MEET THE THUNDERBOLT: Alexander Kartveli conceived the Thunderbolt on the backside of a napkin while sitting bored in a meeting one day. From napkin to production took only a few months, and the resulting seven-ton "Jug" quickly made a reputation for itself in combat as a mount that could take a tremendous beating and still return home. Additionally, as a fighter, it was outstanding. European Theatre ace Robert Johnson in his biograpy Thunderbolt! exclaimed that, equipped with a high-performance propeller, the P-47 was simply superior to anything in the air, even in a climb! The sheer size of this airplane coupled with its graceful eliptical wings and its smoothly contoured fuselage make it an alluring combination of beaty and beast, and a favorite among many World War II aviation enthusiasts.
At Killer Bee Hobby, we are big fans of the Thunderbolt. It's definately one of our favorite airplanes. Here, we've endeavored to compile the best products and references related to this amazing airplane. We hope you find something you like!
See Our Specially Selected P-47 Products Below, Including--
- BOOKS and RESEARCH
- MUSEUM-QUALITY FINISHED DISPLAY MODELS
- PLASTIC MODEL KITS and DETAIL ACCESSORIES
- Biggest Production: The production run of the P-47 and all of its variants exceeded that of any other US fighter, including the P-51 Mustang. The total number produced was around 15,600. (See National Museum of the Air Force | P-47 Thunderbolt Fact Sheet.)
- Two Alexanders from Russia: A pair of men who immigrated from the Georgian state in Russia are responsible for bringing the P-47 to life: Alexander Kartveli and Alexander P. De Seversky. Mr. De Seversky founded the Republic Aviation Company, and he eventually hired Mr. Kartvelli who designed the Thunderbolt. Both men were combat veterans from WWI, and both accomplished numerous distinquishing avaition milestones in design and aeronautical development. (See Alexander Kartveli from Wikipedia and Pioneer Profile: Alexander P. De Seversky from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.)
- World-Wide Fighter: The Thunderbolt served in nearly every theater of war during World War II. In the European Theater, it was responsible for destroying over 3,700 enemy aircraft in air-to-air combat, and when it came to pounding the ground as a support fighter, it destroyed 9,000 locomotives, 89,000 railroad cars, 6,000 armored vehicles, and an additional 3,300 aircaft. (See The P-47 Thunderbolt at www.WW2HG.com)
- P-47 Guns Sink a Destroyer: The famous Tuskegee Airmen flew the Thundebolt prior to receiving P-51 Mustangs. On one mission in June of 1944, the 352nd Fighter Group attacked and sank a German navy destroyer using only the wing-mounted machine guns from their Thunderbolts. Apparently, the top brass didn't believe it until after they'd reviewed the gun-camera footage. (See Republic P-47/F-47 Thunderbolt Fighter Bomber Story from www.MilitaryFactory.com)
- XP-72 Variant: One of the most amazing airplanes to evolve from the P-47 was the XP-72 Super Thunderbolt interceptor. Its performance was so impressive with its contra-rotating propellers and WASP engine that an order for 100 was promptly placed after test flights. This order, unfortunately, was cancelled at the end of the war, along with orders for over 5,000 more Thunderbolts. It's rumoured the XP-72 could push speeds close to 500 mph.
We welcome you to engage and join with us in our quest to become a subject-matter expert on the P-47 Thunderbolt. Part of this effort involves collecting the best online sources for information, anecdotes, history, photographs, and products related to this awesome airplane.
Please visit our Killer Bee Hobby Bitly Bundle • P-47 Thunderbolt featuring not only P-47 products and books, but links to articles, kit reviews, historical briefings, social media sites, organizational sites, and much more. Also, feel free to suggest products and sites by contacting us.
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