Header
Site Map Link

Republic P-47 Thunderbolt

The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt was a large all-metal monoplane Pursuit aircraft with a tubo-supercharged Pratt & Whitney R-2800 radial engine and retractable landing gear operated by the USAAC.  The turbo-supercharged engine resulted in the P-47 having very good high-altitude performance.  Per reference [8] it took its first flight on 6 May 1941, and entered operational service in November 1942.  The P-47 was built in many variants, with early variants having a Razorback fuselage shape aft of the cockpit but later variants being constructed with a bubble canopy. The primary variant analyzed at this website is the P-47D including:
 In addition to service with the USAAC, variants also served with the UK, USSR, Brazil, Mexico, and Free French forces.  After WWII they also served with Italy, Turkey, Iran, Yugoslavia, Portugal, China, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Nicaraugua, and Peru.  Per reference [8] a total of 15,636 P-47 aircraft of all variants were procured.  

As shown in the images below distinguishing features of this aircraft including;
P-47
[Image Sources: Public Domain via Ref [8] - as annotated by this site]

P-47_3-view_B
                                            [Source: Ref [14b] - US Government/Public Domain]

P47_3-viewP47N_3-view
                                                                   [P-47 / P-47N Source: Ref [4] - Public Domain]
In order to try and better develop weight estimating relationships an effort has been made to estimate the length of the fuselage aft of the firewall, and the length of the engine section forward of the firewall based off scaled drawings.  Together these two distances add to a term called the "structural length" and do not consider any portion of the engine or propeller shaft the extend foward of the fuselage/cowling, or any empennage that extends aft of the fuselage structure.  The drawing below shows the current best estimate of these dimensions obtained from available drawings of the airplane and will be updated with any real world data that becomes available.  For any aircraft with an inclined firewall, an attempt has been made to locate an approximate center of this location.

P-47D Early
                                                            Source References [2] [3] & [16]

P47D Late
                                                            Source References [1] [3] & [16]

In the above images, dimensions in Black come from the source material while dimesions in Red have been approximated from the data available.

The table below summarizes the current data collected on this type aircraft, identifying sources for the data

    P-47D (early) P-47D-RE P-47D-25 Secondary Sources Notes
Primary Source   2 1 1

No of Crew   1 1 1

Engine:  




   Qty   1 1 1 5
   Model   R-2800-63
R-2800-59 5
   Displacement  (cu in) 2800 2800 2800 5
   Power  




     Military (HP) 2000
2000 5
     War Emergency (HP)




    Normal (HP) 1625
1625 5
    Take Off (HP) 2000
2000 5
   Eng Dims  




     Length (ft) 6.31
6.31 5
     Width/Dia (ft) 4.375
4.375 5
     Height (ft)




   Base Engine Wt (lb) 2265
2290 5
Propeller  




   # Blades   4 4 4

   Dia (ft) 13 13 13

   Manufacturer  




   Type   Const Speed Const Speed Const Speed

Wing        

   Span (ft) 40.8



   Root Thickness (%) 14.0%



  (in) 15.2



   Total Area  (sq ft) 300 300 300

     Wing (less Ailerons & Flaps) (sq ft)




     Ailerons (sq ft)

25.7

     Flaps (sq ft)




Tail Area (sq ft) 86.1 86.1 80.8 3
   V Tail Area (sq ft) 26.5 26.5 25.8 3
     Fin (sq ft)     13.9

     Rudder (sq ft)     11.9

   H Tail Area (sq ft) 59.6 59.6 55 3
     Stabilizer (sq ft)     33

     Elevator (sq ft)     22

Total Control Surf Area (sq ft)




Length  




   Overall (ft) 35.34 35.34 35.34

   Fuselage (ft) 31



   Body  (ft) 33.43 33.43 33.43

     Body Depth (ft)




    Body Width (ft)




Fuel Tank Volume (gal)




   Wing Tanks (gal)




    FuselageTanks (gal)




Oil Tank Volume (gal)




Water Injection Fluid Tank Volume (gal)




Wetted Area (sqf) (sq ft)




Pwr Ldng (lb/HP) 6.69



Wing Ldng (lb/sq ft) 44.58



Struct. Des. GW  (lb)




Ultimate Load Factor (G's) 12



Design Speed (mph)




Not to Exceed Speed (mph)




         

Total Struct Weight   4613 4655.6 4631.4

   Total Wing   1755 1459.6 1447.4

     Wing        

     Ailerons        

     Flaps        

     Fuselage Carry-Through        

   Tail   252 250.5 250.5

     H Tail   172    

       Stabilizer        

       Elevator        

     V Tail   80    

       Fin        

       Rudder        

   Body + Eng Section + LG  




   Body + LG   2606 2945.5 2933.5

   Body   1539 1822.5 1808.5

     Fuselage     1443.5 1425.5

     Engine Section     379 383

   Landing Gear   1067 1123 1125

     Mn Landing Gr   953    

     Tail/Nose Aux LG   114    

   Tail Hook  




   Booms  




   Nacelles  




Total Propulsion Weight   4037 4324.3 4593.6

   Engine w/ Accessories   2680 3219 3260.2

   Engine(s) as Installed   2223 2265 2283.2

     Accessories   457 954 977

    Turbocharger(s)   232



   Controls   61 57.8 57.8

   Propeller(s)   532 541.3 659.3

     2-Blade        

     3-Blade        

     4-Blade   532 541.3 659.3

   Starting System   57 56 56

   Water Injection System   34



     Tanks        

     Piping Etc        

   Cooling System  




   Lube System   132 117.9 138.1

     Tanks        

     Piping Etc        

   Fuel System   309 332.3 422.2

     Tanks        

     Piping Etc        

Total Sys. & Eqpmt.   987 976.8 973.7

   Instruments   54 53.4 52.2

   Surface Controls    122 137.1 127.4

   Hydraulics   153 110 97.5

   Electrical Equip   201 209.1 214.1

Electronics (Purple means incl in Furn/Gray in Useful Ld)   153 146 151.1

   Arm Prov/Equipment & Armor   221 183.2 203.1

    Furnishings   83 103.2 115.2

   Anti-Ice (If not in Furn)  
34.8 13.1

   Other /Misc  




     Hoisting Gear  




     Floatation Gear  




     Armor Plate        

   




Empty Wt   9637 9956.7 10198.7

Basic Mission Useful Load   3736    

   Crew   200



   Equipment  




   Oil   215



   Fuel   1830



   Fuel & Oil Trapped in Systems  




   Water Solution for Engine Injection  




   Bombs/Torp Etc  




   Radio (if Not Included in Empty Wt)  




   Nav Equipment  




   Oxygen System  




   Armament   1241



     Guns & Ammo   1241    

       Guns   600    

       Ammo   641    

     Pyrotechnics        

     Camera        

     Other        

   Other Useful Load   250



Basic Mission GW   13373    


Notes: This website has been developed with a number of low cost or free programs including Hot Metal Pro, KompoZer, MicroSoft Designer and Da Button Factory.com

Rev 4-12-26

Home