P-47 Thunderbolt

screen-shot-2018-03-23-at-12-20-45-pm The P-47 Thunderbolt was a World War II era fighter aircraft produced by the United States between 1941 and 1945. Its primary armament was eight .50-caliber machine guns and in the fighter-bomber ground-attack role it could carry five-inch rockets or a bomb load of 2,500 pounds (1,103 kg). When fully loaded the P-47 weighed up to eight tons (tonnes) making it one of the heaviest fighters of the war. The P-47 was designed around the powerful Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp engine which was also used by two U.S. Navy fighters, the Grumman F6F Hellcat and the Vought F4U Corsair. The Thunderbolt was effective as a short-to-medium range escort fighter in high-altitude air-to-air combat and ground attack in both the World War II European and Pacific theaters.

Tactic

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Pros & Cons
- Pros
  - Fast and could climb high altitude
  - Powerful armament with eight .50-caliber machine guns
  - Excellent durability with powerful engine
  - Could carry bomb and rockets
- Cons
  - Heavy weight causes large turn radius
  - High stall-speed
  - Hard to land and take-off
Engine
- P-47B:
  - Default: R-2800 Double Wasp 18-cylinder (2,000 hp)
  - Upgrade: R-2800-59 Double Wasp 18-cylinder (2,300 hp)
- P-47D:
  - Default: R-2800-59 Double Wasp 18-cylinder (2,500 hp)
- P-47N:
  - Default: R-2800-77 Double Wasp 18-cylinder (2,800 hp)
Armament
- Default:
  - 8 x .50 caliber machine guns
- Upgrade 1:
  - 2 x 100 lb bombs
- Upgrade 2:
  - 10 x 5 in HVAR rockets
  - 2 x 250 lb bombs
- Upgrade 3:
  - 2 x 500 lb bombs
Stats
- Max speed: 433 mph (697 km/h)
- Max dive speed: N/A
- Durability: 1000
- Internal fuel capacity: 305 US gallons (1,155 litres)
- External fuel capacity: N/A
- Empty weight: 10,000 lb (4,535 kg)
- Wing area: 300 ft² (27.87 m²)
Variants
- P-47B
  - Lt Col Francis Gabreski, leading ace of the 8th Air Force in Europe, early 1944.
  - 83 Fighter Squadron based in England, on the eve of D-Day
- P-47D
  - Maj. Glenn Eaglestone, commanding officer of 353rd FS, France 1944
- P-47N
  - Lt. Oscar Perdomo, the last US pilot to become ‘ace in a day’ during WW2

Premiums
- P-47B Premium
  - ‘Lady’ Silver
  - ‘Tiger’ Green
  - USAAF ‘Burma Yank’