this post was submitted on 15 Feb 2026
97 points (100.0% liked)

HistoryPhotos

1313 readers
143 users here now

HistoryPhotos is for photographs (or, if it can be found, film) of the past, recent or distant! Give us a little snapshot of history!

Rules

  1. Be respectful and inclusive.
  2. No harassment, hate speech, or trolling.
  3. Foster a continuous learning environment.
  4. No genocide or atrocity denialism.
  5. Photos MUST be at LEAST 10 years old, and ideally over 20. We appreciate that we are living through events which will become history, but this is ultimately not a comm for news or current affairs, but events which have occurred some time in the past.

Related Communities:

founded 8 months ago
MODERATORS
Deceptichum@quokk.au
sga@piefed.social
PugJesus@piefed.social
97
Colorized photo of ground crew loading .50 cal ammunition into a P-47 Thunderbolt. 1944. (lemmy.world)
submitted 1 month ago by setsneedtofeed@lemmy.world to c/historyphotos@piefed.social
12 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Ground crew members carefully load .50 caliber M2 ammunition into the wings of a P-47 Thunderbolt, the legendary U.S. fighter of World War II. Each of its eight wing-mounted guns could hold up to 425 rounds, making the “Jug” a fearsome force in air-to-air combat and ground attack missions, built for durability and intense aerial battles in 1944.

all 13 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] Tar_alcaran@sh.itjust.works 21 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I always wondered how the hell those old land planes held thousands of round of ammo.

Turns out the answer is "that's what wings are for"

[–] clucose@lemmy.ml 8 points 1 month ago (3 children)

But where‘s the tank then?

[–] DarrinBrunner@lemmy.world 21 points 1 month ago (3 children)

Mostly, they stay on the ground.

[–] clucose@lemmy.ml 7 points 1 month ago

uff

[–] BigDanishGuy@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 month ago

Mostly, not the Russian ones in Ukraine though

[–] real_squids@sopuli.xyz 8 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Under the seat

edit: side view where you can tell the shape

[–] Tar_alcaran@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 month ago

In these single engine WW2 era fighters, generally between the engine and the cockpit. So, basically right up against the pilot's knees and above their feet.

The Spitfire specifically had two tanks, a smaller lower one to make room for the rudder pedals.

[–] Baggie@lemmy.zip 8 points 1 month ago

I developed a basic understanding of how weight works in flight based on too much time in Kerbal space program. It's fascinating how much it makes sense to put stuff in the wings. Putting stuff in the actually body that you intend to lose during the flight would throw off the weight distribution way too much.

[–] homesweethomeMrL@lemmy.world 4 points 1 month ago

The whole nine yards?