I wouldn't be here today if were not for the P-47. My father who by the way just turned 101 flew with the 365th fighter group aka The Hell Hawks. He flew over 100 missions including the Battle of the Bulge. On one particular mission over the Ruhr valley in Germany my father was shot thru the canopy in the head and continued to fight. His P-47 suffered extensive damage and as he say's made it back with wholes in the wings that you could crawl thru. My fathers name is Sir Edward J Lopez and has a book out documenting some of his battles and life. It's called "Flight of a Hell Hawk".
My dad was in the Navy during Korea, and they were using FG-1D Corsair's built by Goodyear. My Dad told me he saw some P-47's at NASJRB Willow Grove around 1950 and he said they were real beast's, could carry a payload to rival a b-25 and were very impressive. May God bless your dad, and I hope he has more birthdays to come!
My dad flew one for a while in the Pacific and loved his jug. He said when they fixed the propeller problem and it then "climbed like a scalded cat". He taught me to fly and I got to watch him and a couple of buddies fly one at one of his buddies tiny airport. I was 5 and don't remember but still have the pictures. Miss the ole fart. He's hopefully flying something
@@jacktattis yal they won the war with their aircraft. Wow who cares at the rate of climb. My dad cared about that so he could get at the Japanese and the plane then allowed it better chances at catching them asleep
I'm a 57 yr old Aussie who grew up watching "Combat" & " Baa Baa Black Sheep" but I'm a bookworm and read loads about these 'JUGS'. They captivated me from a young age and rightly so. They are a great aircraft that had only one problem - they love fuel. With that problem covered they can, and did, do anything !!
It certainly was a very good plane just for its ability to withstand damage. My plane of choice would always be the Mosquito. Both very good planes in their fields
American ingenuity coupled with the heroic service of these pilots! Eight .50 cal. machine guns, tough airframe and near-bulletproof cockpit - awesome plane!!!
Excellent videos, photos, guests, and narration; succinct, to the point, and with short important guest comments. No time wasted watching, all info, including realistic comments about the P-47. I worked for Fairchild, and we were so proud of the P-47 Thunderbolt and A-10 Thunderbolt II (Warthog, another example of the importance of coming back alive), the avionics in the F-16, and parts of the Space Shuttles. Thank you.
God bless all the Thunderbolt pilots, amazing airmen, and courageous veterans with nerves of steel who risked everything and sacrificed so much to protect our countries and preserve the freedoms we enjoy today! God bless all the souls - military and civilian - that we have lost in times of war! God bless America! God bless us all and grant us peace!
Thanks...! Just love the P47 , easily my favourite WW2 fighter. I have this production footage on one of my old DVD discs....Glad to see it revitalised on our tube channel...! Cheers
The P 47 had flexible, sliding duct work to take red hot exhaust gases back to run the super charger then dump it off the plane. This ment that it's pilot had all that metal below him to act as extra armor. This along with it's Pratt and Wittney R 2800 radial engine made it a very difficult plane to shoot down.
Superb documentary. P-47's my favorite since I read the Landmark book "Great American Fighter Pilots Of World War Two" by Robert D. Loomis, back in the 60's.
Outstanding career and achievement,what an amazing man and a life to match.We need more like him both on the ground and in the air.He had a good innings but still gone too soon like many.
at threequrters of a million sorties, most air to air and ground kills the jug was the real workhorse of the war, never recieved it's due praise......................
@@guaporeturns9472 first production cost for the p47 at 83k and p51 at 51k is a reasonable compairson, production costs for the mustang did drop with numbers produced and i would think operational costs were less but without hard numbers 3 to 1 i would question...................boo-boos within the 8th airforce alowing 10 man bomber crews flying unescorted early was no help for the jugs image, scapegoats and politcking is a harssh reality............
I read that all 10 top p47 aces survived the war. This cannot be said of other fighters. Ground attack was more dangerous than air, and they started awarding kills fir ground kills
@@jacktattis Spitfires had 66 months in the war and the P-47 had 24 months in the war, 2.75 times longer. So the Spitfires should at least have 2.75x the victories as the P-47 right?
