Small numbers of P-47s were also provided to China, Iran, Turkey and Yugoslavia. Laughlin, of the 362nd Fighter Group, smokes a cigar with his dog mascot “Prince” inside the cockpit of his P-47D serial 44-33287 “Five By Five” (coded B8-A) A two-seat P-47 Thunderbolt nicknamed “Astra” of the 365th Fighter Group. During the Italian campaign, the "1º Grupo de Caça da Força Aérea Brasileira" (Brazilian Air Force 1st Fighter Squadron) flew a total of 48 P-47Ds in combat (of a total of 67 received, 19 of which were backup aircraft). "P-47" redirects here. ", "The Turbosupercharger and the Airplane Power Plant. Panzer IV vs Sherman: France 1944 by Steven Zaloga, This page was last edited on 21 December 2020, at 18:41. Nakajima Ki44-II Hei Hasegawa • Armor plating to protect the pilot. Historians argue that the nickname "Jug" was short for "Juggernaut" when aviators began using the longer word as an alternate nickname. They proved devastating in tandem with Spitfires during the Japanese breakout attempt at the Sittang Bend in the final months of the war. All eight guns gave the fighter a combined rate of fire of approximately 100 rounds per second. The P-47 Thunderbolt was designed by Alexander Kartveli, a man of Georgian descent. Sep 4, 2020 - Explore Robert Miner's board "French P-47D Thunderbolts" on Pinterest. By Cory Graff Air & Space Magazine, "P-47 Thunderbolt Named Official State Aircraft of Indiana", "Design Analysis of the P-47 Thunderbolt", WWII P-47 pilots' Encounter Reports (4th, 56th, 78th, 352nd, 353rd, 355th, 361st FGs), How to Fly the P-47: Pilot Familiarization. Spitfire. The fastest model was the XP-47J, which did not go into production. [10] The armament was eight .50 caliber (12.7 mm) "light-barrel" Browning AN/M2 machine guns, four in each wing. Though the XP-47B had its share of teething troubles, the newly reorganized United States Army Air Forces placed an order for 171 production aircraft, the first being delivered in December 1941. Since the Mustang was more vulnerable to being shot down, (and many were lost to anti-aircraft fire), some former P-47 pilots suggested the more durable Thunderbolt should have been sent to Korea in the Mustang's place. The P-47 design team headed by Alexander Kartveli, Republic Aircraft Corporation's chief engineer, originally presented a design that was to be powered by a 1,150 hp The engine exhaust gases were routed into a pair of wastegate-equipped pipes that ran along each side of the cockpit to drive the turbosupercharger turbine at the bottom of the fuselage, about halfway between cockpit and tail. Any plane that attempted to break off contact by going into a dive would soon be overcome by the remarkable speed of the P-47. Lieutenant Colonel Robert Samuel Johnson collaborated with aviation author Martin Caidin to write his autobiographical story of the 56th Fighter Group, Thunderbolt!, in 1958. The air-conditioned cockpit was roomy and the pilot's seat was comfortable—"like a lounge chair", as one pilot later put it. A small number of Republic P-43 Lancers were built but Republic had been working on an improved P-44 Rocket with a more powerful engine, as well as on the AP-10 fighter design. Less than half reached operational units, and they were rarely used in combat. ", Unbreakable World War II aircraft that were shot to hell—and came back. P-47D specs: 430 MPH, eight 50 caliber machine guns. The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, or "Jug" as it was known, was one of the main US Army Air Force (USAAF) fighters of World War II.The P-47 was a big, rugged, overbuilt aircraft that was effective in air combat but proved particularly useful as a fighter-bomber. Luftwaffe ace Heinz Bär said that the P-47 "could absorb an astounding amount of lead [from shooting at it] and had to be handled very carefully". Spitfires in turns. Due to continued postwar service with U.S. military and foreign operators, a number of P-47s have survived to the present day, and a few are still flying. The Cuban Air Force took delivery of 29 ex-USAF airframes and spares. Since this phenomena was not unique only to the P-47, later model airspeed indicators showed airspeeds up to 700 mph. Other media include Thunderbolt, a 1947 color documentary film directed by John Sturges and William Wyler, featuring James Stewart and Lloyd Bridges and narrated by Robert Lowery. Most importantly, the P-47 served as an excellent transition platform to heavier jet fighters, including the F-84 Thunderjet, starting in 1953.