P-47N Wing

[woodstock74]

Anyone familiar where I might find drawing/image documentation of the revised wing on the P-47N? I'm trying to determine what changes would be required to correct a 1/48 P-47N model kit; there are only 2 P-47N kits in 1/48 and both appear to merely square the wing tips to create the unique N wing (and thus actually making the span slightly shorter). I've read a general description and there are a few images on the web, though nothing that really imparts a good visual description of what the changes actually were. The verbal description seems to belie that it was anything other than a complete redesign, "square tip, wing span increased a 'few' inches, increased total area, larger ailerons." But from the photos I've seen it looks very different (cross section seems different and maybe the plan-form is different too?), and that would make sense given the reworked gun bays and fuel tanks.

 

[mjfur]

P-47 Thunderbolt - Blueprints, Drawings & Documents | AirCorps Library

P-47 Republic Thunderbolt

app.aircorpslibrary.com

Scale 3 View Page

Aircraft 3 Views

mnbigbirds.com

 

[gingerbob]

They added a bit at the root- note where the inner gear door sits on Ns vs earlier variants. Then the wing tip was "filled out" a bit, I think- not certain about this part- and clipped squarish.

 

[woodstock74]

Thanks for the replies. Turns out I was wrong about the available kits being incorrect in this detail; seems both the Academy and the Hasegawa/Revell/Monogram kits have correctly modeled the N wing, much to my delight.

 

[ThomasP]

Each inner wing was increased in span by 1' 6.5" (increasing the wheel track from 15' 6" to 18' 7") and each tip was shortened by just under 8", with the overall span changing from 40' 9.31" on the P-47D to 42' 6" on the P-47N.

 

[72modeler]

That's what I have read, as well. An 18 inch extension was added to each inner wing to allow space for additional wing fuel tanks; the wingtips were squared off, as Thomas stated, to improve the roll rate; IIRC there was an autopilot fitted to relieve the pilot on long flights as well as armrests on the seat; a C-series R-2800 was fitted, ( I don't recall the P&W model, but I could look it up.) and on later production blocks, stub mounts for HVAR's were fitted. One detail that might or might not be correct on the Academy and/or Revell 1/48 kits to look for is the P-47N had no shroud over the back of the instrument panel, so you can see the gauge housings and wiring from above,
Mike