@@jacktattis As an Australian, you should be kissing American butts because we were the major player in the Pacific Theater that drove the Japanese away from your country and back to Japan. As to the Western Allies in Europe, the US was also the major player there too (something like 2/3rds of all the divisions on the Western Front were American). Maybe that's why you're always putting down American stuff, you feel resentment that we had to save your butts and you owe a debt of gratitude to us. The UK was a nice staging area/unsinkable aircraft carrier for the US, but if it came down to it, the US could have taken Germany on by itself, not saying it would have been easy, but we had the resources/manpower/spirit to do it. Other than the Battle of Britain (where the RAF enjoyed a defensive fight over home turf), the RAF was not doing anything decisive to defeat the Luftwaffe in 1940, 1941, or 1942 and in fact, often took more losses than they inflicted upon the Germans in some lopsided cross-channel fights or taking heavy losses over Dieppe/Dunkirk.
These tough old birds are awesome, and if I had to choose a favorite WW2 fighter the 47 would likely be my choice. The ever thrilling sound of the engine as one of these treasures makes a fly over has to be experienced to be understood.
The highest accolade the P-47 Thunderbolt could receive as a ground attack platform, is that the the A-10 Warthog aka the Thunderbolt 2 is named after it. Both have their roots with Republic Aviation.
Been my #1 WW2 plane since Iwas old enough to build models . This going back to the late 60's . Lost count how many times I read my paper version of Robert S. Johnson's book , "Thunderbolt" . Finally had to throw it in the trash because it fell apart. Grat read !!
@@jacktattis yes, and he was out classed until they got the new paddle blades for the 47's and the thunderbolt out climbed the spit fire like it was standing still .
Fantastic book Thunderbolt my favorite book I gave it to my niece who homeschools her 4 children along with a model of a P47 !! The children of today seem to know nothing of the 2ww or the Great Men and machines that won the war
P-47 was a workhorse with high survivability, two things that the soviet aircraft designers always were after for. Alexander Kartveli and Alexander P. de Seversky did exactly what they knew best.
Yep, they also picked the right successor to the A-1 also. It's crazy what kind of damage A-10s come back with. Reminds me about hearing how they thought the P-51 with it's speed would be a good ground attack aircraft, that idea didn't last long.
@@stavrique And you are wrong! Neither Seversky nor his Georgian friend were Soviet. They did not have soviet engendering design school. They immigrated - escaped Soviets. They had European education and engendering skills. Nothing to do with anything soviet.
I just went by the old Republic P-47 factory building in my hometown of Evansville, Indiana today!😊 the first plane out of that plant was named Hoosier Spirit!
In 1949, the 332nd entered the annual U.S. Continental Gunnery Meet in Las Vegas, Nevada. The competition included shooting aerial and ground targets and dropping bombs on targets. Flying the long-range Republic P-47N Thunderbolt (built for the long-range escort mission in the Pacific theatre of World War II), the 332nd Fighter Wing took first place in the conventional fighter class. The pilots were Captain Alva Temple, Lts. Harry Stewart, Jr., James H. Harvey III and Halbert Alexander. Staff Sergeant Buford A. Johnson (30 August 1927 - 15 April 2017) served as the pilots' aircraft crew chief.[98] Lt. Harvey said, "We had a perfect score. Three missions, two bombs per plane. We didn't guess at anything, we were good."
In NC there was a couple with a small sailboat in the marina where I worked 30 years ago. "Lady Ruth" was his aircraft. I remember him showing me pictures of it.
continually evolving and improving and maybe the best close air support plane. a good fighter plane and would keep you alive and get you home. underrated because planes can be replaced, pilots not so much. no other plane could take such HUGE damage and get you back to base
why do you think that the warthog is officially named the Thunderbolt II. It is the spiritual successor to the p 47; loud incredibly tough. God I love this plane
President Carter was a leader like very few after him. The hostage crisis sunk him in the eyes of the citizenry, but before that he was a steely eyed cold warrior, trained as a reactor officer and served on nuclear submarines. He was incredibly intelligent graduating in the top 10% of his class at Annapolis. He accomplished more out of office than in and deserves our admiration and respect.