[30]. P-47D Thunderbolt "Hairless Joe" Camo 1500mm (59") Wingspan - ARF from Nexa - NXA1002-001. The Republic P-47 was the successor of a line of airplanes derived from the Seversky P-35, the XP-41, P-43 Lancer and XP-44 Rocket.The P-47 design team headed by Alexander Kartveli, Republic Aircraft Corporation's chief engineer, originally presented a design that was to be powered by a 1,150 hp Allison V-1710-39 engine with an armament of only two 0.50 caliber inch machine guns. Later was received the code 7+9 while under evaluation at, 85 units 1st Brazilian Fighter Group, 1944–1954. Once paddle blade propellers were added to the P-47 in early 1944, climb performance improved significantly. At first, they viewed their new fighter with misgivings. Although there were minor problems, such as some cockpit smoke that turned out to be due to an oil drip, the aircraft proved impressive in its early trials. This provided a decisive method of breaking off combat when necessary, but at low and medium altitudes it could not match the rate of climb or maneuverability of German fighters. The initial Thunderbolt flyers, 56th Fighter Group, was sent overseas to join the 8th Air Force. The P-47 Thunderbolt, nicknamed the Jug, served the United States Army Air Corps (USAAF) in World War II, and 15,636 were built between 1941 and 1945. P-47 Pilot's Flight Operation Instructions, April 10, 1942. fighter pilots banteringly suggested that their American a 1943 Republic advertisement for the Thunderbolt in, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Republic_P-47_Thunderbolt&oldid=995560417, World War II fighter aircraft of the United States, Short description is different from Wikidata, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, Articles with unsourced statements from July 2016, Articles with unsourced statements from March 2017, Articles with unsourced statements from January 2013, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, XP-47N flying over the Pacific during World War II, 40-3052 (serial number transferred from abortive XP-47A), R-2800-21 engine; modified metal-covered ailerons; trim tabs; sliding canopy; windshield defroster; 41-5938 converted to, R-2800-21 engine; strengthened tail surfaces, R-2800-21 engine; eight-inch extension added to fuselage forward of cockpit, R-2800-21 engine; belly shackle provided for bomb or fuel tank, R-2800-21 engine; new radio, instruments, and antenna; cockpit heater, R-2800-21 engine; identical to P-47C-2-RE, R-2800-21 engine; the first variant of the P-47 built at Republic's new factory in, R-2800-21 engine; nearly identical to P-47C-2-RE; additional cowl flaps and pilot armor, R-2800-21 engine; turbocharger shroud removed, R-2800-21 engine; identical to P-47D-2-RE, R-2800-21 engine; minor upgrade to D-2-RA, R-2800-21 engine; Evansville-built P-47D-5-RE, R-2800-21 engine; minor changes to electrical system, New R-2800-63 engine and changes to water injection system, R-2800-63 engine; contained all features introduced between the D-5 and D-10; water injection linked to throttle lever, R-2800-63 engine; identical to P-47D-11-RE, R-2800-63 engine; first model of P-47 with underwing pylons; stronger wings, R-2800-63 engine; 42-23297 and 42-23298 converted to, R-2800-63 engine; minor changes to fuel system, R-2800-63 engine; identical to P-47D-16-RE, New R-2800-59 engine; modified underwing pylons; 42-76614 fitted with increased fuel capacity and bubble canopy as, R-2800-59 engine; identical to P-47D-20-RE, R-2800-59 engine; changes to water injection system, R-2800-59 engine; Farmingdale factory switched to Hamilton Standard paddle-bladed propeller, R-2800-59 engine; Evansville factory switched to Curtiss Electric paddle-bladed propeller, R-2800-59 engine; bubble canopy; fuel capacity increased from 305 to 370 US gal (254 to 308 imp gal; 1,155 to 1,401 l), R-2800-59 engine; identical to P-47D-25-RE, R-2800-59 engine; improved water injection system, R-2800-59 engine; Farmingdale factory switched to Curtiss Electric paddle-bladed propeller; radio compass added, R-2800-59 engine; Identical to P-47D-28-RE, R-2800-59 engine; Dive brakes added under wings, R-2800-59 engine; Identical to P-47D-30-RE, R-2800-59 engine; Dorsal fin added to vertical stabilizer, P-47Gs