P-47 Guide

[fyvsix]

Thanks for all the kind words and good input. As always Stoney's comments are gospel, Perhaps I make a few revisions.

It took about 6 hours to put together to answer one question.

For MjTalon, feel free to use this as a reference as long as you give me credit when you do.

Boiler, I read somewhere that it was modeled with a Paddle blade, maybe I'm wrong though.

Delirium & Tony, I meant that you drain the main and save a bit of aux becuase it seems like you get hit in the main a lot.

[Stoney]

Read that too del. Always drain Main first incase you get a fuel hit on your main, you'll have some left in the aux to RTB.

I think Delirium mis-stated his post.  Given the context of the rest, I think he meant to say "I'm not sure why you would drain the Main first".  I'm personally not sure that the Aux tank on the Jug makes that much difference.  Given that the Main tank on a Jug is forward of the cockpit, and the Aux tank is underneath the cockpit, the stations, relative to the position in the Jug versus most planes, don't look like they're in positions that would create a huge difference.  I'll caveat that by saying that I've never seen a P-47 Weight and Balance sheet to know what the CG envelope is, nor where the actual CG is for our in-game planes at each fuel loading condition.

Delirium alludes to the fact that in most in-game aircraft, the Aux tank is located further aft, and therefore decreases spin recovery when full; i.e. drain the Aux to make the plane more stable.  A good example is the P-51, which, IMO, shows the most conspicuous effect of a more aft-loaded condition.  I have not noticed as large an effect in the Jug, in-game.

[1pLUs44]

Man, this may have to go on the 40th FS website.

[Stoney]

As always Stoney's comments are gospel...

As flattering as that statement is, I still make mistakes.  Widewing, on the other hand, can be considered gospel regarding the Jug

Boiler, I read somewhere that it was modeled with a Paddle blade, maybe I'm wrong though.

The best example of how the D-11 does not have the paddle blade prop is in comparison to the D25 which does.  Notice that the D-25 climbs much better than the D-11, even though it is heavier.

[Delirium]

I think Delirium mis-stated his post.  

Yes, I did.

That is what I get for reading the forums at work and actually trying to get stuff done.

The P47's main tanks are beneath the pilot and in front of the cockpit, well ahead of the CoG.

The Aux tanks are definitely at or behind the CoG, I'm not sure why would ever want to carry fuel there unless you had to.

[bj229r]

Read that too del. Always drain Main first incase you get a fuel hit on your main, you'll have some left in the aux to RTB.

And the fuel hit is ALways on the main, aux only provides 10 min flying time, its weight has to be negligible

[Mr Blue]

very very nice read...
liked the bombing part two.. gota try some of that stuff.. 
thx

[Stoney]

Yes, I did.

That is what I get for reading the forums at work and actually trying to get stuff done.

The P47's main tanks are beneath the pilot and in front of the cockpit, well ahead of the CoG.

The Aux tanks are definitely at or behind the CoG, I'm not sure why would ever want to carry fuel there unless you had to.

I'm not so sure about their positions relative to the CG.  The Main is placed right behind the leading edge of the wing in front of the panel area of the cockpit.  The Aux is under the seat area of the cockpit, just forward of the trailing edge of the wing.  This puts all of the fuel within a fairly narrow (109 inch ~ 9 foot) station envelope that also includes the pilot and everything in the wings (including landing gear and weapons).  So, again, without having seen a CG diagram for the Jug, I'd say that's a fairly narrow area compared to some planes.  The CG isn't necessarily right on the 1/4 chord point of the wing, but even if it is, the Aux tank would have a fairly small moment even when full.

[Chalenge]

I'm not sure why you would drain the aux tank first, it is behind the Center of Gravity and would likely increase the risk of spins. Doing so in 'case you get hit' seems a bit silly to me, almost akin to me flying my P38 with only one engine, in case one gets damaged.

Wait I always thought a tail heavy plane spins easiest. Did I read this wrong or do I need to check my meds?

EDIT: Should have read all the way through the posts first... sorry.

[Anodizer]

Forgive me if my info is wrong.....  But, I was told to use the main tank first and use the aux tank last because the aux tank is deeper inside the plane and less likely to get hit in a fight...

Yes, I did.

That is what I get for reading the forums at work and actually trying to get stuff done.

The P47's main tanks are beneath the pilot and in front of the cockpit, well ahead of the CoG.

The Aux tanks are definitely at or behind the CoG, I'm not sure why would ever want to carry fuel there unless you had to.

[Stoney]

Well, personally, the Jug's susceptibility to main fuel tank hits typically results from low 6 shots in my experience.  In that respect, the Aux tank should be the first one hit, as bullets would practically have to travel through the entire length of the fuselage and through the cockpit to hit the main.  That said, I have no idea how AH selects the damaged components that are placed in the fuselage.  Also, I don't know if anyone could collect reliable data that shows that the Main gets hit more than the Aux.

One thing good thing about the P-47N is that you also have the option to leave a little gas in the wing tanks if you take 100% internal fuel.  At 75%, there's really not enough gas in the wing tanks to give any credible additional fuel.  Of course, loading all the fuel in the wing tanks seems to affect the roll rate.  Personally, I typically load 75% with no drop tanks on P-47N sorties.  If I'm trying to "furball" it or use it for attack sorties, I typically only load 50%

[DustyR]

Excellent read fellows -- this should be stickied as proper way to fight/survive in a Jug.    

[BoilerDown]

I too have noticed that the main tank gets holed fairly easily in the Jug, and if its the only thing with gas left in it, your day is over early.  So I agree to save the Aux fuel for backup in case this happens.  Unfortunately in order to have more than a splash of fuel in the Aux, at least in the D model, you have to be at full fuel... and a lot of the time that's undesirable due to the extra weight.

[Stoney]

My typical fuel loads:

D11  100% (almost always, regardless of mission type)
D25  75%
D40  75%
N     75%

If the fight is a little farther away, I'll bump the D25/D40 up to 100% internal.  Let's face it, unless you use WEP after takeoff, the Jug won't climb worth a darn anyway, so don't worry about takeoff weight.  Concentrate on being at "combat" weight once you're over the target.

[Nightshift82]

I like to leave about 1/8 to 1/4 in the aux before I switch to the main tank.