Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Bewinged Jungle Beasts

A vehicle is defined as "any device or contrivance for carrying or conveying persons or objects, esp. over land or in space." That gave me a lot to choose from as far as "awesome" vehicles. But then the space part caught my eye. Air is space right?

If so, then the most awesome vehicle would have to be a Curtiss P-40. This WWII fighter plane was instrumental in the operations of the Flying Tigers, an American volunteer group that defended China. In 7th grade my friend and I did a documentary on the Flying Tigers (my great-great uncle was one), and learned a lot about the P-40s in the meantime.

The reason I think the P-40s are so awesome is the fact that they were able to be awesome against a ton of odds. The P-40s couldn't match the maneuverability of the opposing aircraft and there was a severe lack of spare parts, so repairs had to be made constantly. Despite these and other issues, the P-40s were the pride of the Tigers-- they even painted Tiger mouths on their planes.

After spending a year researching and presenting about them, I definitely think P-40s are pretty awesome vehicles.

Kieryn www.kierynnicolas.com www.kierynnicolas.blogspot.com RAIN print preorders are available!

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