P-47Z Twin-Bolt

Ned Barnett
This is a hypothetical "Zwilling" conversion of two early-model P-47Ds into a devastating ground-attack Twin Bolt

scalemates
tuned in! 🙂

Ned Barnett
Thanks - I had this written up (as a concept) and published in one of the leading Brit model aircraft magazine - I'd come up with several designs, including a twin P-47N (the equivalent of the P-82, but with longer range and much heavier firepower). But this one is the one- or two-man ground attack fighter, with truly devastating 16 .50 caliber machine gun battery, along with three batches of rocket launchers. For short-range missions, bombs replace drop-tanks. Because of the weight involved, the plane features four landing gear struts/wheels.

Wim van der Luijt
Nice one, count me in!

Phil Marchese
What no R-4330s and 4x20mm center section? I read the P-47Z was cancelled in favor of the P-72F Moonbeam .😢

Ned Barnett
Do you mean the McDonnell XP-67 Moonbat? A common mistake. As for the conversion, I'm trying to make it as quick-and-dirty and plausible (as a field mod) as possible. Plus, 16 .50 cal Ma Deuce heavy machine guns are enough to put a world of hurt on anything from a locomotive to a navy destroyer.

Phil Marchese
No, I proposing an update; twin P-72 in gloss black night fighter of which the AAF favorite mix was 4x 50 & 4x20mm.
Here you could go with 20s in the wing center section. Radar pod pylon mounted like a Helldiver . imagine twin counter-rotating props and twin R-4330s!
Aerial blockade was the AAF 's tactical air force tactic for OLYMPIC.

Phil Marchese
Two of these:Airmodel/Matchbox Republic XP-72 CONTRA-PROP "U-bolt" | Album by Flip (1:72)

Ned Barnett
Totally different concept - XP-72 was a dead-end experiment late in the war. A P-72 double-bolt might have been a decent replacement for the P-82, but the plane wasn't in production. A P-47N double-bolt would have been a more realistic alternative to the P-82, especially with the N's incredible range and hitting power, doubled and redoubled in a Zwilling.

However, i'm looking at designing and building a twin-bolt that could have served in the 9th AF in 1944 to support the break-out from Normandy, long before the XP-72 could have been in production had it not been canceled. So we're looking at three very different concepts - a Twin Razorback D, a Twin long-range N, and a mythical Twin of an experimental interceptor that never entered production. So, Phil, go for it - if you want to do the XP-72, I think Anagrand makes the bird. But a mythic twin of a mythic interceptor is a bit too far from reality for what I'm trying to accomplish. But I appreciate your interest.

Phil Marchese
I engineered and built this XP-72 in the 80s . It is styrene. I was just pulling your leg a little on the range and firepower concept. Of course in reality the A-20G/K filled your role until the long delayed 14 x 50 A-26 arrived in the ETO.

Ned Barnett
I was thinking of a fighter counterpart to the 2nd TAC AF Typhoon - ground attack fighter vs. ground attack light bomber. And I was having fun, too, thinking about a pre-P-82 zwilling