Republic P-47 Thunderbolt
The P-47 Thunderbolt (also called The Jug [3]) was a fighter aircraft made by Republic Aviation. It first flew in 1941, and was introduced in 1942. It had a very big Pratt and Whitney R-2800-59 engine, which had more than 2,000 horsepower. Because of this, the P-47 could go more than 430 miles per hour. In fact, it was the biggest engine ever at the time. [4] It had 8 machine guns, 2 more than most fighters. It's shape and speed made it similar to the Fw 190.
| P-47 Thunderbolt | |
|---|---|
 | |
| XP-47N flying over the Pacific during World War II | |
| Role | Fighter-bomber |
| Manufacturer | Republic Aviation |
| Designer | Alexander Kartveli |
| First flight | 6 May 1941 |
| Introduction | November 1942[1] |
| Retired | 1966, Peruvian Air Force |
| Primary users | United States Army Air Forces Royal Air Force French Air Force |
| Produced | 1941–1945 |
| Number built | 15,636 |
| Unit cost | US$83,000 in 1945[2] |
| Variants | Republic XP-72 |
During 1944, the P-51 Mustang was lighter, faster, and could turn better. Because of this, it started replacing the P-47 as a fighter. The P-47 was then used for bombing in late World War II. It was retired from the American Air National Guard in 1955.
Now, there is a jet called the A-10 Thunderbolt II, and it is named after the P-47.
Republic P-47 Thunderbolt Media
American prewar fighter Republic P-43 Lancer
XP-47 model during wind tunnel testing
P-47 firing its M2 machine guns during night gunnery
A P-47 engine with the cowling removed: Uncompressed air enters through an intake under the engine and is carried to the turbosupercharger behind the pilot via the silver duct at the bottom. The olive-green pipe returns the compressed air to the engine.
Early P-47B
P-47 pilot Lt Col Francis S. "Gabby" Gabreski, 56th Fighter Group, leading ace of the 8th Air Force
One of several gun-harmonization schemes used on the P-47: This one converged the eight guns into a point at about 1,100 ft (340 m) out front.
Royal Air Force Republic Thunderbolt Mark I
1º GAC P-47s carried the "Senta a Pua!" emblem as nose art along with the national insignia of Brazil.
Related pages
References
- ↑ "Republic P-47 Thunderbolt". aviation-history. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
- ↑ Goebel, Greg. "The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt". airvectors.net. AirVectors. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
- ↑ "P47 Thunderbolt Pilots Association P-47 Thunderbolt wwii world war 2 air force pilots war stories pilot story". p47pilots.com. Archived from the original on 2019-06-30. Retrieved 2019-02-11.
- ↑ "Republic P-47 Thunderbolt". www.aviation-history.com.