Question about P-47 and Tempest canopies

Feb 02, 2006 1 Replies

Some fellow modellers maintain that the bubble-canopy installed on the prototype XP-47K was a bare Hawker Tempest's clear canopy, barely transplanted. I recall to have read instead that, more generally, the rear vision issue that arose so many complaints among the pilots of the early versions of most fighters (Spitfire, P-51 and P-47 itself) was solved by the British, when they first introduced the so-called Malcom hood and then the integral bubble shaped perspex cover. The point is: did the U.S. simply follow the British example as an engineering concept, or did they actually install a British-made Tempest's hood on a lowered-back P-47?



Sincerely, their lower contour seems rather different to me.


I heard it was from a Typhoon. The Tiffy's canopy seems to be a subtly different shape than the Tempest.

Bill Banaszak, MFE Sr.

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