TYPE: Fighter, fighter-bomber
ACCOMMODATION: Pilot only
POWER PLANT: One Pratt & Whitney R-2800-57C Double Wasp radial engine with a CH-5 supercharger, rated at 2.800 hp
PERFORMANCE: 473 mph
COMMENT: The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt was a World War II-era fighter aircraft produced by the American company Republic Aviation from 1941 through 1945. It was a successful high-altitude fighter, and it also served as the foremost American fighter-bomber in the ground-attack role. Its primary armament was eight .50-caliber machine guns, and it could carry 5-inch rockets or a bomb load of 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-, medium-, and long 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.
The appearance of the Fieseler Fi 103 V1 Flying bomb, turbojet fighters such as the Messerschmitt Me 262 Schwalbe (Swallow), and rocket fighters such as the Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet led Republic to begin development of a high-speed variant of the Thunderbolt.
Four P-47D-27-RE were modified with a 2,800 hp R-2800-57C engine with a CH-5 supercharger and the dive brakes of the P-47D-30 as YP-47Ms. An improved 13′ Curtiss Electric C542S-B40 propeller was fitted, and changes were made to increase speed. These improvements raised the top speed to 473 mph. In September 1944, the last 130 aircraft from the original P-47D-30-RE order were converted into an order for a production version of the YP-47M as the P-47M-1-RE. Deliveries began in December 1944, though engine problems delayed their combat debut until a few weeks before the end oft he war in Europe (Ref: 24).
