I was reading with interest the thread regarding the blackening of artillery and aircraft gun ports. I didn’t want to hijack the post so I’m asking my question here.
What was the purpose(s) of blast tubes on the P-47? How come the Thunderbolt had them while other planes like the Corsair, Mustang and others just had their gun muzzles flush or nearly flush with the wing leading edge?
Just wondering.
Thanks!
Eric
I’ve heard they act as a heat shield to protect the leading edges of the wing.
Because they’re awesome.
From what I can gather, the main point of the blast tubes was to protect the leading edge of the wings. I’ve also read some theories that the tubes were employed to maintain accuracy (so rounds weren’t being blown off true by blasts from the other guns).
As to why they stick out all mean like that, if you look at the placement of the M2s in the P-47’s wing, they appear much further forward than on, say, the P-51. I wonder if that also didn’t have impact on gun stability, further necessitating the tubes.
But I’d really be curious if anybody has a horse’s mouth explanation.
I’m pretty well convinced that U.S. plane manufacturers had their own “Awesomeness Department” which engineered the coolness right into their planes. So I can see that as a reason for the blast tubes. I was just wondering if there was some other “official” reason. LOL!
Who do you think designed invasion stripes? Or corrected the Corsair’s landing gear length issues with the meanest-looking wing ever designed? Or thought of shoving a Merlin into the Mustang?
Maybe they were like BASF. “We don’t make the planes you fly. We make the planes you fly…AWESOME”.
See? This is why Chuck Norris is on our side.
Eric
The guns were staggered so that they wouldn’t interfere with each other’s belt feeding into the breech in the wing…they were covered w/ blast tubes for aerodynamic reasons…samr with the Typhoons cannon…
[dto:] i agree.
Ron