Terrific film, and a nice bit of history documented. I really like the interviews and stories from some of the pilots who flew these planes in combat. Many of these men achieved great things in their lives.
Thank for the reference to the "Kansas Tornado" flown by Captain Howard Curran who like Gabby was a POW in Germany at the end of WW2 and like Gabby end up in South Korea as an F-86 pilot. I had the great pleasure to be a neighbor of Capt Curran in Tacoma, Wa and was amazed at his exploits a a fighter pilot. His compliments of the P 47 gave me a new respect for the P 47.
It went from a milk jug to a juggernaut. The most devastating ground attack fighter of WW2 it blow up a bridge and smoke a 190-109. And the bubble canopy version with the paddle props it was the best. The N was best the M the fastest piston fighter to fly in WW2 .
Quentin Aanenson is my local legend that flew these bad boys. There’s a small airport in Laverne, MN named after him. Also he did the PBS documentary “a fighter pilots story” it’s definitely worth checking out.
I always loved the p-47 they held the front until the 51 and 38 relieved them of escort….then they came into their own. Bomber, ground support and just flying high and ambushing the enemy….look at it this way no other aircraft retired them. Ha! So versatile
I love the Thunderbolt, I have mad respect for the men who flew it and the folks that built it. I have the hobby of flying RC planes. I had one I flew for a few years, I hit a tree and flew it again. It was tough like the original. I just placed an order foe a new one and cannot wait to fly her again. I know it is not "real" but it is my tribute to these men who did it fpr real
I have a calendar photo somewhere of all the guys carrying belts of .50 caliber BMG to reload the eight Brownings. I have often wondered what would have happened if the P-47 had a longer range. Perhaps the Mustang would have been the footnote in history.
There was a trade off, toughness or range, they had to pick one. The P51 was fast and had range but didn't have a sliver of the P 47's toughness. When they came out with the paddle prop, which BTW is still made and used on airboats, it made the jug complete
The P-47 with suitable drop tanks could match and surpass the range of the Mustangs. The 'N' variant was used in the Pacific to escort B-29s. The problem with the P-47 was that it was expensive!
@@davep7296 The P47 could not surpass the P51B/C/D/K range until the P47N came out. The P47N achieved that range by having an enormous fuel supply all around the fuselage and in the wings, which would have made the P47N even more vulnerable to cannon hits than even the liquid cooled engine of the P51B/C/D/K.
The jug did NOT have a range problem,it had staff officer problems,they refused drop tanks early in the war in Europe. The officers in the pacific had their own tanks made. Reference Gregs airplanes and autos,8 hrs worth on UT
The praises given to the P47 were well deserved, but its engine which was really a big part of its success, was essentially the same as on the F6F Hellcat and F4U Corsair. Until a couple of years ago, my favourite WWII fighter was the P51 Mustang, but Greg's Airplanes 8 part series on the Thunderbolt changed my mind.
The 47 and the 38 did so much of the heavy lifting early in the war before the 51 was refined into what it became. The 47 was a bare knuckle brawler that served it so well when they got intro fights with superior 109s and 190s. It was the ruggedness of the 47 that endeared it to it's pilots which gave them tremendous confidence in a fight. You can land punches but your not going to knock me out.
There are just those certain planes that everyone is fond of. The P-47 is one of those planes. I have never flown a but wanted to back when I was twelve years old. The thunderbolt was a powerful plane and most of the pilots that flew them loved them. They brought their pilots back most of the time. They weren’t the best looking planes but they remind me of a similar plane the A-10. Also a well liked plane by its pilots. I would watch the documentary’s and see the mechanics and ground crew riding on the wings of the planes I wondered what they were doing now I know.
Hello dear admin. Even though I don't know English, I watch your videos with pleasure because I am a history buff. You have subtitle options in many languages, could you please add Turkish language to these. Thank you very much in advance...
