Anyone have any decent photos of P47 flat belly tank plumbing?

[Citadelgrad]

Google searches yield a few grainy photos showing piping aft of the pylon.  Im interested in making a decent replication.  I cant tell where the piping starts on the tank or where it goes into the belly.  
 

thanks for any help.  

[D.B. Andrus]

This all I have:

 

 

HTH,

Damian

 

[nmayhew]

Good luck

 

i asked about this in my P-47 build last year and got the above pic and a few similar but that was it

 

i even subscribed to some website with all the factory drawings but was unable to find clear plans of exactly where the lines go into the fuselage so basically had to guess / make it up

 

maybe I was unlucky but I find it incredible that one of the most famous aircraft in WWII still has information back holes

 

good luck with your build

[MikeMaben]

 

Hi Bill, it depended on which tank was used.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 24, 2022 by MikeMaben

[TAG]

Here's another image that might help, this is from the Pilot's Flight Operating Instructions, published 25 January 1944.

The flat external tanks used the "Alternate Belly Tank Installation" (letter J on this chart) air and fuel lines which are offset to port from the centerline, and slightly forward of the main fuel selector valve (mounted on the left-hand side of the cockpit wall, just aft of the main electrical switch panel). I'd even venture saying it's almost directly beneath the secondary fuel cock, which is slightly forward and right of the main selector valve.

 

Here's an exterior shot showing the exact location of the "Alternate Belly Tank Installation" fuel line.

 

Hope that helps, Bill!

 

Cheers,

- Thomaz

[Citadelgrad]

Thanks, TAG, that is very informative, and nowhere near where I was thinking.

 

Additional question:  Is the plumbing itself rubber, metal, or a combination?  The photo of Col. Gabreski's jug looks like metal where it enters the tank, then rubber above that, while the other picture looks substantially different, and either all metal or metal at both ends with a rubber join?

 

Color me confused...

[Oldbaldguy]

Not that I know for sure, but common practice would be hard metal fittings/stand-off pipes on either end connected by flexible rubber lines.  You can see this combo in most of the photos.   Helps with vibration isolation and simply pulls apart if you have to drop the tank.

[TAG]

Hey, Bill

 

The fittings were metal, with rubber gaskets held in place by metal clamps to bridge the gaps at the connection points. There was also a glass section, which was designed to break away clean when the tanks were dropped.

 

Here's some pics to help illustrate:

Here you can see a sliver of the curved glass section after the rubber gasket on the rear fitting.

 

Here's a clearer view of the breakaway glass section, albeit on a Mustang paper tank, couldn't find any such close-ups of P-47 tanks in my files, unfortunately.

 

This page from a P-51 manual is also helpful in showing how the pipes and gaskets looked.

 

Finally, here's another Jug where you can just make out the glass breakaway section.

 

Hope that helps, home stretch now, you got this Bill!

 

- Thomaz

 

[Citadelgrad]

28 minutes ago, TAG said:

Hey, Bill

 

The fittings were metal, with rubber gaskets held in place by metal clamps to bridge the gaps at the connection points. There was also a glass section, which was designed to break away clean when the tanks were dropped.

 

Here's some pics to help illustrate:

Here you can see a sliver of the curved glass section after the rubber gasket on the rear fitting.

 

Here's a clearer view of the breakaway glass section, albeit on a Mustang paper tank, couldn't find any such close-ups of P-47 tanks in my files, unfortunately.

 

This page from a P-51 manual is also helpful in showing how the pipes and gaskets looked.

 

Finally, here's another Jug where you can just make out the glass breakaway section.

 

Hope that helps, home stretch now, you got this Bill!

 

- Thomaz

 

It does help, Thomaz, and thank you.

 

So it appears that the photo

Which actually is Col Gabreski's bird, shows the metal lower portion at the left, and the rubber and or glass section as the straight section, and that there is another metal section above the rubber.  Actually, that might be the class section juuuust visible left of the gear door?  Right where the thicker rubber section ends, I assumed it was an elbow but it may be a glass continuation of the tube?

 

And then the pressure line is the one that is thinner and more or less vertical, to the left of the thick fuel line?  Is the pressure line a combination of metal and rubber, too?

[Citadelgrad]

Here's a ham handed doodle to show what I am talking about

 

 

[TAG]

The glass bits were curved, so I'd reckon that Gabby's fuel line has a metal pipe connected to the drop tank itself, then a clamped rubber gasket, then the curved breakaway glass with another clamped rubber gasket bridging the gap to the entry point into the fuselage. Hope that makes sense?

 

And yes, the pressure line is the shorter, more vertical fitting, also a combo of metal & rubber.

[Citadelgrad]

10 hours ago, TAG said:

The glass bits were curved, so I'd reckon that Gabby's fuel line has a metal pipe connected to the drop tank itself, then a clamped rubber gasket, then the curved breakaway glass with another clamped rubber gasket bridging the gap to the entry point into the fuselage. Hope that makes sense?

 

And yes, the pressure line is the shorter, more vertical fitting, also a combo of metal & rubber.

Not the final product, but a mock up.

 

like this?

with the tape being painted rubber color, then more tape added for hose clamps?

[TAG]

Nailed it! I'd just try to peel off a bit of the tape, as it looks a little overscale at the moment. Or maybe you could try some heat-shrink microtubes instead, something like this?

[Citadelgrad]

17 minutes ago, TAG said:

Nailed it! I'd just try to peel off a bit of the tape, as it looks a little overscale at the moment. Or maybe you could try some heat-shrink microtubes instead, something like this?

Yes, agreed.  On photos, too thick.  I am working on the correct thickness. I will take a look at shrink wrap.  

[nmayhew]

Very informative thread, but interesting still no plan overhead / underneath view for the precise location.

 

when building my P-47 last year (2020??) I even paid for access to factory blueprints and could not find this info.