Warbird Obsession
It's an addiction. Admitting you have it is the first step.
- By Rebecca Maksel
- AirSpaceMag.com, December 03, 2008
John M. Dibbs / The Plane Picture Co.
Called “the Jug” because of its milk bottle shape, the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt was designed to be a high-altitude interceptor, but became an excellent long-range bomber escort. “The Jug was solid and stable in flight and carried a tremendous load of bombs, gas and guns,” 1st Lieutenant Frank Oiler of the U.S. Army Air Forces told James Busha. “It was a hard-hitting, tight-turning, flying truck. It didn’t climb worth a damn, but it sure could dive. As a matter of fact, it dove like a homesick brick!”
According to authors Thomas D. Jones and Robert F. Dorr, the P-47’s “brutish fuselage was married to a pair of graceful, semi-elliptical wings mounted with eight heavy .50-caliber machine guns. It derived its power from a 2,000-horsepower, 18-cylinder, Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp radial engine with a turbo-supercharger. With full tanks, ammunition, and two 1,000-pound bombs, later models weighed in at a hefty 19,400 pounds, more than any other single-engine fighter of World War II.”
Some 15,600 Thunderbolts were eventually built. The P-47D pictured is part of the Fighter Collection based in Duxford, UK.
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Comments (7)
Nice photo and info about the P38.
My Mother's youngest brother was a photographer in the US Army, stationed in Australia during WWII. He was killed along with the other crew while on a recon mission over New Guinea in a P38 in late 1942. The wreckage was not found until 1961 and the remains, identified by dog-tags, are buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
Posted by R. C. Rogers on December 22,2008 | 02:44 PM
Saw a Spitfire fly in Owls Head ,Maine in the late 1970s. I heard the owners last name was Rockefeller,and it was WONDERFUL to HEAR that engine going at "full chat" at about 500 ft with a pilot who was driving it like he stole it! I still have the photos of that great plane from that great day on my desk, 30 years after... The magic of that day has allowed the smells,sounds, and SIGHTs to remain with me. It was a very good day!
Posted by Brian Beauregard on August 31,2009 | 09:21 PM
In 1955 I was just back from learning to fly an Aeronca when our little remote grass field on a hilltop was buzzed by a F-51 from the New York National Guard. (This happened several times that summer.) That was it and my obsession continues. The gathering of mustangs in Ohio was sensory overload. My Air Force duty just pacified my need to be near aircraft but B-47's just didn't do it. Went to an air show once and 3 Mustangs in a tight formation picture pass with Merlins wide open, Wow! said to my adult son "damn that's better than sex", he did give me a strange look but I could see he also understood. My dream even at 71 is to someday take a ride in Crazy Horse down in Kissimmee, Fl. My finger prints are on her as she was at Ohio.
Posted by Don Brooks on December 4,2009 | 10:28 PM
Warbird aviation is an addiction that gets inside almost everyone because it stimulates all of your senses thouroughly!-"How can you not appreciate and marvel at what history has given to us as pilots,to fly or engage in at some level as crew or spectators"!
Posted by Kent Carlomagno on January 2,2010 | 12:33 PM
I bought this book for my son Jacob, who immediately spotted that his favorite aircraft of the period, the B-29, was not included. In such a comprehensive survey, one wonders why?
Posted by sam Engelstad on April 17,2010 | 11:33 AM
The P-47N model could hold two 1,000 pound bombs, one 500 pound bomb, eight .50 caliber guns, and ten HVAR rockets.
Posted by Josh on January 20,2011 | 06:00 PM
I consider myself very fortunate, I am a Docent at the Flying Heritage Collection in Everett. I get to watch these planes fly from Memorial Day until September. This is Paul Allen's private collection.
Posted by Alan Gale on March 4,2011 | 04:12 PM