C-47 & B-17/B-24 wheels

[thierry laurent]

Hi,

 

I tried to assess if some of the tires used on the cargo bird were similar to the Fortress or Liberator ones. It looks all big US bombers used the same tires and I also found information that seems to indicate they were slightly larger than the standard dimension used on the C-47. However, as I found different figures for the Dakota ones, I'm a little bit puzzled! Does anybody know if they were larger or not?

 

Thanks in advance for any information!

 

Thierry 

[chaos07]

I did some similar research and was not able to locate the actual size of the C-47 tires back in the day.  Very interested to see what comes of this for my HpH C-47 in the stash - the tires that come with the kit leave a little to be desired.

 

Goodyear makes a current offering for both main and tail wheels:   https://www.goodyearaviation.com/search/tire-details-mfg.html?search=product&mfg=Douglas&model=C-47 Skytrain&position=&size=&partnumber=&market=&sortorder=70&returnformat=json

 

Goodyear data books here:   https://www.goodyearaviation.com/resources/tiredatabook.html

 

I'm not a 3D printer, but between these two data books, it should be fairly easy to draw a "correct" C-47 tire with appropriate markings, at least for modern-day production.   

 

Duane

[Juggernut]

per T.O. 1C-47-4, Figure 126, Item 14: No Part Number, Tire 45x17x16 Government Furnished Aircraft Equipment (GFAE).

 

B-17 Tire: 56" per spec, H-3-101M wheel assembly Mfg. Hayes Inc.

 

Air Corps Library accessed 6-11-2023 @ 5:54 pm EDT.

Edited June 11, 2023 by Juggernut

[thierry laurent]

On 6/11/2023 at 11:57 PM, Juggernut said:

per T.O. 1C-47-4, Figure 126, Item 14: No Part Number, Tire 45x17x16 Government Furnished Aircraft Equipment (GFAE).

 

B-17 Tire: 56" per spec, H-3-101M wheel assembly Mfg. Hayes Inc.

 

Air Corps Library accessed 6-11-2023 @ 5:54 pm EDT.

Thanks very much! This confirms some values I found. So, there is no way I can use bomber tires to replace the HpH ones. By the way they are accurate for a DC-3 or some wartime C-47s. So no need to change them if you use the 1944 markings. For a postwar or sixties plane this is different. I have only seen tires with smooth sides on such USAF airframes. Personally, if I cannot go the 3d print route, I will simply sand the kit ones!