were built by Curtiss and used for stateside training; the P-47G-CU was identical to the P-47C-RE, Identical to P-47D-10-RE; two converted to, Lightweight prototype; newly built airframe; reduced armament, High-speed variant using R-2800-57 engine designed to combat German jet and rocket-powered aircraft, Long-range variant designed for service in the Pacific Theater; R-2800-57 engine; larger wings with squared-off tips; increased fuel capacity; automation of some engine controls, R-2800-57 engine; "zero-length" stubs for 5-inch rockets; autopilot, R-2800-73 or -77 engine; new bomb rack and gunsight; autopilot not fitted to this model, R-2800-73 or -77 engine; backup fuel system added, R-2800-73 or -77 engine; strengthened wings and more automation of engine control systems, R-2800-73 or -77 engine; the final P-47Ns, and hence the final P-47s, were built by the Evansville factory, T9+LK was probably used for several reconnaissance missions over England just before the D-Day invasion. The turbosupercharger in the P-47 gave the powerplant its maximum power at 27,000 ft (8,200 m) and, in the thin air above 30,000 ft (9,100 m), the Thunderbolt remained fast and nimble compared to other aircraft. P-47s flew more than 546,000 combat sorties between March 1943 and August 1945, destroying 11,874 enemy aircraft, some 9,000 locomotives and about 6,000 armored vehicles and tanks. To illustrate the rapidity of the increase in airspeed of the P-47 in a high speed dive, an event occurred during testing on November 13, 1942 by Lieutenant Harold Comstock and Roger Dyar of the 63rd Fighter Group who were performing a test level run at 30,000 feet at over 400 mph. [citation needed], P-47s were operated by several Allied air arms during World War II. See more ideas about p 47 thunderbolt, thunderbolt, wwii aircraft. P-47s served as spotters for rescue aircraft such as the OA-10 Catalina and Boeing B-17H. The first P-47 air combat took place 15 April with Major Don Blakeslee of the 4th FG scoring the Thunderbolt's first air victory (against a Focke-Wulf Fw 190). P47D 460th Fighter squadron Philippines 1944, P47N 437th fighter squadron Iwo Jima 1945, P47D Groupe de chasse III/3 Ardennes 1944, Broadcast radio interviews of several wartime P-47 pilots appear on the CD audiobook USAAF at War 1942–45, including an account by Lieutenant J.K. Dowling of ground support operations around Cherbourg in June 1944, and a group of four pilots from the 362nd Fighter Wing (Ninth Air Force) in conversation at their mess in Rouvres, France on 24 December 1944 during the Battle of the Bulge.[73]. [28] In the early 1980s, this unit was awarded the "Presidential Unit Citation" by the American government in recognition for its achievements in World War II. "[38] (Blakeslee's early-model P-47C had not been fitted with the new paddle blade propeller). We would see it coming from behind, and pull up fast and the P-47 couldn't follow and we came around and got on its tail in this way.[41]. In 1948, the Chinese Nationalists employed 70 P-47Ds and 42 P-47Ns brought to Taiwan in 1952. The P-47 Thunderbolt, nicknamed the Jug, served the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) in World War II with distinction. Thunderbolts flew escort for RAF Liberators in the bombing of Rangoon. colleagues would be able to take evasive action, when attacked by undoing their harnesses and dodging about the fuselages of their huge mounts. A típust repülő pilóták több becenévvel illették. Ducted air is then fed to the centrifugal impeller and returned via an intercooler to the engine under pressure. In poor weather on 7 November 1943 while flying a P-47D-2-RA on a bomber escort mission, 2nd Lt. William E. Roach of 358th Fighter Squadron, 355th Fighter Group made an emergency landing on a German airfield. However, mistakes in aircraft recognition were common while making split-second decisions in the frantic pace of combat. At this altitude, this airspeed would put them beyond the speed of sound, but this would only be indicated airspeed since the terminal velocity of the P-47 is 600 mph,10 and the airspeed indicator was a straight pitot-static system with no air data computer for altitude and temperature correction. [40] The Thunderbolt was the fastest-diving American aircraft of the war—it could reach speeds of 550 mph (480 kn; 890 km/h)[citation needed]. The XP-47A, which