Path: news.nzbot.com!not-for-mail
From: Miloch <Miloch_member@newsguy.com>
Newsgroups: alt.binaries.pictures.aviation
Subject: Republic P-47 Thunderbolt
Date: 2 Aug 2016 15:27:48 -0700
Organization: NewsGuy - Unlimited Usenet $23.95
Lines: 151
Message-ID: <nnr6p406f@drn.newsguy.com>
NNTP-Posting-Host: p9316052dc07cee58793d7e5420075a6132c93da01d307212.newsdawg.com
User-Agent: Direct Read News 5.60
X-Received-Body-CRC: 168012762
X-Received-Bytes: 6799
Xref: news.nzbot.com alt.binaries.pictures.aviation:4247
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_P-47_Thunderbolt
The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt was a World War II era fighter aircraft produced
.50-caliber machine guns, four per wing, and in the fighter-bomber ground-attack
role it could carry five-inch rockets or a bomb load of 2,500 pounds, more than
half the payload of the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bomber. When fully loaded
the P-47 weighed up to eight tons making it one of the heaviest fighters of the
war. The P-47 was designed around the powerful Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double
Wasp engine which was the same engine also used by two very successful U.S. Navy
fighters, the Grumman F6F Hellcat and the Vought F4U Corsair. The Thunderbolt
was very effective as a short-to-medium range escort fighter in high-altitude
air-to-air combat but was also adept at ground attack in both the World War II
European and Pacific Theaters.
The P-47 was one of the main United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) fighters of
World War II, and served with other Allied air forces, notably those of France,
Britain, and Russia. Mexican and Brazilian squadrons fighting alongside the U.S.
were equipped with the P-47.
The armored cockpit was roomy inside, comfortable for the pilot, and offered
good visibility. A modern-day U.S. ground-attack aircraft, the Fairchild
Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II, takes its name from the P-47.
Role
Fighter-bomber
Manufacturer
Republic Aviation
Designer
Alexander Kartveli
First flight
6 May 1941
Introduction
November 1942[1]
Retired
1966, Peruvian Air Force
Primary users
United States Army Air Forces
Royal Air Force
French Air Force
Produced
Number built
15,660[2] or 15,677[3]
Unit cost
US$ 83,000 in 1945[4]
Variants
Republic XP-72
By the end of 1942, P-47Cs were sent to England for combat operations. The
initial Thunderbolt flyers, 56th Fighter Group, was sent overseas to join the
8th Air Force. 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).[Note 4] Two Fighter Groups already stationing in
England began introducing the Jugs in January 1943: the Spitfire-flying 4th
Fighter Group, a unit built around a core of experienced American pilots who had
flown in the RAF Eagle Squadrons prior to the US entry in the war; and the 78th
Fighter Group, formerly flying P-38 Lightnings.
P-47 pilot Lt Col Francis S. "Gabby" Gabreski, 56th Fighter Group, leading ace
of the 8th Air Force
Beginning in January 1943, Thunderbolt fighters were sent to the joint Army Air
civilian and military pilots.
The first P-47 combat mission took place 10 March 1943 when the 4th FG took
their aircraft on a fighter sweep over France. The mission was a failure due to
radio malfunctions. All P-47s were refitted with British radios, and missions
resumed 8 April. 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).
By mid-1943, the Jug was also in service with the 12th Air Force in Italy and
against the Japanese in the Pacific, with the 348th Fighter Group flying
missions out of Port Moresby, New Guinea. By 1944, the Thunderbolt was in combat
with the USAAF in all its operational theaters except Alaska.
Aerial warfare
USAAF P-47D "Razorback" configuration.
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 altitudes). The turbosupercharger in the P-47 gave the
powerplant its maximum power at 27,000 ft (8,230 m), and in the thin air above
30,000 ft (9,144 m), the Thunderbolt remained comparatively fast and nimble
relative to other aircraft.[41]
The P-47 first saw action with the 4th Fighter Group. The Group's pilots were
mainly drawn from the three British Eagle Squadrons who had previously flown the
British Supermarine Spitfire Mark V, a much smaller and much more slender
aircraft. At first they viewed their new fighter with misgivings. 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. Optimized for
high altitude work, the Thunderbolt had 5 feet (1.5 m) more wingspan, a quarter
more wing area, about four times the fuselage volume, and nearly twice the
weight of a Spitfire V.[42][43] One Thunderbolt pilot compared it to flying a
bathtub around the sky. When his unit (4th Fighter Group) was equipped with
Thunderbolts, ace Don Blakeslee said, referring to the P-47's vaunted ability to
dive on its prey, "It ought to be able to dive. It certainly can't climb."[44]
(Blakeslee's early-model P-47C had not been fitted with the new paddle blade
propeller). The 4th Fighter Group's commander hated the P-47, and his prejudices
filtered down to the group's pilots; the 4th had the fewest kills of any of the
first three P-47 squadrons in Europe.
Specifications (P-47D-30 Thunderbolt)
General characteristics
Crew: 1
Length: 36 ft 1 in (11.00 m)
Wingspan: 40 ft 9 in (12.42 m)
Height: 14 ft 8 in (4.47 m)
Wing area: 300 ft2 (27.87 m2)
Empty weight: 10,000 lb (4,535 kg)
Loaded weight: 12,731 lb (5,774.48 kg)
Max. takeoff weight: 17,500 lb (7,938 kg)
(1,938 kW)
Performance
Maximum speed: 443 mph at 29,000 ft (713 km/h at 8,839 m)
Range: 800 mi combat, 1,800 mi ferry (1,290 km / 2,900 km)
Service ceiling: 43,000 ft (13,100 m)
Rate of climb: 3,180 ft/min (16.15 m/s)
Wing loading: 42.43 lb/ft2 (207 kg/m2)
Power/mass: 0.204 hp/lb (335 W/kg)
Armament
Up to 2,500 lb (1,134 kg) of bombs
*
|
|