P-400

P-400

P-38E

P-400

P-38E

USA

II Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
2.7	2.0	2.0

Class:

Fighter

Research:7 900

Purchase:10 000

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This page is about the American fighter P-400. For other versions, see P-39 (Family).

Description

The P-400 is a rank II American fighter with a battle rating of 2.7 (AB) and 2.0 (RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.37.

The P-400 is the "little brother" of the P-39's and P-63's. Reaching maximum speed at 2,400 m (7,900 ft) means you will have to look for enemies below you, or sacrifice speed to meet the opposition higher up. At medium & low altitudes it can be considered quite a fast plane for its BR range. It handles turning at higher speed rather well but can become quite unstable at lower speeds. Watch out when engaging in stall fighting, hammerheads & yo-yos. The P-400 can survive at high speeds while diving, yet will suffer from compression. The plane is suitable for high speeds attacks where you work with more with horizontal than vertical movements. Keep your speed up!

The P-400 has good weapons consisting of one 20 mm cannon with 60 rounds and two .50 cals and four .30 cals. If you have a good aim, you can kill enemies in seconds, but if you don't the limited cannon ammo will run out in about 10-15 seconds. The .50 calibre will still destroy foes reasonably quickly, though the .30cals require the right amount of consistency and concentrated fire.

General info

Flight performance

Describe how the aircraft behaves in the air. Speed, manoeuvrability, acceleration and allowable loads - these are the most important characteristics of the vehicle.

Characteristics
Stock
Max Speed (km/h at 2,400 m)		Max altitude (meters)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (meters/second)		Take-off run (meters)
AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
553	536	9500	23.2	24.1	6.9	6.9	320
Upgraded
Max Speed (km/h at 2,400 m)		Max altitude (meters)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (meters/second)		Take-off run (meters)
AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
603	576	9500	21.2	22.0	13.3	9.7	320

Details

Features
Combat flaps	Take-off flaps	Landing flaps	Air brakes	Arrestor gear
✓	✓	✓	X	X

Limits
Wing-break speed (km/h)	Gear limit (km/h)	Combat flaps (km/h)	Max Static G
			+	-
		420	~12	~9

Optimal velocities
Ailerons (km/h)	Rudder (km/h)	Elevators (km/h)	Radiator (km/h)
< 360	< 380	< 450	> 312

Compressor (RB/SB)
Setting 1
Optimal altitude	100% Engine power	WEP Engine power
3,677 m	1,000 hp	1,150 hp

Survivability and armour

Armour plates:

• 15.87 mm Steel - Ring Behind propeller
• 15.87 mm Steel - 2 on the left and right sides of the nose
• 7 mm Steel - Fore-cockpit plate
• 7 mm Steel - Cockpit front
• 38 mm Bulletproof Glass - Cockpit front
• 64 mm Bulletproof Glass - Behind Pilot
• 7 mm steel - Cockpit Rear
• 6 mm steel - Behind cooling systems and engine

Critical components:

• Cooling and Engine are in the middle of the plane
• Propeller shaft spans nearly the entire length of the aircraft

Armaments

Offensive armament

The P-400 is armed with:

• 1 x 20 mm Hispano 404 cannon, nose-mounted (60 rpg)
• 2 x 12.7 mm Browning M2 machine guns, nose-mounted (270 rpg = 540 total)
• 4 x 7.62 mm Browning machine guns, wing-mounted (1,000 rpg = 4,000 total)

Usage in battles

Try using energy tactics at low altitude and Boom & Zoom to dispatch targets if you are at high altitude. In Domination matches, this plane comes into its environment with dogfight furballs occurring in which the P-400 can intervene. Use the excellent energy retention to your advantage and avoid any type of turn fighting, as even a F6F Hellcat would be able to out-turn your aircraft.

Never try to contest bomber altitude when you have it stock - it just lacks the engine power to compete above 4,000 meters, and even as a spaded aircraft, it still doesn't perform as well as the Spitfires and Bf 109s at similar battle ratings. If you're ever forced to dogfight, use the rudder and elevator to pull yourself into a sort of climbing spiral, which the P-400 is exceptionally good at thanks to its powerful engine.

The Hispano cannon once on target will easily take out fighters and most bombers with even a short burst, or at the very least, cripple it. However, if there is any good fighter pilot on the enemy team, they will climb and try to secure high altitude. When you see them in more agile aircraft, your only option is to dive away and begin to strafe the furball down low. Beware that many planes in this battle rating range, including the Cannon Ishak, outperform this plane in at least one, if not more categories, but this plane usually has more than one advantage over every plane it will face (i.e. it is faster than the Spitfire Mk 1a and out rolls it).

