Strange bubbled canopy in P-47D razorback

[SOLIDKREATE]

Has anyone ever seen this strange Razorback canopy?

 

[Finkeren]

I had it as an option on a model kit I built once, but I can't remember which plane or theater it was supposed to be used on.

[6./ZG26_Emil]

For photography maybe?

[Bearcat]

That's what I was thinking.. a reconnaissance.

[sallee]

Looks like a way of seeing what's on your six. Like a Malcolm hood.

[II/JG17_HerrMurf]

Recon bird.

[Heliopause]

_{Seems to be a 365th FG machine.}

 

[sallee]

http://www.axis-and-allies-paintworks.com/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?132.290

 

Another picture here of Cass Hough in front of (the same?) one.

 

It has a gunsight, so unlikely to be unarmed.

 

Were p47s ever used for reconnaissance? Looks to me as if the bulge would only give you a downward view of the wing.

 

Interesting!

[Rjel]

Here's another picture of, I'd guess, the same P-47. Roger Freeman's book Thunderbolt says it was an experiment to help look back over the tail.

 

[Lusekofte]

The Malcolm hood adapded to the P 51 made strange aero physics towards the elevator and rudder I read. but not mentioned in this article. Either way improving vision is a good thing in any fighter pilot point of view 

 

When the Mustang III was delivered to England, the RAF decided that the hinged cockpit canopy offered too poor a view for European operations. A fairly major modification was made in which the original framed hinged hood was replaced by a bulged Perspex frameless canopy that slid to the rear on rails. This canopy gave the pilot much more room and the huge goldfish bowl afforded a good view almost straight down or directly to the rear. It was manufactured and fitted by the British corporation R Malcolm & Co, and became familiar as the Malcolm Hood. The hood was fitted to most RAF Mustang IIIs, and many USAAF Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-51B/C fighters received the modification as well.

    In search of a more lasting solution to the problem cockpit visibility from the P-51B/C, a P-51B [43-12101] was modified with a teardrop-shaped all-round cockpit canopy and redesignated XP-51D. Having proved that the concept was valid, two P-51B-10-NAs [42-106539/106540] were completed on the production line with Plexiglas bubble canopies and redesignated P-51Ds. Those became the prototypes for the famed P-51D series of Mustangs.

    Yet many pilots regarded the Malcolm-hooded P-51B/C as the best of the entire series. It was lighter, faster, and had crisper handling than the bubble-hooded P-51D and actually had a better all-round view. Its primary weakness was in its armament—only four guns, which often jammed. Some modifications applied to the P-51D to improve the ammunition feed racks were later retrofitted into P-51B/Cs, which made their guns less prone to jamming. With modified guns and a Malcolm hood, the P-51B/C was arguably a better fighter than the P-51D, with better visibility, lower weight, and without the structural problems which afflicted the D. Emergency bail-outs were also easier.

[sallee]

http://p47.kitmaker.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=SquawkBox&file=index&req=viewtopic&topic_id=141440

 

Some more here.