G.K. I thought that 8 .50.s would be better than 20mm cannons because of a denser pattern. They seemed to work well against fighters. Cannons are great against the larger bombers. Both are good on ground targets depending on the type.
The P-47 Thunderbolt was designed by Alexander Kartveli, a man of Georgian descent. It was to replace the Seversky P-35 developed earlier by Seversky. Also the truth is that Seversky was not Russian but Polish by his ethnic origin. They both - Kartveli and him were originaly from Georgia (Rebuplic) which from 1917-1921 wasn't part of the Russian Empire .They fled from their homeland, Tbilisi, Georgia, in 1921 to escape the Bolsheviks. Thus, no russians took part in developing the US aviation of any kind.
Dr. Muller hit the nail on the head talking about Saving Private Ryan. That scene was the only weak scene in the movie. Steven Spielberg loves P51s the way Tarantino loves feet.
"That scene was the only weak scene in the movie" Particularly because there were precisely zero Tiger tanks in the American sector in Normandy. All three Tiger battalions were facing the British and Canadians around Caen, not 100km to the northwest facing the Americans in the Cotentin Peninsula.
Those should have been razorback P-47's instead if P-51's at the end of "Saving Private Ryan". That ruined the movie for me. Also that "Ryan guy" going from young to old , Steven Spielberg stole that from "12 o'clock high" a TV series in the past.
The P47 Thunderbolt was that good the 56th fighter unit flew them All the way until victory in Europe that's how good this Bird is respect to the pilots and ground crews 🙏👏🤝
They called the P-47 the Jug because of the jugs of vinegar the pilots carried on each mission. The pilots would spray vinegar on the tires during flight. The engine ran on vinegar and the pilots had to walk on the wing and pour fresh vinegar in the wing tanks. This kept the instruments working during holidays
Not many people realize the P-47, F4U Corsair and F6F Hellcat all used the same massive Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp two-row, 18-cylinder radial engine. The F4U Corsair was the fastest of the three because it mounted a giant propeller measuring over 13 feet in diameter - necessitating the plane's "Gull Wings" to raise the fuselage and engine higher for prop clearance.
No, the P47 was faster, Wikipedia is a poor source for information on aircraft because of the variant's they choose to list the spec's of, the M and N variant's of the P47 were about 40 MPH faster than the F4U. F4U's had to have multiple stage superchargers to perform at altitude, that drags the engine down driving them, but the P47 had a single stage supercharger that was compounded with a turbo at high altitude and since a turbo is a waste energy recovery device it doesn't drag the engine down like a 2 stage 3 range supercharger does. There was a prototype P47 built during the war that flew around 505 MPH, even with all the unlimited class war birds in pylon racing it's record wasn't broken until 1989, for all those years it held the record as the fastest piston engine aircraft.
The F4U also had a great manual 2 stage supercharger and. Intercooler setup. To a degree peoples assessments of "best fighter" are subjective with different focus on strong points including cost savings and construction ease, green pilot freindliness, or not focusing on those factors. I've thought Corsairs were ugly treacherous unforgiving machines that might be the best throughout the war everything else considered.😅
@@dukecraig2402True all that but my impression is that all variant's are relatively sluggish down low to one degree or another. Do you know whether or not that pylon jug might've had an R3350 fitted? That's pretty common practice at Reno.
My favorite fighter plane of WW2. I've always loved the P47 from first sight, and never understood why people disliked it. I guess when you get a bulletproof 2000hp air colled radial with a huge 4 bladed prop, solid airframe loaded with fuel, guns, and ammo ...you need something to complain about. Well its big, and it looks like a milk jug... aaaand the canopy looked better as a Razorback... I guess.
Very interesting to learn of this aircraft from this video. You hear the names of aircraft from the day. I am aware of the P-47. But only just. I am Canadian and always interested such a video as this. From my perspective on this aircraft? It may have been the perfect tool for what it brought to battle. Brute force brought to the air.
I am wondering about the men riding on the wing of the aircraft while it is moving around the airfield. My guess is that when on the ground the pilot can't see directly in front of his aircraft, so the man on the wing is there as an extra set of eyes to help him steer safely.
