen until returned home , found funds deposited in bank.

resignation letter u.s. marine corps, used accept position central aircraft manufacturing co.

although considered mercenary unit, avg closely associated u.s. military. histories of flying tigers on 15 april 1941, president roosevelt signed secret executive order authorizing servicemen on active duty resign in order join avg. however, flying tigers historian daniel ford find no evidence such order ever existed, , argued wink , nod more president s style. in event, avg organized , in part directed out of white house, , spring of 1942 had been brought u.s. army chain of command.

during summer , fall 1941, 300 men carrying civilian passports boarded ships destined burma. based @ british airfield in toungoo training while aircraft assembled , test flown camco personnel @ mingaladon airport outside rangoon. chennault set schoolhouse made necessary because many pilots had lied flying experience, claiming pursuit experience when had flown bombers , less powerful airplanes. called chennault old man due older age , leathery exterior obtained years flying open cockpit pursuit aircraft in army air corps. believed had flown fighter pilot in china, although stories combat ace apocryphal.

the avg created executive order of generalissimo chiang kai-shek. did not speak english, however, , chennault never learned speak chinese. result, communications between 2 men routed through soong mei-ling, madame chiang known americans, , designated group s honorary commander.

chennault fighter doctrine

chennault preached radically different approach air combat based on study of japanese tactics , equipment, observation of tactics used soviet pilots in china, , judgment of strengths , weaknesses of own aircraft , pilots. actual average strength of avg never more 62 combat-ready pilots , fighters. chennault faced serious obstacles since many avg pilots inexperienced , few quit @ first opportunity. however, made virtue out of these disadvantages, shifting unsuitable pilots staff jobs , ensuring had squadron or 2 in reserve. (the avg had no ranks, no division between officers , enlisted soldiers existed.)

chennault , flying tigers benefited country s warning network, called best air-raid warning system in existence :

starting areas in free china, in hundreds of small villages, in lonely outposts, in hills , caves, stretching near canton through free china capital in chungking , lanchow, far northwest, maze of alarm stations equipped radios , telephones give instant warning of approach of japanese planes.

when japanese aircraft attacked, chennault s doctrine called pilots take on enemy aircraft in teams altitude advantage, since aircraft not maneuverable or numerous japanese fighters encounter. prohibited pilots entering turning fight nimble japanese fighters, telling them execute diving or slashing attack , dive away set attack. dive-and-zoom technique contrary men had learned in u.s. service royal air force (raf) pilots in burma had been taught; had been used successfully, however, soviet units serving chinese air force.

curtiss p-40


1943: kittyhawk mark iii of 112 squadron, taxiing through scrub @ medenine, tunisia. ground crewman on wing directing pilot, view ahead hindered aircraft s nose.



a zg 76 bf 110c sharks mouth nose paint

avg fighter aircraft came curtiss assembly line producing tomahawk iib models royal air force in north africa. tomahawk iib similar u.s. army s earlier p-40b model, , there evidence curtiss used leftover components model in building fighters intended china. fighters purchased without government-furnished equipment such reflector gunsights, radios , wing guns; lack of these items caused continual difficulties avg in burma , china.

the 100 p-40 aircraft crated , sent burma on third country freighters during spring 1941. @ rangoon, unloaded, assembled , test flown personnel of central aircraft manufacturing company (camco) before being delivered avg training unit @ toungoo. 1 crate dropped water , wing assembly ruined salt water immersion, camco able deliver 99 tomahawks before war broke out. (many of destroyed in training accidents.) 100th fuselage trucked camco plant in loiwing, china, , later made whole parts damaged aircraft. shortages in equipment spare parts impossible obtain in burma along slow introduction of replacement fighter aircraft continual impediments although avg did receive 50 replacement p-40e fighters usaaf stocks toward end of combat tour.

avg fighter aircraft painted large shark face on front of aircraft. done after pilots saw photograph of p-40 of no. 112 squadron raf in north africa, in turn had adopted shark face german pilots of luftwaffe s zg 76 heavy fighter wing, flying messerschmitt bf 110 fighters in crete. (the avg nose-art variously credited charles bond , erik shilling.) same time, avg dubbed flying tigers washington support group, called china defense supplies.

the p-40 s qualities included pilot armor, self-sealing fuel tanks, sturdy construction, heavy armament, , higher diving speed japanese aircraft – qualities used advantage in accordance chennault s combat tactics. chennault created warning network of spotters give fighters time take off , climb superior altitude tactic executed.