P-47 Thunderbolt long range tanks

[Hamiltonian]

I'm just starting to model an aircraft attached to 135 Sq. RAF in May 1945, a Thunderbolt P-47D-22. And I want to model it on a specific day, May 2, 1945, when 135 Sq. strafed the beaches south of Rangoon in support of the Operation Dracula landing.

I'm trying to decide what sort of drop tanks I need on this aircraft.

Round trip distance from Akyab probably about 650 miles. No bombs were dropped, so I presume none were carried. Take-off 0445, return 0830.

I have photographs of 135 Sq. aircraft with paired 150 US gallon wing tanks, and also of aircraft carrying three 108 US gallon tanks, but none from the day in question.

 

Does the absence of bombing necessarily imply that all three pylons were occupied, or would the fuel load preclude a bomb? Or might there be reasons not to carry a bomb? (It had been established the previous day that the area was unexpectedly lightly defended.)

Any other practical reasons that would make one arrangement of tanks more likely than another?

 

Thanks in advance for any thoughts you can offer.

[Graham Boak]

650 miles is probably within the radius of a P-47 without tanks; assuming the RAF aircraft had the LR mods, and given the date it seems more than likely that they would.  However it might have been a bit tight after making all due allowances for theatre reserves etc., so I'd expect them to carry a pair of tanks.  Certainly no need for a third on the centreline.

[Hamiltonian]

Thanks for that. Reading the squadron record book for the day before, 135 was also due to operate south of Rangoon but ran into storm clouds which they tried to climb over. The record book states that they abandoned the operation because fuel consumption was too high and some pilots were reporting that "the belly tanks were nearing exhaustion". They took off at 1210 and returned at 1415.

Might that indicate that a single belly tank was all that was deemed necessary for the proposed operation?

[dogsbody]

From the IWM.

 

https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205209749

 

https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205207777

 

 

 

Chris

[Hamiltonian]

21 minutes ago, dogsbody said:

From the IWM.

 

https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205209749

 

https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205207777

 

 

 

Chris

Thanks. I have these, and a few more, showing 135 Sq. with the 150-gallon wing tanks. I'd assumed these were standard for this squadron, but I turned up a photo in Geoff Thomas's Royal Air Force Thunderbolts, showing a 135 Sq. T-bolt at Jumchar in Feb 1945, sporting three 108-gallon tanks for "a long range escort to Rangoon". That's probably about 850 miles round trip. Which is what left me pondering how I should equip my Thunderbolt for 650 miles, 3-3/4 hours airborne.

 

[sloegin57]

May I refer you to this :-

 

 

Dennis

 

[Hamiltonian]

5 hours ago, sloegin57 said:

May I refer you to this :-

 

 

Dennis

 

Apologies if I should have tacked my question on to the end of that thread. That was my original intention, but for some reason I couldn't find it at the time I was posting my own question.

It was useful in terms of understanding the kinds of tank available, but I'm trying to get a grip on how these tanks might be used practically - the sort of operational distances at which they might be mounted.