Early combat sorties, first flown in April 1943, revealed that the Thunderbolt could out-dive all opposing fighters-a definite advantage in aerial combat. The fighter weighed more than twice as much as the Spitfires many men had flown previously, so someone nicknamed the aircraft 'Juggernaut,' a fitting moniker that was soon shortened simply to the Jug. Pilots of the 4th Fighter Group, Eighth Air Force, first took the Thunderbolt into combat. Many fighter pilots were accustomed to more nimble and lightweight fighters such as the Supermarine Spitfire, Hawker Hurricane. Upon arrival in England in December 1942, pilots greeted the P-47 with mixed emotions. On May 6, 1941, the XP-47B made its first flight but Republic needed nearly two more years of testing and refining before the Thunderbolt was ready for combat. The Army was impressed with the new design and ordered 171 P-47Bs. After the aircraft became operational and several crashes occurred, post-crash analysis revealed that these ducts formed a safety cushion between the pilot and the ground. Ducting filled nearly the entire belly of the XP-47B. Because of the importance of smooth airflow inside several hundred feet of ducting that connected the supercharger, near the tail, with the engine in the nose, the turbo air duct system was designed first, and then the rest of the aircraft was made to fit around it. This was a particularly complex design challenge. To make the airplane as fast as possible at high altitude, Kartveli designed a turbo-supercharger system that fit inside the aft fuselage of the big fighter. The designer also proposed using the Pratt & Whitney R-2800 engine, the largest air-cooled radial available. It was to be the largest single-engine fighter airplane built and flown by any nation during World War II and Kartveli armed it with the heaviest armament of any fighter yet built, eight. Republic proposed a fighter never seen before nor hardly imagined. The XP-47A was to have been another modest evolutionary step, but aerial combat reports coming back from Europe in 1940 indicated the need for a breakthrough design. Kartveli improved on the P-35 with incrementally more powerful engines equipped with superchargers and these airplanes were designated the XP-41 and the P-43 Lancer. Alexander Kartveli, Seversky chief designer, used a distinctive semi-elliptical wing plan-form on the P-35 and all the models that followed including the P-47. A design history of the Thunderbolt begins in 1935, when the predecessor to Republic Aviation, the Seversky Aircraft Corporation, won an Army Air Corps fighter design competition with an airplane designated the P-35. In the history of aviation, Americans built more P-47s than any other American fighter airplane. Army Forces (AAF) commanders considered it one of the three premier American fighter aircraft, alongside the North American P-51 Mustang and the Lockheed P-38 Lightning (see NASM collection for both aircraft). This combination of a robust, reliable engine and heavy armament made the Thunderbolt successful. Thunderbolt pilots flew into battle with the thundering roar of a 2000-horsepower radial engine and the deadly flash of eight. Long Description Thunderbolt: the dictionary defines it as "a flash of lightning accompanied by thunder" and it aptly describes the P-47 during World War II. Republic Aviation restored the airplane and displayed it to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the first P-47 flight. Air Force Museum and then the Smithsonian. It served as an aerial gunnery trainer before being transferred to the U.S. This P-47D-30-RA was delivered to Godman Field, Kentucky, in 1944. The United States built more P-47s than any other fighter airplane. Army Air Forces commanders considered it one of the three premier American fighters, along with the P-51 Mustang and P-38 Lightning. This combination of a robust, reliable engine and heavy armament made the P-47 a feared ground-attack aircraft. Summary Thunderbolt pilots flew into battle with the roar of a 2,000-horsepower radial engine and the flash of eight. Yellow and black checkered nose with AAF insignia on wings. 50 caliber machine guns, tail-wheel type landing gear. Object Details Manufacturer Republic Aviation Corporation Physical Description 2000-horsepower radial engine, eight.
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