Italeri 2795 1/48 P-40E/K Kittyhawk RAAF with Australian Decals

P-40's were more a powerful, faster-flying aircraft than the primary and advanced trainers most pre-war and early-war Allied pilots were familiar with, and transition training was often inadequate or neglected altogether in the early years of the war. The landing gear was also more narrow and not as strong as in fixed gear aircraft (like the Gladiator) or on some other retractable gear fighters such as the Hurricane. As a result novice pilots had a hard time adjusting to the new fighter and there were many accidents on landing and takeoff in the early years of the war, with both Tomahawk and Kittyhawk types. Therefore, two P-40Es were fitted with a second seat to be used as trainer aircraft under the designation P-40ES. With these aircraft and improved training techniques these problems subsided.