It is over twice as heavy as the original Spitfire and Me 109 fighters. And it is indeed large and heavy! Its empty weight is similar to or greater than every other contemporary single-engine fighter’s maximum weight. The P-47 is the largest single piston-engined fighter ever built. Other brutes, like the Tempest and Typhoon were lighter and an altogether different concept. In size only the Corsair came close, but this lighter naval fighter lacked the P-47’s high altitude performance. The Size is the Prize: Big doesn’t mean sluggish.*Note that the heaviest elephant in the room is a metric ton lighter than the P-47. Unfortunately I think the (lack of) sex appeal of each of these aircraft has limited their popularity in a wider public (‘P-47 Thunderbolt’ will garner 8 million results of Google search results, compared to over 20 million for the P-51 Mustang).īut aircraft performance and effectiveness is not a popularity contest.
It’s in a similar category to the Westland Wyvern and the A-10 Thunderbolt II (the P-47’s grandchild!). There are plenty who love the P-47 due to its rugged, badass looks. And besides, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. This is never mentioned because it is not true. No one ever talks about the corollary, that if an aircraft is ugly, it will not fly well. Many often state that if an aircraft l***s good, it will f*y good. This article will dive into some of those misconceptions and look at the real capabilities of those ferocious flying juggernaut.īefore we get started, I will address the elephant* in the room: the P-47 is ugly. Myth and misconception surround the aircraft, and much of this leads to an under-appreciation of what the aircraft actually accomplished. Somehow, the unusual Thunderbolt came together in a magical way that resulted its outstanding operational record. In scale and concept, the P-47 was a design outlier, and was different from every other fighter of the war. Fast, long-legged and well armed, it was also the most survivable fighter of the entire war. It was not “best in class” in any category, however, it was very good in just about every category. The P-47 Thunderbolt was the most versatile fighter aircraft of the Second World War.
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