had little in common with the new design, was abandoned. But German pilots gradually learned to avoid diving away from a Thunderbolt. The cowling admitted cooling air for the engine, left and right oil coolers, and the turbosupercharger intercooler system. Republic P-47 Thunderbolt (lempiniminä ”T-bolt”, ”Jug” ’ruukku, tonkka’ tai ”Juggernaut”) oli yhdysvaltalainen, toisen maailmansodan aikainen yksimoottorinen ja -paikkainen hävittäjälentokone.Venäläis-amerikkalaisten Alexander de Severskyn ja Alexander Kartvelin suunnittelema yksinkertainen ja vahvarakenteinen kone saattoi saavuttaa syöksyissä lähes … The first P-47 combat mission took place 10 March 1943 when the 4th FG took their aircraft on a fighter sweep over France. Before the war was over, a total of 15,579 Thunderbolts were built, about two-thirds of which reached operational squadrons overseas. If a conventional undercarriage were to be employed, its suspension would have been too far outboard to permit the wing installation of the guns and ammunition Marine Corps fighters, the Grumman F6F Hellcat and the Vought F4U Corsair. Many were sent to training units. The unit claimed 677.5 air victories and 311 ground kills, at the cost of 128 aircraft. A present-day U.S. ground-attack aircraft, the Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II, takes its name from the P-47. One of the deadliest ground-attack platforms of World War II, the P-47 Thunderbolt saw extensive action in the European, Pacific and China-Burma-India theaters of operation. The USAAC notified Kartveli that the XP-47A and the XP-44 Rocket contracts were canceled since the P-43/XP-44 airframe was too small to meet the new requirements. in our nimble Spitfire Vs—now this lumbering seven-ton [76] The film Fighter Squadron (1948) depicts a P-47 Thunderbolt unit.[77]. Dec 21, 2019 - Explore William M.'s board "P-47 Thunderbolt", followed by 183 people on Pinterest. It was huge; the British pilots joked that a Thunderbolt pilot could defend himself from a Luftwaffe fighter by running around and hiding in the fuselage. With the end of World War II, orders for 5,934 were cancelled. [18] Lieutenant Colonel Francis S. Gabreski scored 28 victories,[19] Captain Robert S. Johnson scored 27 (with one unconfirmed probable kill leading to some giving his tally as 28),[20] and 56th FG Commanding Officer Colonel Hubert Zemke scored 17.75 kills. give up our beautiful little Nicknamed 'The Jug', it destroyed 160,000 enemy vehicles, 11,874 enemy aircraft, and 9,000 trains. In total 15,636 were built between 1941 and 1945. Lake, Jon. Even now, thirty years after I flew them on operations, the mere sound or sight of a Spitfire brings me a deep feeling of nostalgia and many pleasant memories. The P-47 was designed around the powerful Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp 18-cylinder radial engine, which also powered two U.S. Navy/U.S. See more ideas about p 47 thunderbolt, thunderbolt, wwii aircraft. ", "Republic P-47D-30-RA Thunderbolt (Long Description).". Republic tried to improve the design, proposing the XP-47A but this failed. Director Lawrence Bond depicted the last months of World War II over Germany as told by four P-47 pilots of the 362nd Fighter Group using original, all color 1945 footage. The P-47N was the last variant of the famed P-47 Thunderbolt to ever be produced. The Yakovlev Yak-9, Lavochkin La-5FN, Messerschmitt Bf 109G and Focke-Wulf Fw 190A outperformed the early model P-47 at low and medium altitude, where the P-47 had poor acceleration and performed aerobatics rather reluctantly. It was armed with an impressive eight .50-caliber machine guns with 425 rounds per gun. Allison V-1710-39 [6][Note 3] In 1939, Republic Aviation designed the AP-4 demonstrator powered by a Pratt & Whitney R-1830 radial engine with a belly-mounted turbocharger. ", "1º Grupo de Caça da Força Aérea Brasileira" (Brazilian Air Force 1st Fighter Squadron), List of surviving Republic P-47 Thunderbolts, List of military aircraft of the United States, "Alexander de Seversky, Russian Ace of World War One, Aircraft Designer & Founder of Republic Aviation. She was such a gentle little airplane, without a trace of viciousness. Teljesen feltöltve nehezebb volt, mint a német Do 17 bombázó, így a legnehezebb egymotoros vadászgép volt a háború során. Focke-Wulf Fw 190A. Initial response to the P-47 praised