P-40N was planned as a “light weight” version, reducing the .50 cals from 6 to 4 and landing gear tires from 30X10 inch to 27 inch with spoked rims. I know the “lost” 2 mgs were reinstated after the pilots P&Med. What about the landing gear? Did they go back to the 30 inch tires? Were the rims the same diameter? Hasegawa has the spoked rims but the tires are the same for all versions. (30 inch?) Would big tires with spoked rims be accurate? Or should I see if I can find a set of small wheels at a reasonable price? Ultracast makes a set of 27 inch wheels BUT sellers want $12- $25 shipping for them !!! (For two little pieces of resin? Whole kits ship for less!)
FWIW the P-40N I purchased had the six MG’s, and the tires appeared to be the larger type, although I replaced them with True Detail wheels/tires to get the correct diamond tread pattern.
Yeah, trying to figure out if the True Detail set (48-055) are 30 or 27 inch wheel. Package does not say, just says E-N. As far as I know Ns used small , E used large. Ultracast says they are 27 inch but I’m not keen on paying 5 times the cost of the parts for shipping. (couple ebay sellers have them , same price, but only 3 times the price for shipping. BOHICA!) Also trying to find out if the real ones, the rims were same diameter and if the "light weight " rim/tire combo was discontinued or interchangeable with "normal " ones.
How were the two tires designated (not “Guys say . . .” or "The diameter was . . ., etc.)?
For example, 7.50-20 and 9.00-20 vehicle tires use the same diameter rims but 9.00-16 and 9.00-20 tires don’t.
EDIT: I found your answer after a five minutes search for p-40n manual. From the E&M instructions:
KL
Thanks. That helps. I knew the 30s were 30X10. (“P-40N was planned as a “light weight” version, reducing the .50 cals from 6 to 4 and landing gear tires from 30X10 inch to 27 inch with spoked rims.” From original post) Other one all I’d seen was 27 inch, no width. (I presume , like car tires, the 27/30 is the rim dia,) And the s/n cut off for the “change” is informative. I still wonder if the tire/ rim was interchangeable. (If an aircraft with 27s was operating from a muddy strip if the 30s could be used for better weight distribution. ) I’d think wheel wells were same size. And need to figure out what size the True Detail ones are.
“A tracked vehicle, a wheeled vehicle, and a wingy thing” walk into a bar… ?
“Interchangeable” is not equivalent to “fits”, it also has to work the same way. That is, a large wheel may fit on the small wheel’s strut spindle but the brakes may not work, the tire rubs against the hydraulic lines, or who knows what. The reason that similar-appearing items have different part numbers is because they are not interchangeable, one for the other, in either direction. It’s possible that the later strut has a different P/N because it can accept both sizes of wheel while the earlier strut can’t, but the description in the E&MI doesn’t seem right if that’s the case. If it were, I’d expect the parenthetical descriptions to be (for 30-inch wheels only) and (for 27-inch or 30-inch wheels).
What you are looking for might only be determined by looking at a lot of photos of the real planes.
KL