High and Fast: The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt

Simon's Social Media:

Love content? Check out Simon's other YouTube Channels:

[surg]

When I was a child, I always wondered why the airport runway in my hometown had a chain link fence across the end of it, and why it continued across a road into what was the whirlpool factory. Turns out the factory was a P-47 plant that turned out 6670 of the planes or 43% of the total built. Women army pilots flew them down the runway to their bases. I still miss the sound of big radial engines overhead, jets just aren’t the same. The town also built 167 LSTs, more than any other shipyard. And it produced over 3 billion .45 rounds, or 96% of the total produced in the war. Looking back maybe my hometown of Evansville Indiana wasn’t so bad after all.

[ricardoviana]

Brazil flew the P-47 with the"Senta a Pua" fighter squadron over Italy, performing successfully in ground attack roles such as Air Interdiction and close air support. The Brazilian Air Force museum still maintains an air worthy model.

[geodkyt]

Jugs were *legendary* for their ability to survive damage - it's the reason the A-10 was officially named "Thunderbolt II".

Jugs routinely managed to come back, still under power, with entire cylinders smashed beyond function. My two favorite photos of Jug battle damage are:

1. One plane that got "a little low" during a strafing attack - all four blades of the propellor were bent back 90° about ⅘ of the way out ("Lieutenant, you know you're not supposed to be doing *grazing fire* from a fighter, right?"), because the pilot managed to hit the ground with his propeller disk... and still flew back to base and landed. The scrape marks on the lower cowling when he slid along the ground are clear... (Just as cool as the Mustang pilot who reported his engine was running hot after a strafing run... and the crew chief dug a mass of turf and topsoil out of the oil cooler air scoop from.where that kid scraped the ground like he was landscaping.)

2. A Jug flying straight, normal, and neither on fire nor spewing fuel, with the outboard ¼ of one wing *missing* due to enemy fire. (Note, the P-47 wasn't unique in this regard - there's a nearly identical in-flight picture of a US Navy torpedo bomber with even more of one wing missing.)

P-47s, sitting on their landing gear after a safe landing, with mechanics literally sticking their head and shoulders into (or even through) flak holes aren't terribly uncommon, either.

That airplane was just a *beast* . I mean, if you gave, "Hulk SMASH!" an airworthiness certificate and ordnance, it would be a P-47 Thunderbolt.

[nathannewman]

My grandfather was a mechanic in the 50th Fighter Group, 313th Fighter Squadron. He fixed and maintained the P-47s for the pilots. When I was 16 I went on a cross country road trip with him and my grandmother so he could attend his Fighter Group reunion. I got to meet and speak with a bunch of his old vet buddies (pilots, officers, etc ). It was an amazing opportunity.

[-DeScruff]

Always had a soft spot for this aircraft as my grandmother was a Rosie the riveter, and the P-47 was what she built. She recently passed away, but she always had stories about working in Republic and singing God bless America on VJ Day.

[Tedinator]

My dad was a P-47 Crew Chief during the war and would constantly sing the praises of that aircraft.

[robertguttman]

It is interesting to note that the Soviets received a few Thunderbolts via "Lend-Lease", but that they do not appear to have liked them very much. Apparently the Red Air Force did not consider the P-47 to be as fast or maneuverable as their own Yak-3 and La-5 fighters, nor did they think it was as well armed or armored as their own ground attack aircraft, the Il-2 and Pe-2. As for the Thunderbolt's turbo-supercharger, since the Red Air Force did most of their fighting at low or medium altitudes, and rarely operated at high altitudes, apparently that feature simply did not matter to them very much.

[ElenarMT]

FUCKING HELL, THAT INTRODUCTION TO THAT PLANE WAS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL THING I'VE HEARD IN AGES.

WHAT BEAUTIFUL POETRY, I SWEAR IT WAS PROBABLY MORE BEAUTIFUL THAN MY BABY'S FIRST LAUGH.

