Republic P-47 D Thunderbolt “Jug”
History, technical sheet and photo
P-47 D Thunderbolt history
It is during the year 1940 that the study of this apparatus begins, after the invasion of France by the German armies. Drawing lessons from the failures of French counter-attacks, the Americans want to build a robust and powerful aircraft capable of carrying out ground attack missions.
At the beginning of 1941, the Republic firm developed a prototype that caused a sensation during its first test flight on May 6, 1941. Very fast but with average maneuverability, it still appears As one of the best aircraft of the Second World War. The series production of the aircraft began and the first specimens were delivered to the army in November 1942.
It was under the colors of the 8th Air Force Division that the P-47 Thunderbolt took off for its first operational mission in England on April 8, 1943, namely to give close protection to the allied bombers.
Although the first versions of the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt offer pilots a fairly moderate maneuverability, the new P-47 B models appear to be extremely robust and capable of almost all maneuvers. In total, 14 different versions of the P-47 are built, the last being the P-47 N model, whose production begins at the end of 1944.
Between March 1943 and August 1945, nearly 546,000 operational missions were carried out by P-47 aircraft and 11,874 enemy aircraft were destroyed.
P-47 D Thunderbolt specification
Creator: United States of America
Denomination: Republic P-47 D Thunderbolt
Length: 11,02 m
Wingspan: 12,42 m
Height: 4,47 m
Unloaded weight: 4,510 kg
Maximum speed: 690 km/h
Operational range: 3,000 kilometers with additional tanks
Ceiling: 12,500 m
Armament: eight 12,7 mm Browning machine guns and the possibility to embark about 1,135 kg of various explosives
Engine: Pratt & Whitney R-2800-59, 2,535 hp
