Dates

Event

Constructed as a P-40B.

March 1941

Taken on Strength/Charge with the United States Army Air Force with s/n 41-13297.
The delivery date is provided.

October 1941

Transferred to 19th Pursuit Squadron, 18th Pursuit Group, Wheeler Field, HI.

October 1941

Crashed.
Wheels-up landing at Wheeler Field, HI.

28 October 1941

Crashed.
Kent Lentz reports (24 December 2013): The A/C history card obtained from USAF states: Wrecked 10-28-41 Old Wheeler Field Oahu, T.H. Lt. Cecil J. Looke (name unclear-could be Locke) Jr. ground looped. Rep. --- Project Tomahawk acquired the entire accident report that described the incident in detail and it was NOT a wheels-up landing.

7 December 1941

Escaped damage during the Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbor. It thought 297 was in maintenance hangar undergoing repair. This is an assumption, but probably true. At the time of the accident the A/C had 17.8 hours total time.

Repair completed.

9 January 1942

First flight.
First post-repair flight put 3.7 hours on the A/C bringing a total time to 21.5 hours.

24 January 1942

Crashed.
Lt. Kenneth Wayne Sprankle had no time in the type and was on a familiarization flight over the Koolau Range, Oahu. Report said he was inverted at the top of a slow roll and the engine quit causing an inverted spin at 8,500 ft. Pilots familiar with the type say that it takes about that much alt. to recover from that kind of pickle and unfortunately Lt. Sprankle had 2,500 ft of jungle covered moutain between him and sea level. From the wreckage, it looked like the A/C was upright but skidding badly when she went down in the hills near Pearl Harbor, HI. Lt. Sprankle perished in the crash. The crash occurred in a rather inaccessible area of the island. So, after recovery of the body the aircraft was left in place.

1985

The Tomahawks remains were rediscovered. After preliminary analysis it was determined that, although the airframe was severely damaged and corroded, it was definitely worth recovering since there were no Tomahawks known to exist at that time. -297s material was invaluable as patterns. Many of the castings and forgings were usable almost as found. Approximately 20 of -297 was recovered during this initial evaluation mission.

1989

Recovered.
The 2nd recovery mission salvaged approximately 50 of the wreckage, including the engine. The right wing was not recovered and is still out there buried in the jungle. Unfortunately, between the time PT acquired the rest of the airframe material, the engine disappeared into a black hole.

1989

To Curtiss Wright Historical Association-Project Tomahawk Inc, Torrance, CA.

From By 1990 to By 2001

Restored.
The preliminary restoration work was carried out at Torrance, CA. Components of P-40s 39-285 and 39-287 were used in the restoration. They were straight P-40s. And they were recovered from the Sierra Nevada Range about sixty miles due east of Fresno CA 1989 thru 91. 39-287 took 1 helo recon mission and 2 recovery missions at 11,500 ft. 39-285 was a 14 mule, 12 horse recovery at a 7500 alt. site after a 20 mi. trek over 9,000 ft. passes. All in all, it was Great Sport.

2003

To The Fighter Collection/Stephen Grey, Duxford, U. K.

Restored.
The wings were restored at Wangaratta, Australia. The fuselage was remanufactured/restored beginning in Torrance CA, and finished at matt Nightingales California Aerofab facility in Rancho Cucamonga CA.

2003

Contracted to Matt Nightingales California Aerofab, Rancho Cucamonga, CA for work on the airframe.

From 27 January 2006 to By 2 January 2007

To The Fighter Collection/Patina Ltd, Duxford with new c/r G-CDWH.
Registration taken up.

27 December 2006

First engine fireup.

2007

Restoration completed.
Markings Applied: 18P, 284
The final assembly work was carried out at Chino, CA, for TFC. It was painted in a Pearl Harbor colour scheme.

2 January 2007

Assigned civil registration: N80FR {1}
Transferred to the USCR and dropped from the British registry.

12 January 2007

First post-restoration Flight.

12 January 2007

First flight.
Flown at Chino, CA.

12 January 2007

First post-restoration Flight.
Flown in the USA.

2007

Withdrawn from use.

Transported by ship.
Moved to the U.K.

17 April 2007

To The Fighter Collection/Patina Ltd, Duxford, U. K with new c/r G-CDWH (CURTISS P-40B, 16073).

2007

Based at The Fighter Collection, Duxford Airport, Duxford, Cambridgeshire/Cambs, England.
View the Location Dossier

12 July 2008

Photographer: Joop de Groot
Notes: 2008 photo at Duxford - Photo displayed with written permission of Joop de Groot

12 June 2011

Photographer: Mario Richard
Notes: La Fetre Alais

10 December 2013

To Collings Foundation, Stow, MA.
Bought by an anonymous Angel and donated to the Collings Foundation.
View the Location Dossier

13 December 2013

Civil registration, G-CDWH, cancelled.

13 December 2013

Civil registration, G-CDWH, cancelled.

8 May 2014

To Tomahawk P-40 Llc, Cromwell, CT with new c/r N284CF.

17 September 2014

Certificate of airworthiness for NX284CF (P-40B, 16073) issued.

24 October 2014

Photographer: John Tomlinson
Notes: At New Smyrna Beach Airport in Florida

29 October 2014

Crashed.
The accident occurred at the New Smyrna Beach Airport (EVB) New Smyrna Beach, FL, United States while landing. The damage was substantial. According to the pilot, except for the 1. 2 hours of flight time that he had accumulated during two test flights in the accident airplane, which had occurred within the previous 30 days, he had not flown an airplane of the same make and model in about 4 years. The accident flight was the second flight in the airplane since it had been reassembled...
For a complete description of the event read the NTSB Report.

29 January 2016

To Collings Foundation, Stow, MA keeping c/r N284CF.