P 47 Thunderbolt: Things You Might Not Know And Assembling One! Rare Upscaled Footage

P 47 Thunderbolt: things you might not know narrated by Eric "Winkle" Brown and uncrating and assembling the aircraft. A rare upscaled video

The Republic P 47 Thunderbolt is a World War II-era fighter aircraft produced by the American aerospace company Republic Aviation from 1941 through 1945. Its primary armament was eight .50-caliber machine guns, and in the fighter-bomber ground-attack role it could carry 5-inch rockets or a bomb load of 2,500 lb (1,100 kg). When fully loaded, the P-47 weighed up to 8 tons, making it one of the heaviest fighters of the war.
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 European and Pacific theaters. The P-47 was designed around the powerful Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp 18-cylinder radial engine, which also powered two U.S. Navy/U.S. Marine Corps fighters, the Grumman F6F Hellcat and the Vought F4U Corsair. An advanced turbosupercharger system ensured the aircraft's eventual dominance at high altitudes, while also influencing its size and design.
The P-47 was one of the main United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) fighters of World War II, and also served with other Allied air forces, including those of France, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union. Mexican and Brazilian squadrons fighting alongside the USAAF 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. Nicknamed the "Jug" owing to its appearance if stood on its nose, the P-47 was noted for its firepower, as well as its ability to resist battle damage and remain airworthy. A present-day U.S. ground-attack aircraft, the Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II, takes its name from the P-47.

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: "Jug" (because its profile was similar to that of a common milk jug of the time). Two fighter groups (FGs) 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.

P-47 pilot Lt Col Francis S. "Gabby" Gabreski, 56th Fighter Group, the leading ace of the 8th Air Force
Beginning in January 1943, Thunderbolt fighters were sent to the joint Army Air Forces – civilian Millville Airport in Millville, New Jersey, 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).

General characteristics
* Crew: 1
* Length: 36 ft 1.75 in (11.0173 m)
* Wingspan: 40 ft 9+5⁄16 in (12.429 m)
* Height: 14 ft 8+1⁄16 in (4.472 m)
* Airfoil: Seversky S-3
* Empty weight: 10,000 lb (4,536 kg)
* Max takeoff weight: 17,500 lb (7,938 kg)
* Powerplant: 1 × Pratt & Whitney R-2800-59 18-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engine, 2,000 hp (1,500 kW)
* Propellers: 4-bladed Curtiss Electric C542S constant-speed propeller, 13 ft 0 in (3.96 m) diameter
Performance
* Maximum speed: 426 mph (686 km/h, 370 kn) at 30,000 ft (9,100 m)
* Range: 1,030 mi (1,660 km, 900 nmi)
* Service ceiling: 42,000 ft (13,000 m)
Armament
* Eight .50 in (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine guns (3400 rounds)
* Up to 2,500 lb (1,100 kg) of bombs
* Ten 5 in (127 mm) HVAR unguided rockets

#p47 #thunderboi #aircraft

[murdock]

Absolute favorite airplane ever along with its son the A10 Thunderbolt ii! Gonna take a while but I will finish this video!

[kenneth]

Eric Browns claims about the P47's mach limit was disproved by the RAF, he's hilarious, the P47's destroyed as many luftwaffe planes in 2 years than the spitfire did in 5 years. And they did it over enemy territory....

[davidnancarrow]

Captain Brown certainly earns respect as a premiere test pilot-likely in the top 5 of any list. However, his comment that the P-47 could not fight at high altitude I have an issue with. Too bad he didn't speak with Colonel Francis Gabreski or LTC Robert S. Johnson-both high scoring aces in the Thunderbolt. I suppose if your skill in a fight is turning and climbing, you're not going to like the P-47. Learn what your aircraft can do well and don't fight the opponent's game just as with any weapon. Test flight has its own set of problems to deal with, while I imagine air to air combat has significant issues too.

[JDHetzer]

Finally, i can get those crates off my trailers.

[the_lost_navigator]

The crated Subject of this video, P-47C S.N. 41-6067 was written off for unknown reasons 5 February 1943 in Brookhaven, NY. Unlike 15, 000+ other Jugs - this Bird never left the nest. "If one got tired of flying, you could always go for a walk around the Stick" lol

[pascalchauvet]

The Thunderbolt had good performance, late D models with high boost levels attained higher speeds at altitude than the P-51. The thing with the P-47 was that you had to stick to entirely different tactics: maintain high speeds at all costs, never engage in close dogfights (much less at low altitudes), instead resort to boom an zoom tactics, maintaining energy. The P-51 was different in the sense that it actually COULD dogfight AND boom and zoom. Bud Anderson downed a 109 doing the latter.

[manricobianchini]

Of course he'd say the Spitfire was better. I'll take the P-47 any day of the week over the Spit!

[SpiritOfMontgomery]

Is that an M in the thumbnail? Love the code “FUN” lol

[nickradner]

Anybody else watch the entire assembly thinking “I got this”

[moss]

Remember reading where in the North African Campaign they (the USAAF) were farming out the assembly to the locals and all the headaches THAT created.

[rustysphotography]

Keep your eyes on the skies as i should be airborne in an hour or two :) and to think most men in 2024 would struggle assembling a flat pack bookshelf from Ikea lol

[chrisknoernschild]

Eric Brown is completely wrong about the P-47. His aircraft that he tested must have had something wrong with it because there is a mountain of evidence and data that says all of this completely false other than the airplane being huge. It was big.