NOTE: RADIO CONTROL AIRPLANES ARE ON THE BOTTOM HALF OF THE PAGE.
The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt was the largest, heaviest, and most powerful single piston engine fighter of WW II
To date no larger single piston engine fighter has ever been produced.
The aircraft were responsible for the destruction of over 11,870 enemy aircraft. They downed over 3,750 aircraft in air-to-air combat and
logged nearly two million flight hours during some 546,000 missions.
Alexander Kartveli is credited with designing the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt. It is said that he built the aircraft around its engine, the P&W R-2800. He did this by laying out the engine, turbocharger and all its plumbing first, and then modeling an airframe around them.
When the aircraft was originally designed, no provisions were made for the use of drop tanks. At the time, the Army Air Corps considered them as too dangerous. It later became obvious that the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt would have to be fitted with drop tanks in order to escort bombers deep in to Germany.
They were then retrofitted for the use of drop tanks. Some of the plumbing to accommodate the tanks, and the design of the tanks themselves were done under battlefield conditions. This accounts for the variety of drop tanks seen on various models.
The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt had extended landing gear in order to provide clearance for its 12 foot diameter propeller. The
aircraft had an air conditioned cockpit and heating in the gun bay to insure that the machine guns would not jam due to freezing.
Later aircraft were equipped with engine water injection for use during “emergency war power” maneuvers.
The model D was able to carry 1,000 lb bombs under each wing along with a center drop tank.
The Thunderbolts which were first produced were called "razorbacks". When the aircraft
got its bubble canopy, all around pilot visibility improved significantly. However, with the removal of the razor back,
a small dorsal fin had to be added in front of the vertical stabilizer to restore some stability to the aircraft.
A total of 15,686 Republic P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft of all types were built. No other U.S. fighter was ever built in such numbers.
