“Aleutian Tiger”

The aircraft was built under contract no. AC22714, as a batch of 335 aircraft in 1942. It was completed on October 13, 1942 and issued the USAAF serial number 42-10083. The “ship” number was 954. The aircraft was allocated to the Soviet Air forces as part of the defense aid program on October 18, 1942 pursuant to a lend-lease agreement. The aircraft was boxed and freighted to Brooklyn, New York for shipment aboard New York-England Atlantic convoy HX212. It then traveled via a PQ convoy to Murmansk, Russia where it was assembled and test flown before being transferred to an operational unit known as 27zap. Subsequently, the aircraft became part of the guards unit, 20gviap. It remained with this unit until November 10, 1944 when it sustained irreparable damage due to a cannon shell piercing the fuel tank, leading to a forced landing outside of Murmansk, Russia. Following this incident, the aircraft was never restored or put back into service. In November of 2003, Ron Fagen acquired ownership of the aircraft from Brooks Aviation, Inc. with plans to restore the aircraft.

The Restoration Journey

In 2013, Fagen Fighters Restoration finished the complete restoration of this P-40K. On the Curtiss Wright P-40K both the fuselage and the wings were very complete and in good condition. All skins were removed and all parts rejuvenated or replaced including the majority of the original aluminum skin. The aircraft roughly has 85% original air frame components and 60% original skins still remaining on current aircraft today. Fagen Fighters restoration built their current fuselage and wing jig off this aircraft. The aircraft went on to win the Golden Wrench and Grand Champion at AirVenture in 2014.