P-40M-10-CU 43-5925

This is the story of Curtiss P-40M 43-5925, which was part of a lend-least shipment to the Soviet Union in late 1943. It was given Soviet markings and designated "White 23" and was assigned to the 191st IAP (Istrebitel'ny Aviatsionny Polk) fighter regiment and was flown by 2nd Lt. V. A. Ryevin. On December 27, 1943 Lt. Ryevin was having a bad day. On a training flight he became lost and disoriented and encountered bad weather and approaching darkness, not to mention low fuel. Lt Ryevin attempted to make a landing on a frozen lake near Kievennapa Ahijarvi, but was forced to abort and clear the area because of light Finnish anti-aircraft fire, being in an area controlled by Finnish forces. A short time later Lt Ryevin successfully landed White 23 on frozen Lake Valkarvi, also in Finnish controlled territory. The fate of Lt. Ryevin is uncertain, whether he was captured or simply disappeared never to be seen again.

The Finns discovered White 23 intact, fully armed, and in pristine condition with low flight time. It was decided to disassemble the P-40 and truck it to the Mechanic's School in Utti, where it was reassembled, given a coat of Finnish paint, and designated "KH-51", believing that it was a Kittyhawk. It was the only P-40 in the Finnish inventory and was flown by pilots of HLeLv32 over Karelia in 1944 for evaluation, but never on combat operations, since at that point in the Continuation War the FAF was using the more capable Bf-109G.

On February 12, 1945 KH-51 was taken to Tempere and placed in the Air Depot. On July 30, 1945 KH-51 was stricken from the FAF inventory, but that was soon cancelled because the FAF was not sure if KH-51 was included in the captured material that was to be returned to the Soviet Union after the armistice. Technically, White 23 was not captured, it was merely found intact in Finnish territory and the Soviets were not aware of it's fate. The second and definitive removal of KH-51 from the FAF inventory occurred in February 1, 1950 when KH-51 was sold to Kuusakoski Oy, a Finnish scrap dealer, for the sum of 9,000 Finnish Marks, joining the fate of hundreds of other aircraft after the war.

The models are Eduard 1:48 P-40Ms. I used Eduard Zoom PE, added brake lines and Eduard seat belts and harness, and Squadron sliding portions of the canopies. Model Master paints were used, and decals are by Tally Ho.

13 additional images. Click to enlarge.