Curtiss Hawk 75

This has been one of my favorite planes for many years. Some years ago I knew
a former WW2 pilot who became one of the first regular service pilots to fly
the P-80. Previous to that he had been a combat pilot in P-47s and before
leaving the States for Europe he developed a reputation of flying anything and
everything. He flew both the P-40 and the P-36 and felt the P-36 was a better
flying airplane than the 40.

For years there had only been two surviving model 75s but just lately I have
learned that there are two more! One is an ex French example that was saved in
France after war time and post war use and eventually sold to the Fighter
Collection in the UK. This machine is in California undergoing an extensive
restoration to fly and will be in original colors. The second example is also
ex French and ex Finnish having been used by Finlands air force against the
Russians where it was lost until recovered a few years ago. This example is
now in New Zealand being restored to flying condition.

What a wonderful time we live in.

John Dupre'