Description

The XP-47H Thunderbolt featured unique wheels with three spokes (the standard Bendix P-47 wheel had six).

Why?

An educated guess is that they were an attempt to shave weight. The goal of the XP-47H was speed, and other weight-saving measures were already in evidence, such as the removal of its armament. While removing three spokes from each wheel can’t have yielded huge savings, if you’re trying to shave off every single ounce that you can, I guess it makes some kind of sense?

Anyway, these wheels are the standard 6-spoke Bendix wheels modified down to three spokes, which seems the likeliest explanation for how the XP-47H wheels came about.

Current pre-order renders are still WIP – the final release will have full sidewall detail, realistic weighting, and all that jazz.