Use the advantages of this plane - its high speed, great rudder, powerful engine, superior armament, and terrific initial turn at high speeds. However, don't use it in a way that exposes its weaknesses - bad low-speed handling, weak turning, and poor climb rate - in combat, like when you are getting Rope-a-Doped, just flip over with an Immelmann and Turn & Burn.

Manual Engine Control

MEC elements
Mixer	Pitch	Radiator			Supercharger	Turbocharger
		Oil	Water	Type
Controllable	Controllable Not auto controlled	Controllable Not auto controlled	Controllable Not auto controlled	Separate	Not controllable 1 gear	Not controllable

Modules

Tier	Flight performance		Survivability	Weaponry
I	Fuselage repair	Radiator		Offensive 7 mm	Offensive 12 mm
II		Compressor	Airframe	New 7 mm MGs	New 12 mm MGs
III	Wings repair	Engine		Offensive 20 mm
IV		Engine injection	Cover	New 20 mm cannons

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Fast plane up to ~3,000 m (12,000 ft)
• Decent turn time (especially at higher speeds)
• Good pool of machine gun ammunition
• Good stopping power with all weapons active
• Nose mounted 20 mm cannon (centre line mounted weaponry equals good accuracy)
• Well armoured
• Cockpit has good visibility
• Carries a total of 7 guns with three slightly different trajectories, resulting in a high hit probability with at least one of them
• Hispano cannon is more accurate and reliable than the 37 mm cannon
• Excellent rudder control even at high speeds
• Powerful engine

Cons:

• Very low ammunition for 20 mm cannon
• Machine guns, the .30 cal and the .50 cal has no separate trigger
• Ammo counter represents the total amount of machine gun ammo, not the particular calibre
• Gets pilot killed very easily due to the bubble canopy design
• Suffers a lot from compression
• Becomes quite unstable at low speeds
• Fuel cells are stretched across the wings, resulting in fairly common fires
• The engine is centrally mounted, taking engine damage while being chased is common

History

Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the aircraft in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/ History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref></ref>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <references />. This section may also include the vehicles's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under === In-game description ===, also if applicable).

In-game description

A single-engine all-metal monoplane fighter with a closed cockpit and retractable tricycle landing gear with a nose leg. The aircraft had an unusual layout, with the engine placed behind the cockpit.

The aircraft was designed by the Bell Aircraft design office under the direction of R. Woods and H. Poyer. The experimental model XP-39 took its maiden flight on 6 April 1938.

The first overseas order came from France in October 1939. The French were in urgent need of rearming their fighter forces, and bought as many fighters as they could from overseas. However, the order was not fulfilled before France's capitulation in the summer of 1940. After the capitulation, all outstanding French orders for military vehicles were redirected to Britain.

The high flight characteristics of the experimental XP-39 also drew attention from the British buying committee in the USA. Seduced by its tricycle undercarriage, powerful armament, high climbing rate and promises of high speeds of up to 640 km/h, the British ordered 675 airplanes, including the 200 from the French order.

The fighters produced for Britain had the designation model 14A and were powered by the 12-cylinder air-cooled Allison V-1710-E4 engine with a maximum output of 1,150 hp.

The model 14A's armament consisted of a 20 mm British-Hispano M1 cannon with 60 shells, two large-caliber synchronized Colt Browning M2.5 machine guns on the fuselage with 200 rounds each and four British 7.7 mm Colt-Browning Mk.II .303 machine guns on the wing surfaces with 350 rounds each.

In the RAF, the model 14A fighters received the designation Airacobra Mk.I. However, when the British received the first Airacobra Mk.Is in the summer of 1941, tests revealed that rather than the high-altitude interceptor they had expected, they had actually received an unexceptional medium-altitude fighter, albeit with a powerful engine. At the same time, the fighter's maneuverability and responsiveness received good ratings.

In December 1941, the British Air Ministry decided to remove the Airacobra Mk.I from service. By this time, 164 of the fighters had been sent to Britain.

After Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, the US requisitioned the fighters which had not yet been shipped to the British or were still in various stages of assembly.

In December 1941, 179 of the aircraft went into service in the USAAF with the designation P-400. They kept their British camouflage and organizational numbering. The majority of these planes served within US territory as training vehicles, but a number of P-400s took part in combat operations in New Guinea and North Africa.

Joke

A joke which may (or may not) have been used by the British in WW2:

Why is the P-400 called the P-400?

Because it's a P-40 with a Zero on its tail!

Media

• Skins and camouflages for the P-400 from live.warthunder

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

• reference to the series of the aircraft;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

External links

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• topic on the official game forum;
• encyclopedia page on the aircraft;
• other literature.