Crew: 1
Max. Speed: 428 mph at 30,000 ft
Service Ceiling: 42,000 ft
Range: 475 miles
Wingspan: 40 ft, 9 in
Length: 36 ft, 2 in
Height: 14 ft, 2 in
Engine: Pratt & Whitney R-2800-59 Double Wasp 18-cylinder radial air cooled
Horsepower: 2,535
Armaments: 8 machine guns, 2,500 lbs of bombs
- Nicknamed "The Jug" for its appearance, bulky and reminiscent of an old-fashioned milk bottle.
- The P-47 Thunderbolt was the most manufactured and most expensive single engine fighter plane used by the United States during World War II.
- Served in every major theater of WWII.
- While too heavy and bulky for up-close dogfighting, the Thunderbolt excelled at "dive and zoom" attacks against enemy fighters.
- Also adept and often used for ground strikes thanks to her 8 heavy machine guns and the conventional bombs that could be dropped on an enemy target.
- P-47s flew approximately 546,000 aerial missions between March 1943 and August 1945, during which they destroyed 11,874 enemy aircraft, some 9,000 locomotives, and more than 6,00 armored cars and tanks.
- Only about 0.7% of the Republic P-47 Thunderbolts that were dispatched against the enemy were shot down or destroyed.
References:
Angelucci, Enzo. The Rand McNally Encyclopedia of Military Aircraft: 1914-1980. 1983: The Military Press.
'The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt." The Aviation Online History Museum. http://www.aviation-history.com/republic/p47.html (Accessed July 2012).
"Republic P-47/F-47 Thunderbolt Fighter-Bomber." Military Factory - Military Aircraft. http://www.militaryfactory.com/aircraft/detail.asp?aircraft_id=76 (Accessed July 2012).
