The Smithsonian’s P-40E is the same type of aircraft flown by the RNZAF Kittyhawk squadrons in the Solomon Islands. The Museum’s aircraft also has a British Commonwealth Lend-Lease pedigree. The Curtiss-Wright Aircraft delivered the aircraft to Canada as a Kittyhawk IA on March 11, 1941. It served in No. 111 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) to defend Canada’s west Pacific coast and then later moved to Alaska. When the Japanese threat diminished, the 111 Squadron returned to Canada and eventually transferred to the United Kingdom. (Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, SI 2005-15700)