The Story of America's Forgotten WWII 'Hawk' Fighter That Became an Ace-Maker

The Story of America's Forgotten WWII 'Hawk' Fighter That Became an Ace-Maker

A Fighter That Wasn’t Supposed to Matter On the morning of December 7, 1941, as smoke rose over Pearl Harbor, only a few American pilots managed to take to the skies in defense. They weren’t flying the famous P-40 or Wildcat. Instead, they flew the almost-forgotten Curtiss P-36 Hawk—an aircraft most people had already dismissed as outdated. At home, it was viewed as a relic. But halfway across the world, the same aircraft was feared by enemy pil…