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DAVIDICUS said:RG_Lunatic:
If I undertand you correctly, the P-47 had a thicker skin than the P-51 right?
DAVIDICUS said:Does anyone know how thick the aluminum skin on any fighter arcraft was?
RG_Lunatic said:DAVIDICUS said:RG_Lunatic:
If I undertand you correctly, the P-47 had a thicker skin than the P-51 right?
I think it did, but I really cannot say so "for sure". What I've read is that the P-47 had the thickest sheetmetal of any WWII fighter. So the P-51 sheetmetal might be equal?
DAVIDICUS said:Does anyone know how thick the aluminum skin on any fighter arcraft was?
I believe the P-47 used mostly 16 gauge (0.051") duraluminum where most planes used about 20 gauge (0.032") to 24 gauge (0.020") sheeting. Most planes used thicker sheeting in some places (leading edges of the wings for instance) than other places (side of the fusalage for instance). Note: the gauges I'm giving are based upon my observance of aircraft at airshows and museums and my limited experiance with sheetmetal (one job I had made its own cases for electronics and had sheetmetal cutting and bending equipment, and auto repair experiance). So these figures are only my estimates and should not be quoted as "fact".
Design Analysis of the P-47 Thunderbolt gives a lot of detail about the P-47 construction, but unfortunately does not give the skin thickness. Also of note on that site is Design Analysis of the Zeke 32 (A6M3).
Here's a very nice cutaway of the P-47D from the site listed above.
Drawing by Reynold Brown.
=S=
Lunatic
RG_Lunatic said:By contrast, the Spitfire, the FW190, and the Bf109 - all had marked locations where a person could step, everywhere else was off-limits.
Soren said:RG_Lunatic said:By contrast, the Spitfire, the FW190, and the Bf109 - all had marked locations where a person could step, everywhere else was off-limits.
If thats the case then explain these pictures:
AFAIK only some modern 'conserved' WW2 a/c's have these marked areas, as the owners really like them to stay that way.