Warbird Information Exchange

Hi Everyone,
Hi Everyone,

If this question has been posted before, my apologies. My understanding is that there was no difference in wing thickness between the P-51D and P-51B/C. Some books make reference to a thicker wing on the D which allowed for the guns to be mounted upright. However, others indicate that this was not true. Does anyone have a definitive answer?

Also, does anyone have a copy of Robert W. Gruenhagen's book P-51 Mustang? How does he cover this subject? I think I read somewhere that even he indicated that the P-51D wing was thicker. I can't seem to find my copy of his book right now to check. I think his book is generally regarded as one of the bests book on the P-51 published. If anyone has a copy, could they scan and post the page that references this subject, or advise what he states in his book?

Thanks.

Ron

The thickness was the same.

I cant site any references off the top of my head but I did a great deal of research on the Mustang while I was drawing plans for a 1/4 scale model of the airplane. I can tell you without hesitation that their was no change in the thickness of the wing on any of the Mustangs with the possible exception of the H and the other light weight test aircraft. (I did not research those variants but the wing was obviously different in planform.) Well known Mustang historian Charles Neeley, whose scale drawings I used for my design work, also confirmed this for me. Charlie has forgotten more about Mustangs than I ever knew in the first place and I trust his research.

When the six gun wing was designed the guns were set 'normal' to the wing - ie at 90deg to the dihedral angle. The four gun wing had the guns set vertical compared to the ground. This meant that there was more of an angle compared to the ammo feed on the four-gun, and the guns took up more 'vertical' space in the wing

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Lest Hero-worship raise it's head and cloud our vision, remember that World War II was fought and won by the same sort of twenty-something punks we wouldn't let our daughters date.

The question was raised on Facebook last year in the Mustang group...Chris Fahey opened up the ammo bays of the POF "A", Boise Bee "C" and I think Spam Can or Wee Willy "D"...and with a ruler in the photo they all matched.

Jim

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www.spiritof44.com

From the X73 to the D model, the basic wing ordinates are the same. The expanded leading edge inboard of the gear differs.

P-51B/C






P-51D

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It was a good idea, it just didn't work.

Wow. Those are canted over even further than I was led to believe. No wonder they were prone to feed problems.
I wonder what idjit designed that set-up? (or to be fair, I wonder what other engineering criteria there were that led to such a sub-optimal installation)

_________________
Lest Hero-worship raise it's head and cloud our vision, remember that World War II was fought and won by the same sort of twenty-something punks we wouldn't let our daughters date.