its dive speed and high-altitude performance while criticizing its turning performance and rate of climb (particularly at low-to-medium altitudes). This was difficult since long-legged main landing gear struts were needed to provide ground clearance for the enormous propeller. [Note 2] Both had fled from their homeland, Tbilisi, in Georgia to escape the Bolsheviks. At the time of the Thunderbolt's European debut, radial-engined single-seat fighters were a rarity, the only other such fighter operational in Europe being the Early P-47Ds looked very much similar to the P-47C, but there were 21 variants of this model. As the P-47 Thunderbolt worked up to operational status, it gained a nickname: the "Jug" (because its profile was similar to that of a common milk jug of the time). We were soon to re-equip with the very latest American fighter, the P-47 Thunderbolt. It was lost in an accident on 8 August 1942 but before that mishap, the prototype had achieved a level speed of 412 mph (663 km/h) at 25,800 ft (7,900 m) altitude and had demonstrated a climb from sea level to 15,000 ft (4,600 m) in five minutes.[12]. The P-47 was one of the toughest planes in use in World War 2, and this side-scrolling shoot 'em up puts you in control of one as you take on hordes of Nazis. It was to replace the Seversky P-35 developed earlier by a Russian immigrant named Alexander P. de Seversky. The Chinese Communists captured five P-47Ds from the Chinese Nationalist forces. [37] Other positive attributes included the P-47's ruggedness; it could sustain a large amount of damage and still be able to get its pilot back to base. (The XP-44 Rocket was based on the P-43 Lancer airframe with a radial engine and never made it past the mock-up stage.) I feel genuinely sorry for the modern fighter pilot who has never had the chance to get his hands on a Spitfire—he will never know what real flying was like. [34], Initial response to the P-47 praised its dive speed and high-altitude performance while criticizing its turning performance and rate of climb (particularly at low-to-medium altitudes). The war was moving on and we had to move with it. In a ground attack role, the armor-piercing (AP), armor-piercing incendiary (API), and armor-piercing incendiary tracer (APIT) ammunition proved useful in penetrating thin-skinned and lightly armored German vehicles and exploding their fuel tanks, as well as occasionally damaging some types of enemy armored fighting vehicles (AFVs).[44]. The final model, the P-47N, had extended wings and an additional 100 US gallons of fuel. This allows the engine to deliver more power as the airplane gains altitude in the thinner air of the upper atmosphere. Zemke flew a P-38 for three of his kills. Although the Thunderbolt was certainly big, making it the largest and heaviest WWII single engined single-seat fighter ever built, its sheer size was not to prove detrimental to the Thunderbolt's subsequent operational career. To prevent confusion between the two fighters of the opposing sides, the engine cowlings of the Thunderbolts were painted white and white bands were painted around the vertical and horizontal tail surfaces—an appropriate comment on recognition standards appertaining at that time, as it would seem impossible to mistake the sleek and beautifully-contoured German fighter for the portly Thunderbolt. With increases in fuel capacity as the type was refined, the range of escort missions over Europe steadily increased until the P-47 was able to accompany bombers in raids all the way into Germany. Once the Thunderbolts were cleared for use in 1944, they were used against the Japanese in Burma by 16 RAF squadrons of the South East Asia Command from India. The P-47 Thunderbolt was a World War II fighter aircraft built by Republic Aviation from 1941 to 1945. The P-47 can trace its lineage back to earlier Seversky designs: After a change in the board of directors, Alexander P. de Seversky was removed from the newly reorganized Republic Aviation company, with former Managing Director Wallace Kellett taking over as CEO. They appreciated the high production standards and rational design well-suited to mass production, and the high reliability of the hard-hitting Browning machine guns. Even with its complicated turbosupercharger system, its sturdy airframe and tough radial engine could absorb a lot of damage and still return home.