@@MacFinn-wp2vn No need for that. I was asking a sincere question, hoping someone would know for certain. I don't recall seeing a ground crew member riding on the wing of any other WW2 aircraft. If my guess is correct, it means the design of the plane left it with a blind spot for the pilot while it was being taxied around an airfield. Was this a design flaw or an accepted trade off? How many ground accidents happened before they added the man on the wing?
@@dongilleo9743 It was obviously accepted and not a flaw or they wouldn't have built many thousands of these aircraft. Poor forward visibility was common to single engine fighters, some worse than others. The F4U Corsair was no better, and it had to land on a boat.
The man riding on the wing was the crew chief, his job at that point was not only to help the pilot steer the aircraft on those narrow improvised airstrips while taxiing but also to monitor the aircraft for any possible flaws or mechanical problems like an uneven running engine etc etc. Flying those aircraft from that era was a dangerous occupation not only because of the enemy but also from mishaps, a full ⅓rd of all the 8th Air Force deaths in Europe were due to accidents, so something like an engine conking out during take off on those short improvised airstrips while it was loaded with bombs and fuel could be disastrous, those crew chiefs needed to keep checking those things out right up to where he'd jump down off the wing right before it'd take off.
My Favorite WW2 aircraft, second is the Do-335 and there is a single Do-335 at the national air and space Museum near the National Marine Museum Manassas US Civil War Battlefield, third is the P-39 Airacobra and its successor the Kingcobra and with its deadly ness and faster speed then German fighters at the altitude they fought at over Russia
9,500 of these were built not far from me in East Farmingdale Long Island at the main Republic Aviation plant at the north end of Republic airport. The only thing left is the American Airpower Museum
The P47 was like so many other weapons developed in ww2. So far advanced for the times. Think about it a fighter capable of maintaining 400 mph + at 40,000 + ft. The fire power it carried and durability made a perfect bomber escort or interceptor and it could hold it's own in a dog fight if used right. I marvel at the ships of ww2. I never realised just how incredibly advanced they were with radar, aiming systems and communications. I mean mankind went from basically wooden ships to steel behemoths with advanced weapons and awe inspiring firepower in the blink of an eye. The Japanese were the first to realize aircraft carriers were the ultimate warship and changed naval warfare forever.
"Helped win the war"... absolutely! Too many videos would have you believe that a given weapon "won the war". NO weapon did that. Countless people, now almost all dead, did that. The Jug was a huge, tough brute built to tangle with the best and take punishment that would down nearly all of its opponents. It would have been a far better choice for ground support in Korea than the Mustang.
American industry and logistics “won” that war. Anyone who believes otherwise is deluding themselves. A p47 pilot survives his mission commitment in spite of damage done to his aircraft and gets to go home to be a training instructor for the next wave of pilots, teaching them pertinent info that saves their lives every bit as much as the airframe itself. The gas, spare parts, and ammunition gets where it’s going more times than it doesn’t thanks to a better logistics train than the enemy. Meanwhile, the enemy is fielding and its best until they are KIA and can hardly keep their planes in the air due to shortages across the board. The P47 was a death Nell for the Luftwaffe.
@@AdmiralYeti8042 Still true. While deployed to the Middle East, we were given massive latitude for spares. At the end, I remember being gobsmacked as logistics personel rolled in, rolled up their sleeves, and quietly sorted out our crimes. Up until then, I had no particular respect for supply folks. That changed big time.
It's a pity, that out of +15, 500 Thunderbolts built, not many are in flyable condition. Growing up, built 2 P-47D models. Aside from F4U & SBD, Jug became my favorite model
I think that way with so much WWII equipment. Tons of the stuff that did make it back home was still scrapped. The stuff that did make it's way to civilians via cheap surplus, lots of it wasn't treated well. Just like anything from back then though, no one knew it would be worth many many times what they originally paid for it 80 years later. Besides aircraft, halftracks are the other thing i really hate the loss of.
