“He revolutionized fighter aircraft with the semi-elliptical wing and more powerful engines equipped with turbosuperchargers.”ĭuring World War II, the Thunderbolt flew more than half a million missions and dropped 132,000 tons of bombs. “Kartveli, a Russian immigrant, was one of America’s great aviation designers,” Kinney says. The new fighter made its first flight on May 6, 1941. Army Air Corps, which served as the model for the P-47. In the 1930s, he created the Seversky P-35 for the U.S. The aircraft was the brainchild of Alexander Kartveli, lead designer for Seversky Aircraft Corp., predecessor of Republic Aviation. It is now on view at the museum's Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. Air Force Museum and then to the National Air and Space Museum. The Smithsonian's P-47D-30-RA was delivered to Godman Field, Kentucky, in 1944, where it served as an aerial gunnery trainer before being transferred to the U.S. ![]() “It was designed to be rugged and became a preeminent fighter of World War II, flying in all major theaters and developing this mythic quality because of its durability.” “The Thunderbolt could take a lot of damage,” Kinney says. He was able to outmaneuver the enemy aircraft and restart the Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp engine at a lower elevation. ![]() Not long after Gabreski became an ace, his engine shut down at high altitude when his turbocharger was hit by a 20 mm cannon shell from a Messerschmitt Bf 109. 50-caliber machineguns and the capability of carrying rockets and bombs, the P-47 was a formidable aircraft against ground targets.”Īnd rugged too. “As an escort plane for bombers, it more than held its own against the best the Luftwaffe had despite its range limitations,” Kinney says. It was well-regarded for its exceptional diving ability-considered crucial by ace pilots-and how it transformed that energy into climbing power to get back into the fight. Though at least twice as heavy as the Supermarine Spitfire, the Thunderbolt was surprisingly agile and fast. In the European Theater, P-47 pilots were responsible for destroying more than 7,000 enemy aircraft-more than half in air-to-air combat. It was unparalleled as a ground-support aircraft and it was also a great dogfighter.” The Thunderbolt was the hammer: big and strong, it could take a lot of punishment and still deliver a lethal blow. “It was not as famous as the P-51 Mustang, but it ranks as one of the best for that era. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. “The P-47 was one of the most versatile aircraft we had in World War II,” says Jeremy Kinney, curator and chair of the aeronautics department at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, which houses a P-47 in its collections-on view at the museum’s Steven F. It was arguably the best ground-attack aircraft America had at that time. Fully loaded with pilot, fuel and armaments, it topped out at more than 17,500 pounds-yet was exceptionally fast as a fighter-bomber, achieving a top speed of 426 miles per hour. Weighing 10,000 pounds empty, the Thunderbolt was the largest single-engine fighter built by any country during World War II. All of the kills would come at the controls of the P-47, one of the most rugged fighter planes of the war. He would go on to shoot down 28 enemy aircraft to become America’s top ace in Europe. Those two kills nearly 80 years ago this month were his fourth and fifth of World War II. On November 26, 1943, Major Gabby Gabreski, flying his P-47 Thunderbolt, downed two German Me-110s to become a World War II flying ace. It spiraled to the ground in a massive fireball. Gabreski fired and hit the plane at the wing root. He throttled up his massive 2,000-horsepower engine and zoomed in on the unsuspecting fighter. ![]() Minutes later, Gabreski spotted another Bf 110. He had to dive to avoid colliding with the disintegrating aircraft. 50-caliber machineguns, causing the twin-engine plane to burst into flames. At 700 yards, he let go with a burst from his eight. Gabreski spotted a Messerschmitt Bf 110 and drew a bead. He gunned the turbocharged engine in his powerful plane and went on the attack. As they arrived on the scene, the commander ordered his pilots into the fray. Gabreski, leading the 61st Fighter Squadron, was flying fast to rescue the American bombers, which were being swarmed by Nazi fighter planes. Army Air Forces had been ordered to cover the withdrawal of Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses after bombing the industrial city of Bremen. In the skies high above Germany on November 26, 1943, Major Gabby Gabreski was pushing his Republic P-47 Thunderbolt hard.
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