Republic P-47 Thunderbolt

The main complaint for the P-47N was a lack of acceleration due to it's loaded weight with so much fuel. That's understandable. Even so, it did well as an escort. By the time it engaged the Japanese interceptors, it must have been light enough on it's feet to deal with most. High altitude champs can rule at will.

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I NEVER EVER FLEW AN AIRPLANE IN MY ENTIRE LIFE,BUT I'VE BEEN STUDYING MILITARY PLANES FOR A VERY,VERY,VERY LONG TIME.
THE P-47 "THUNDERBOLT" WHICH WAS BUILT BY THE REPUBLIC AIRCRAFT COMPANY WAS TRULY ONE OF THE GREATEST MILITARY AIRCRAFT WHICH WAS PRODUCED IN AMERICA.THE P-47 WAS ALSO CALLED THE "JUG" BECAUSE THE P-47 LOOKED LIKED A JUG WITH WINGS AND A TAIL.THE P-47 FLEW AT 440mph AT 40,000 FEET.THE P-47 MOSTLY FLEW IN THE EUROPEAN THEATRE OF WW2 BUT THE PILOTS OF THE U.S. AAF FLEW THE P-47 IN THE PACIFIC THEATRE OF WW2 AS WELL.GREAT AIRPLANE!!!!

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The AN /M3 0.50 Cal. guns had a RoF up to 1200 rpm each gun for the P-47N in the last missions of WW 2.
WoF perhaps 6.848 kg per sec. if the 8 guns didn't jam.

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If there are any veteran P-47 pilots still here and posting, first let me just say a big, 'Thank You' for your service. Likewise, if any of you are in NY or Long Island, the home of the P-47 (as well as the Grumman planes), I'd be more than happy to buy you a drink, or a meal, or whatever.

Getting to the point, I was wondering if anyone had any recollection of P-47 performance with "field modifications." I have heard references to some impressive numbers, but never from first hand sources.

Ernie Treff, you said your crew chiefs were getting 3300hp out of the R 2800C (which is great info), but do you also remember the top speeds that this could produce?

Like I said, I've heard mention of 500mph P-47's (mostly M's), so I'm curious if you could confirm this. Thanks again!

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Fact, the P-47 Thunderbolt was greatly feared by the Luftwaffe! KG-200 had five captured THUNDERBOLTS which they tested and flew to different Luftwaffe bases for demonstrations! Both Hannah Reitsch and Anna Kreisling both flew the P-47 Thunderbolt and urged Adolf Galland to build a copy of it for the Luftwaffe! Another American fighter that was captured in Norway with British Markings and flown by Anna Kreisling in KG-200 was the Chance Vought F4U Corsair!!!

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Of the total P47's produced 12602 were P47D's. The colour illustration is a P47M of the 63rd Fighter Squadron of the the 56th Fighter Group based at Boxted Essex in the summer of 1944. The camouflage is an unusual two shades of grey.

On another issue why does this website not remove all this garbage that appears about Anna Kreisling? There are some very sad people out there!

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I joined the 388th Fighter Group at Cross City Florida in 1941. It was a Combat Crew Training Wing. After completing the course I was retained as an instructer. I soon had 1500 hours in the JUG and was itching to see some combat.The 405th Fighter Group was forming at Waltereboro for shipment overseas. I flew over there and convinced the Group Commander, Jim Ferguson, that with my 1500 hours in the JUG I would be a real asset to his organization but he would have to make a personal request to get me out of the Training Command. Apparently he had some pull because I was the envy of all the pilots when orders arrived transfering me to the 405th Fighter Group. I was assigned to the 510th Fighter Squadron as C Flight Commander.
I was shot down by German Flak while strafing a factory.
I was captured and put aboard a German Prison Train. We cut a hole in the end of the boxcar and all the little guys were able to crawl out and jump off at night while the guards slept.
We joined the French Undergroud. We were supplied with weapons and attacked Germans at night. We had to be back in camp before daybreak. We lived in an area called the Maqui. The Maqui was a thick brier bush so thick that one had to lay prone and crawl to enter. We were fairly safe as long as we did not venture out in the daytime.
A new member entered the camp and said he had witnessed my aircraft crash and showed me a piece with numbers on it.It was my plane.

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I'm looking for veterans or family members of the 414th Fighter Group, which flew P-47N Thunderbolts from Iwo Jima in 1945.

