With a wingspan of just under 41 feet and a maximum speed of about 435 miles per hour, the P-47 never exuded the glamour of a P-51, yet was a top performer among World War II fighters. The Thunderbolt fought well against famous enemy fighters, including Germany’s Focke-Wulf Fw 190 and Japan’s Mitsubishi A6M5 Zero. On low-level strafing missions, pilots saw the big, round R-2800 as a solid steel block of armor that protected them from small-arms fire. Thunderbolts flew in every combat theater of the world, producing many air aces, battling and defeating Tiger tanks, and pioneering air-ground coordination techniques still used today.Ī Thunderbolt pilot felt comfortable behind the P-47’s 2,600-horsepower Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp 18-cylinder twin-row radial engine driving a four-bladed propeller. One used the cockpit air vent introduced on the P-47N model to keep a bottle of Coca-Cola cold.Īmerican industry produced 15,683 of the pugnacious and practical Thunderbolts, compared to 15,486 elegant Mustangs and 10,037 sleek P-38 Lightnings.Ī Republic P-47 from the 8th Air Force attacks an anti-aircraft (or “flak”) tower. If you were going to fight a German supply convoy at 15 feet of altitude near the front lines with a lot of metal flying around, you wanted a P-47.” Other pilots found the P-47 cockpit unusually comfortable and spacious. “If we were going to escort a bomber to Berlin, you wanted a P-51. Clayton Kelly Gross, who is better known as a Mustang pilot in the 354th Fighter Group in Europe and is one of the few pilots who flew the P-47 after the P-51. “It was like stepping out of a racing car and climbing into a two and a half ton truck,” said air ace and former Capt. “It was like stepping out of a racing car and climbing into a two and a half ton truck.” 50-caliber Browning M3s, each with 480 rounds of ammunition in belts that were 27 feet in length, possibly the source of the term “the whole nine yards.” While most fighters carried six guns, the Thunderbolt packed eight. With a maximum loaded weight of about 21,200 pounds, the final P-47N version weighed almost 10,000 pounds more than a P-51D Mustang. Although originally conceived as a lightweight interceptor, the P-47 developed as a heavyweight fighter. ![]() The P-47 Thunderbolt, nicknamed “Jug.” The P-47 was one of the most famous fighter planes of World War II.
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