P-47 Thunderbolt
There are two WW2 airplanes that I wish I could have flown: A P-47 and a Spitfire.
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Sunday, December 19, 2021
9 comments:
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I did the Mustang trainer from the Collings foundation years ago. The amount of power they have is incredible. I mean, it is an airplane, but it is all about the engine in that thing. just point and pull.
ReplyDeleteI think a Thunderbolt would be an awesome flight as well.
Jugs are in the same class as F-4U Corsairs! R2800s, NO forward visibility on the ground, and an absolute blast to fly according to friends who flew them. The sound of that big engine in full song is impressive!
ReplyDeleteThose two couldn't have been different. Col. Don Blakeslee, head of the 4th fighter group was not happy when the 4th got their thunderbolts. He had flown spits with the Eagle squadron. He supposedlty said "They can dive they sure as hell can't climb" or something to that effect. It was also said that the P-47 could absorb a tremendous amount of punishment and still fly. Not sure who said it but it was said that the mustang will get you to Berlin bu the thunderbolt will get you home.
ReplyDeleteMisfit,
ReplyDeleteLook for a youtube channel called Greg's Airplaines and Automobiles. He's got some very good content on the P-47, especially the technical inner workings of the big beast. His level of detail is excellent.
And let's not forget two famous P-47 pilots - Francis "Gabby" Gebreski & Edwin "Lucky" Wright.
The P-47 climbed lots better with the later paddle blade props. One of the later models modified for the Pacific recorded the highest speed record for a reciprocating engine plane in WWII. Range nearly equal to a Mustang too, and it could ditch in water without diving to the bottom like the P-51 did.
ReplyDeleteTwo amazing aircraft, The Jug was a war-winning beast of a bird, the Spitfire an elegant thoroughbred, both beautiful in their own way.
ReplyDeleteSimply awesome!!
ReplyDeleteMy uncle was with the 56th fighter group (not as a pilot, but as a staff officer.) He gave me an autographed copy of Robert S Johnson's autobiography, "Thunderbolt." Pertinent to the discussion above, in Chapter 13 Johnson briefly relates a story of mixing it up with a Spitfire somewhere over England, and later getting the opportunity to fly a couple of Spitfires. An interesting 'compare and contrast' read, from somebody with first-hand experience.
ReplyDeleteEach flown by good pilots that understood the corners of their
ReplyDeleteperformance could make all of them fight effectively.
That was proven by Thatch with the Brewster Buffalo. The
Thatch weave, disciplined pairs of pilots and the Brewsters
ability to take damage made it a formidable foe to the Zero.
Myself I have about an hour in that two holer P51 back in
1980 before it was a Collings bird. at that time it
was about 10 hours out of a engine rebuild. I believe
it was the same one based on there being so few two
seater P51s. An amazing ride and absolutely no forward
visibility on the ground. However the response to the
stick and rudder was magical in its feel and rates
in the air. Compared to the C150 things happen quickly
to inputs. That and the ability to suck down fuel
like no tomorrow. That was back when I was based
at 33N.
My wish ride is a A10 dual hole, there were/are a few.
Eck!