Well done to whomever wrote it, and to the wonderful Simon for how he delivered it

[stewpacalypse]

The P-47 was easily the largest single engine fighter of WW2. Part of the reason the P-47 is so bulky is because piping below the cockpit directing exhaust to the massive super/turbo charger and for fresh air intake through intercoolers and then more piping for the compressed air back to the engine in front.
Without all that the engine wouldn't have had any power at high altitude.
Google a section drawing of the P-47 and you'll see what I mean.

[travisinthetrunk]

Gabreski didn’t get overwhelmed, he got excited.

[randallyoung]

The photo shown at 6:24 shows four Jugs from the 350th Fighter Group. My grandfather, SGT Roland Stayton, served in that group's 345th Fighter Squadron. The lightning bolt on the tail and the checkerboard ring on the engine cowling were their signature. He had all kinds of stories about those planes making it back from ground attack missions over North Africa and Italy with damage that would've doomed a lesser airplane. Thanks for this video, Simon & co!

[tm]

ITs so nice to see that the P-47 is slowly gaining more recognition as time goes on, in the public eye.

[daniel_f]

The best part about the later paddle bladed props was how much they helped the 47s retain energy in sustained and zoom climbs. There’s even an anecdotal story about how once paddle bladed Ds started showing up in Europe they tested one against a Spitfire Mk.IX. Previously Spitfires had always just walked away from the Thunderbolts with no trouble at all the moment they started to climb. With the paddle blades and water injection the Jug not only caught up to the Spitfire, it pulled away. And the higher they climbed the more pronounced the P-47s advantage became.

The P&W R-2800 Double Wasp with turbo-supercharger already completely outclassed the Merlin engines at altitude because of being able to maintain higher manifold pressure thus feeding more oxygen to the engine.

[tgmccoy]

There's a great book "Thunderbolt!" By Martin Cadin. Good read. Oh Alexander Karteveli the designer of the T-Bolt also designed the A-10.
We owe a lot to Russian emigrant Air craft designers Karteveli, Sikorsky, and De Seversky, who started the company that became Republic.

[Bromopar]

This was always my favorite WWII fighter when I was a kid. Glad to see it getting some much deserved love.

[Activated_Complex]

My favorite old warbird. Seeing it up close in person, you realize how little the photos do it justice. Greg’s Airplanes and Automobiles has a fantastic multi-part series on it. Looking at the performance and mechanics in great and well-resarched detail. So give that channel a look if you’re a fan of the P-47, of aviation, of engines, or all three.

[iamnotpaulavery]

There is one story of a pilot in a P-47 that was in a dogfight with a German pilot. The German pilot managed to damage the P-47's engine, but the plane kept going, albeit at a much slower speed. The German pilot literally emptied all of his guns on the Jug and sped up alongside the Jug and looked at the pilot in amazement and rocked his plane left to right as a sign of respect and turned back home. When the P-47 pilot finally made his way back home and got off of the Jug, he started counting the bullet holes in his plane, but stopped at 200 because there were so many that it would have been pointless to continue! These things were built like tanks, as was its successor - the A-10 Thunderbolt, AKA "The Warthog"!!

[ridleymain]

I’m incredibly happy that you talked about the fact that P-47s escorted to Germany. The myth around the P-51 being the first to do that is so wide spread that it’s been accepted as fact. I’m glad you have talked about the facts and not the prevailing narrative.

[Busrayne]

The top 10 Thunderbolt aces all survived the war. That says a _lot._

[yosemite-ev]

There's an episode of Dogfights where a P-47 piloted by Ken Dahlberg engaged a BF 109, and the 109 pilot took the fight vertical. I think this would have been a good tactic for a 109 against an earlier war P-47, but this was a late war P-47 with more power and the paddle blade propeller, and Dahlberg finally got into firing position and shot him down. It's likely that the German pilot had been successful with this tactic against earlier P-47s, so the improved model's ability to keep up with the 109 in a climb came as a nasty shock to him.