My father in law flew in Chenault’s 14th piloting a P51. At that time his roll was bombing trains and bridges. He did get an opportunity to fly the P47 and likened it to flying a dump truck. A complete opposite of the sporty P51 in the hands of a 22 year old pilot. I heard his stories when he was in his sixties and might hit 30 mph in his Olds Cutlass.😂
O Brasil vou na segunda guerra na Itália com os P_47 e os pilotos relataram da capacidade de absorção de impactos... teve um piloto que na sua retomada de altura após um bombardeio bateu com sua asa em uma chaminé perdeu quase todas a asa mas, conseguiu retornar pra base e pousou normalmente seu avião!!.
@@jacktattis And saved many many more ground pounders in the process. Same with outdated Stukas on the eastern front where pilots would get the Stuka shot out from under them in the morning and they would be flying sorties again that afternoon. DCAS motto: "So that other's may live".
Click the link to watch more aircraft, heroes, and their stories, and missions: www.youtube.com/@Dronescapes
Excellent video! Very well done, as usual @Dronescapes! Thanks!
THERE IS,THERE IS NO GREATER LOVE THAN LAY ONE'S LIFE DOWN FOR THEIR FELLOW BROTHER/SISTER
I’m just 😊
By far the best, most comprehensive video of P47 and variants ! Excellent!
Q q¹😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 @paststeve1
I wouldn't be here today if were not for the P-47. My father who by the way just turned 101 flew with the 365th fighter group aka The Hell Hawks. He flew over 100 missions including the Battle of the Bulge. On one particular mission over the Ruhr valley in Germany my father was shot thru the canopy in the head and continued to fight. His P-47 suffered extensive damage and as he say's made it back with wholes in the wings that you could crawl thru. My fathers name is Sir Edward J Lopez and has a book out documenting some of his battles and life. It's called "Flight of a Hell Hawk".
Awesome 👍 what a great insight to a truly amazing man ❤
My dad was in the Navy during Korea, and they were using FG-1D Corsair's built by Goodyear.
My Dad told me he saw some P-47's at NASJRB Willow Grove around 1950 and he said they were real beast's, could carry a payload to rival a b-25 and were very impressive.
May God bless your dad, and I hope he has more birthdays to come!
Please give your father my respects. We owe men like him everything.
the badassery of the greatest generation can not be overestimated
And they didn’t think it was badassery, they felt it was their job. The greatest generation
God bless Ganny Gabby
Thanks you old aviators...the nation won't ever forget...Republic and Douglas made some great planes..
My dad flew one for a while in the Pacific and loved his jug. He said when they fixed the propeller problem and it then "climbed like a scalded cat". He taught me to fly and I got to watch him and a couple of buddies fly one at one of his buddies tiny airport. I was 5 and don't remember but still have the pictures. Miss the ole fart. He's hopefully flying something
Bless him Dave
My dad was a P-47 Crew Chief. I’m sure that your dad’s still flying and my dad is maintaining the plane.
@@jacktattis yal they won the war with their aircraft. Wow who cares at the rate of climb. My dad cared about that so he could get at the Japanese and the plane then allowed it better chances at catching them asleep
When the fight was above 30,000 ft, & every one else is suffering sluggish performance, the P-47 was in it's element.
To put it mildly, your father was a badass and a hero
From what I've seen, the quality that Gabreski had over others was marksmanship. He was a great shooter.
I'm a 57 yr old Aussie who grew up watching "Combat" & " Baa Baa Black Sheep" but I'm a bookworm and read loads about these 'JUGS'. They captivated me from a young age and rightly so. They are a great aircraft that had only one problem - they love fuel. With that problem covered they can, and did, do anything !!
It certainly was a very good plane just for its ability to withstand damage. My plane of choice would always be the Mosquito. Both very good planes in their fields
American ingenuity coupled with the heroic service of these pilots!
Eight .50 cal. machine guns, tough airframe and near-bulletproof cockpit - awesome plane!!!
Agree. I love the fact that the t-bolt. was like a guy who strolls into a bar just looking for a fight. It was a brawler that was tougher than nails.
