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P-47 Thunderbolt

Country United States Manufacturer Republic Aviation Company Primary Role Fighter Maiden Flight 6 May 1941

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseThe P-47 Thunderbolt fighters were designed by two Georgian immigrants to the United States, Alexander de Seversky and Alexander Kartveli. The first prototype was reviewed by the United States Army Air Corps in Jun 1940, and an order was placed in Sep 1940. The design was nearly all-metal, and contained advanced features such as self-sealing fuel tanks, air conditioned cockpits, and large turbochargers to supplement the Pratt and Whitney engines. Although the resulting fighters were rugged, the features meant they were to be large fighters weighing in at 4,490 kilograms even before armaments were installed. In fact, they were the heaviest single-engine fighter in operation across all countries during the WW2 era. The size and weight also meant they required long runways in order to take off and land, as well as their relative ineffectiveness in their originally intended role of high altitude interceptors. The first time US Army Air Force 365th Fighter Group's Second Lieutenant Paul L. Van Cleef saw his fighter, his first impression was "Wow!!! That's BIG! Does it fly?"

ww2dbaseAfter working out many initial problems, P-47 Thunderbolt fighters were sent to the United Kingdom in late 1942 to join the Eighth Air Force, where their first main missions included bomber escort and ground sweeping operations. P-47 Thunderbolt fighters also served in the Pacific, performing escort missions out of Australia by 1943. By 1944, they were present in all operational theaters involving the United States Army Air Force except the US Territory of Alaska. Later in the war, they gradually took on the role of fighter-bombers in Europe, sweeping German ground targets with their eight machine guns and optional bombs or rockets. By the end of the war, they were among USAAF's most-used fighter-bombers, having destroyed thousands of tanks, locomotives, trucks, and parked aircraft. Maintenance crews liked them for their reliable construction and ease of maintenance in the field. Since they were not effective as interceptors, that role was largely taken over by other models such as the P-51 Mustang fighters. The Soviets also operated 203 P-47 Thunderbolt fighters, though they were relegated to rear areas for defense duties.

ww2dbaseAlthough crash-landing capabilities, if one could describe it that way, would never be a primary feature during development, P-47 Thunderbolt fighters were known for it when it was absolutely necessary. "A lot of people said it landed better on its belly than it did on wheels", said Mac McWhorter of US Army Air Force 365th Fighter Group; "It was an ideal belly-landing plane." First Lieutenant Neal E. Worley of the same unit was forced to do the same as well, and he reported that the heavy radial engine acted as a battering ram of sorts, knocking down trees and bushes in the path of a crashing P-47 Thunderbolt fighter. "There isn't a P-47 pilot alive who wouldn't elect to belly one in rather than bail out", he said.

ww2dbaseDuring the P-47 design's production life, a total of 15,683 examples were built.

ww2dbaseSources:

Robert Dorr, Fighting Hitler's Jets

Robert Dorr and Thomas D. Jones, Hell Hawks!

Wikipedia



Last Major Revision: Jan 2009

P-47 Thunderbolt Timeline

6 May 1941 P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft took its maiden flight. 13 Oct 1941 A production order was placed for the improved Republic P-47D Thunderbolt fighter. 8 Aug 1942 The Republic XP-47B prototype aircraft crashed during flight trials. 13 Apr 1943 The first operational sortie of the new Republic P-47B Thunderbolt aircraft was undertaken by the US 8th Air Force based in the United Kingdom. US 8th Air Force would provide high altitude escorts and would engage in fighter sweeps. 3 Jul 1943 The prototype aircraft XP-47K was completed. This aircraft incorporated the all-round-vision bubble-type canopy of a Hawker Typhoon, which was soon adopted as standard on all later production models of the P-47D. 30 Jul 1943 Fitted with new drop-tanks which enable the P-47 aircraft of US VIII Fighter Command to reach the Dutch-German border, eight squadrons of P-47 aircraft were despatched to escort home 186 B-17 bombers returning from a raid on Kassel, Germany. 4 Aug 1944 An extensively modified Thunderbolt fighter (XP-47J) became the first airscrew driven aircraft to exceed 500 mph in level flight with a recorded speed of 504 mph. However the P-47J did not go into production as the Republic development team chose to concentrate on the more advanced XP-72 project.

SPECIFICATIONS

P-47D



Machinery One Pratt & Whitney R-2800-59 twin-row 18-cylinder radial engine rated at 2,535hp Armament 8x12.7mm Browning M2 machine guns, optional 907kg bombs or 10x127mm rockets Crew 1 Span 12.42 m Length 11.00 m Height 4.45 m Wing Area 27.87 m² Weight, Empty 4,535 kg Weight, Maximum 7,935 kg Speed, Maximum 685 km/h Rate of Climb 15.90 m/s Service Ceiling 13,100 m Range, Normal 1,290 km

P-47C



Machinery One Pratt & Whitney R-2800-59 twin-row 18-cylinder radial engine rated at 2,535hp Armament 8x12.7mm Browning M2 machine guns Crew 1 Span 12.42 m Length 11.00 m Height 4.45 m Wing Area 27.87 m² Weight, Empty 4,535 kg Weight, Maximum 6,776 kg Speed, Maximum 692 km/h Rate of Climb 15.90 m/s Service Ceiling 13,100 m Range, Normal 1,290 km

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