In September 1940 the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) ordered the first major production-line modification to its single seat pursuit fighter, the P-40. The updated production run was designated as the P-40B, of which eventually 131 were built. Production began in January 1941 at the Curtiss plant in Buffalo, New York. In March of that year the P-40B with #284 was delivered to the USAAC and assigned to the 6th Pursuit Squadron, 18th Pursuit Group, Oahu, Hawaii.In October 1941, seven months after delivery, this same P-40 was involved in what has been misstated by some as a wheels-up landing requiring her to be placed in a maintenance hangar for repair. She was still in the hanger undergoing repairs when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. That seemingly minor twist of fate most likely saved her from being destroyed.
