Republic P-47 Thunderbolt

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_P-47_Thunderbolt

The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt was a World War II era fighter aircraft produced
by the United States from 1941 through 1945. Its primary armament was eight
..50-caliber machine guns and in the fighter-bomber ground-attack role it could
carry five-inch rockets or a bomb load of 2,500 pounds (1,103 kg). When fully
loaded the P-47 weighed up to eight tons (tonnes) 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 also used by two U.S. Navy fighters, the
Grumman F6F Hellcat and the Vought F4U Corsair. The Thunderbolt was effective as
a short-to-medium range escort fighter in high-altitude air-to-air combat and
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 Allied air forces including France, Britain, and
Russia. Mexican and Brazilian squadrons fighting alongside the U.S. also flew
the P-47.

The armored cockpit was relatively roomy and comfortable and the bubble canopy
introduced on the P-47D offered good visibility. A present-day U.S.
ground-attack aircraft, the Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II, takes its
name from the P-47.

The P-47 Thunderbolt was a design of Georgian immigrant Alexander Kartveli, and
was to replace the Seversky P-35 that was developed earlier by Russian immigrant
Alexander P. de Seversky. Both had fled from their homeland to escape the
Bolsheviks. In 1939, Republic Aviation designed the AP-4 demonstrator powered by
a Pratt & Whitney R-1830 radial engine with a belly-mounted turbocharger. A
small number of Republic P-43 Lancers were built but Republic had been working
on an improved P-44 Rocket with a more powerful engine, as well as on the AP-10
fighter design. The latter was a lightweight aircraft powered by the Allison
V-1710 liquid-cooled V-12 engine and armed with eight .50 in (12.7 mm) M2
Browning machine guns. The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) backed the
project and gave it the designation XP-47.

In the spring of 1940, Republic and the USAAC concluded that the XP-44 and the
XP-47 were inferior to Luftwaffe fighters. Republic tried to improve the design,
proposing the XP-47A but this failed. Kartveli then designed a much larger
fighter, which was offered to the USAAC in June 1940. The Air Corps ordered a
prototype in September as the XP-47B. The XP-47A, which had little in common
with the new design, was abandoned. The XP-47B was of all-metal construction
(except for the fabric-covered tail control surfaces) with elliptical wings,
with a straight leading edge that was slightly swept back. The air-conditioned
cockpit was roomy and the pilot's seat was comfortable—"like a lounge chair", as
one pilot later put it. The canopy doors hinged upward. Main and auxiliary
self-sealing fuel tanks were placed under the cockpit, giving a total fuel
capacity of 305 U.S. gal (1,155 L).


Role
Fighter-bomber

Manufacturer
Republic Aviation

Designer
Alexander Kartveli

First flight
6 May 1941

Introduction
November 1942

Retired
1966, Peruvian Air Force

Primary users
United States Army Air Forces
Royal Air Force
French Air Force

Produced
1941–1945 Unit cost

US$83,000 in 1945

Variants
Republic XP-72

Number built
15,636

Bubbletop P-47s

All the P-47s produced to this point had a "razorback" canopy configuration with
a tall fuselage spine behind the pilot, which resulted in poor visibility to the
rear. The British also had this problem with their fighter aircraft, and had
devised the bulged "Malcolm hood" canopy for the Spitfire as an initial
solution. This type of canopy was fitted in the field to many North American
P-51 Mustangs, and to a handful of P-47Ds. However, the British then came up
with a much better solution, devising an all-round vision "bubble canopy" for
the Hawker Typhoon. USAAF officials liked the bubble canopy, and quickly adapted
it to American fighters, including the P-51 and the Thunderbolt. The first P-47
with a bubble canopy was a modified P-47D-5 completed in the summer of 1943 and
redesignated XP-47K. Another older P-47D was modified to provide an internal
fuel capacity of 370 U.S. gal (1,402 l) and given the designation XP-47L. The
bubble canopy and increased fuel capacity were then rolled into production
together, resulting in the block 25 P-47D (rather than a new variant
designation). First deliveries of the P-47D-25 to combat groups began in May
1944.

It was followed by similar bubble-top variants, including the P-47D-26, D-27,
D-28 and D-30. Improvements added in this series included engine refinements and
the addition of dive recovery flaps. Cutting down the rear fuselage to
accommodate the bubble canopy produced yaw instability, and the P-47D-40
introduced a vertical stabilizer extension in the form of a fin running from the
vertical stabilizer to just behind the radio aerial. The fin fillet was often
retrofitted in the field to earlier P-47D bubble-top variants. The P-47D-40 also
featured provisions for 10 "zero length" launchers for 5 in (127 mm) High
velocity aircraft rockets (HVARs), as well as the new K-14 computing gunsight.
This was a license-built copy of the British Ferranti GGS Mark IID computing
gyroscopic sight which allowed the pilot to dial in target wingspan and range,
and would then move the gunsight reticle to compensate for the required
deflection.

The bubbletop P-47s were nicknamed "Superbolts" by combat pilots in the field

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). Two Fighter Groups already stationed 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.

Beginning in January 1943, Thunderbolt fighters were sent to the joint Army Air
Forces – civilian Millville Airport in Millville, New Jersey in order to train
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.

Luftwaffe ace Heinz Bär said that the P-47 "could absorb an astounding amount of
lead [from shooting at it] and had to be handled very carefully". Although the
North American P-51 Mustang replaced the P-47 in the long-range escort role in
Europe, the Thunderbolt still ended the war with 3,752 air-to-air kills claimed
in over 746,000 sorties of all types, at the cost of 3,499 P-47s to all causes
in combat. By the end of the war, the 56th FG was the only 8th Air Force unit
still flying the P-47, by preference, instead of the P-51. The unit claimed
677.5 air victories and 311 ground kills, at the cost of 128 aircraft.
Lieutenant Colonel Francis S. Gabreski scored 28 victories, Captain Robert S.
Johnson scored 27 (with one unconfirmed probable kill leading to some giving his
tally as 28), and 56th FG Commanding Officer Colonel Hubert Zemke scored 17.75
kills. Despite being the sole remaining P-47 group in the 8th Air Force, the
56th FG remained its top-scoring group in aerial victories throughout the war.

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)
Powerplant: 1 × Pratt & Whitney R-2800-59B twin-row radial engine, 2,600 hp
(1,938 kW)

Performance
Maximum speed: 433 mph at 29,000 ft (697 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

8 × .50 in (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine guns (3400 rounds)
Up to 2,500 lb (1,134 kg) of bombs
10 × 5 in (127 mm) unguided rockets




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