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Contrary to a belief that there are no 56 FG pilots left, there are three that I know of: Vic Bast, Russ Kyler, and me. We flew the P-47M in combat after helping solve some of the new model problems; i.e. engine running too cool, ignition problems, etc. With some great P&W and Republic guys, and of course our crew chiefs and maintenance guys, we got the R 2800C producing 3300 HP at 35000 ft and had an airplane that could outperform every propellor driven fighter in the world in regular service. There were 130 of them made for us and we flew all of them.

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OS P47 TUNDERBOLT, foram os melhores caças /escolta e ataque ao solo da 2war., EM DESTAQUE , pilotos brasileiros do esquadrão "SENTA A PUA"- mais missões com mais alvos atingidos. THE BEST PILOTS.

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The P-47 was the Cadillac of WW-II fighter planes: big, heavy and powerful. The R-2800 that powered it was, likewise, a masterpiece of an airplane engine. Like the airframe, the engine could absorb more punishment than most of it's contemporaries and still keep running. It helped make the Thunderbolt a formidable ground-attack platform. In addition, the turbo-supercharger also gave the P-47 excellent high-altitude performance. Couple all those traits with eight .50 caliber machine guns and the ability carry a formidable load of range-extending drop tanks, bombs or air-to-ground rockets, and the result was one of the true war-winning aircraft of World War II.

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I really love the ruggedness and shape of the P-47.

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The designation XP-47H applies to the Thunderbolt fitted with the Chrysler XIV-2200 inverted V engine. Modified from a P-47B. Fastest looking, and slowest of all.

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What was the designation for the P-47 experimental platform for a Chrysler in-line engine?

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I AM LT. LEWIS T. EASTERLING, COMBAT PILOT, 2 PURPLE HEARTS, AND POW. I FLEW WITH THE 358 FTR. GP. 365 TH. SQ.
EUROPE IN 1944 & 1945. YOU CAN READ MY STORY AT 22.01.2010.
I WROTE MY BOOK "TICKET TO HELL" IN 1994.
I NOW HAVE A NEW BOOK THAT IS EVEN BETTER. IT IS CALLED
"FURROW IN THE CLOUDS"

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My Dad was with the 365th FG, 388th Squadron, the Hell Hawks. He was a SSgt and crew chief for the P-47.

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My uncle's aircraft was also displayed in a video entitled "A Fighter Pilot's Story written by Quentin Annenson who was in the 9th Air Force 366 FG. 392 FS.

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My uncle Lt. Karl T. Hallberg was with the 9th AF 366 FG 389 FS stationed at Asch Belgium during the Battle of the Bulge. On December 31 1944, my uncle and 3 other P-47s took off for the Rhuer Valley. My uncle was over a target of opportunity and attempted to release a 500lb under his right week, but to no avail. He tried to shake it loose but to no avail. He returned to base and upon touching down the bomb came loose and exploded. Everything from his bucket seat aft was gone. The aircraft totally disintegrated and came to rest off the runway. My uncle survived. He rolled off his left wing and went unconscious. He survived with a plate in his head. A picture of his aircraft is in the Air Force Museum at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Fairborn Ohio, the Smithsonian Institute. The Cradle of Aviation Museum, Roosevelt Field, NY. and was at Republic Aviation. As I write this article, I am looking at the picture on my office wall. I gave it the name Miraculous Metal, quite apropos. If anyone would like a copy of this print, I would be happy to send it.

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Simplesmente belo.........se não.......o melhor para sua época.

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I love the Shafter Minter Warbird airshow that is held each year! Just a few miles North of Bakersfield, Calif. Two years ago they had a silver P-47 Thunderbolt start its engine and it sounded like 32 Harley Davidson motorcycles starting up!! It was the greatest sound! I sat down at this table with all these Germans speaking German, and I offered to buy all of them a beer! YA,YA, YA!!! IS ALL THEY SAID, so I bought them all a beer, then after an hour this blonde lady wearing pink shorts gets up from the table and walks me over to an AT-6. She is smiling as she straps me in the back seat, and she asks me if I want to join the Luftwaffe!! And I smiled, so she gets in the front seat and starts up the engine, and we taxi out!Down the runway we go at full throttle and climb up to 8,000 feet. Then she did a loop and a hammerhead!! IT WAS THE WILDEST RIDE IN MY LIFE!
An hour later we came back and landed, and she smiled and said I was now a Luftwaffe pilot! "How can you tell??" I asked. She said that I qualified because I didn't throw up my beer, NO GERMAN PILOT THROWS UP BEER!! Later I found out her name, it was ANNA KREISLING!!

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