Curtiss P-40 Warhawk is a main fighter plane of the US Army during the early stages of WWII, its toughness was its only redeeming feature. Its basic performance was mediocre, and it was a fighter plane that was an easy target for Japan's A6M Zero in the early stages of the Pacific War. However, in spite of this, because its armament was well balanced with no bias and it was very useful practically and very productive, and because it was really solidly constructed, it was useful as a back-up to main fighter planes right up until the end of the war. Also, because the cost of the plane was low, it was exported to and used in many countries. In particular in regard to the Flying Tigers, a volunteer army unit of the Republic of China Air Force dispatched by the US Army, it held air superiority in the skies over the Burma Road, and fought in mortal combat with such units as Japan's "the 64th Sentai," commonly known as 'Colonel Katou'sHayabusa Squadron.'
Yes, The American volunteer group led by Claire Lee Chennault, known as "The Flying tigers" used this kind of fighter very much against Japanese airforce in China.
Yuppers. More or less the Warhawk was the fighter (all be it only land based) that kept the Americans/American geared allies in the Pacific war until the P-38 F/J and P-47 D.
The poor Navy didn't have a hope until the F4U Corsair/F6F. They just got very lucky more then once.
While the artist does make a point about the P-40 being somewhat mediocre, it's not like the Zero was that great either. With such a lightweight construction, it'd fall apart during a high speed dive, unlike the P-40, and it was slower compared to the P-40 as well. Along with that, the P-40 was much tougher than the Zero since it had armor and self-sealing fuel tanks.
The Flying Tigers in China often scored victories in P-40s due to using its superior dive speed compared to the Japanese fighters it faced.
The P-40 was more maneuverable at speed than the A6M, more rugged, and faster too. And the F4F was no slouch either--it was durable, had a higher service ceiling, and better diving characteristics than the A6M.