Aircraft History
This aircraft was a Merlin engine powered Warhawk.

Mission History
On December 20, 1942 four P-40's were flying from Bauerfield on Efate on a training mission. They encountered severe weather and force landed in a clearing on Mt. Santop, Erromango in Vanuatu. All the pilots were uninjured from the landing.

Wreckage
During the war, American forces cleared a path to the wrecks and stripped them for parts.

Wreckage
One of two P-40's recovered in 1989 by Robert Greinert and Ian Whitney, the other being P-40F "Bone Crusher" 41-14112 (along with parts from two others) from Erromango, Vanuatu in 1989, and taken to Australia.

Restoration
The aircraft was acquired by the RNZAF Museum at Wigram from Graham Hosking of Victoria, Australia. in exchange for a F4U-5N. It arrived in New Zealand in 1996 and is under restoration. This rare, merlin powered aircraft is to have an engine change and be rebuilt as a P-40E to represent a RNZAF machine.

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Last Updated
October 1, 2009