@16rumpole he strolled into a party not giving afk who's party it was
My father told that when on prisoner duty, the German soldiers all spoke of the one American plane they feared the most - the "Tun dra bolt"
Good! My grandfather flew one of these during the war, had 11 confirmed kills.
Excellent videos, photos, guests, and narration; succinct, to the point, and with short important guest comments. No time wasted watching, all info, including realistic comments about the P-47. I worked for Fairchild, and we were so proud of the P-47 Thunderbolt and A-10 Thunderbolt II (Warthog, another example of the importance of coming back alive), the avionics in the F-16, and parts of the Space Shuttles. Thank you.
I love the P47 especially the N model it’s actually awesome looking and it’s toughness and devastating fire power.
I liked when they go over the new letter changes and what they added to an already flying arsenal.
God bless all the Thunderbolt pilots, amazing airmen, and courageous veterans with nerves of steel who risked everything and sacrificed so much to protect our countries and preserve the freedoms we enjoy today! God bless all the souls - military and civilian - that we have lost in times of war! God bless America! God bless us all and grant us peace!
Amen, Brother!
My all time favorite aircraft. An absolute beauty!
Thanks...! Just love the P47 , easily my favourite WW2 fighter. I have this production footage on one of my old DVD discs....Glad to see it revitalised on our tube channel...! Cheers
The P 47 had flexible, sliding duct work to take red hot exhaust gases back to run the super charger then dump it off the plane. This ment that it's pilot had all that metal below him to act as extra armor. This along with it's Pratt and Wittney R 2800 radial engine made it a very difficult plane to shoot down.
Superb documentary. P-47's my favorite since I read the Landmark book "Great American Fighter Pilots Of World War Two" by Robert D. Loomis, back in the 60's.
Outstanding career and achievement,what an amazing man and a life to match.We need more like him both on the ground and in the air.He had a good innings but still gone too soon like many.
at threequrters of a million sorties, most air to air and ground kills the jug was the real workhorse of the war, never recieved it's due praise......................
@@guaporeturns9472 first production cost for the p47 at 83k and p51 at 51k is a reasonable compairson, production costs for the mustang did drop with numbers produced and i would think operational costs were less but without hard numbers 3 to 1 i would question...................boo-boos within the 8th airforce alowing 10 man bomber crews flying unescorted early was no help for the jugs image, scapegoats and politcking is a harssh reality............
I read that all 10 top p47 aces survived the war. This cannot be said of other fighters. Ground attack was more dangerous than air, and they started awarding kills fir ground kills
@@jacktattis what is with the clickbait about the spitfire, find a video about the unmatched acomplishments of the spit and drop comments there...
@@jacktattis Spitfires had 66 months in the war and the P-47 had 24 months in the war, 2.75 times longer. So the Spitfires should at least have 2.75x the victories as the P-47 right?
@@jacktattis As an Australian, you should be kissing American butts because we were the major player in the Pacific Theater that drove the Japanese away from your country and back to Japan. As to the Western Allies in Europe, the US was also the major player there too (something like 2/3rds of all the divisions on the Western Front were American). Maybe that's why you're always putting down American stuff, you feel resentment that we had to save your butts and you owe a debt of gratitude to us. The UK was a nice staging area/unsinkable aircraft carrier for the US, but if it came down to it, the US could have taken Germany on by itself, not saying it would have been easy, but we had the resources/manpower/spirit to do it.
Other than the Battle of Britain (where the RAF enjoyed a defensive fight over home turf), the RAF was not doing anything decisive to defeat the Luftwaffe in 1940, 1941, or 1942 and in fact, often took more losses than they inflicted upon the Germans in some lopsided cross-channel fights or taking heavy losses over Dieppe/Dunkirk.
Men of this caliber and knowledge are rare and worth their weight in gold .
These tough old birds are awesome, and if I had to choose a favorite WW2 fighter the 47 would likely be my choice. The ever thrilling sound of the engine as one of these treasures makes a fly over has to be experienced to be understood.
There’s a great video of a startup at an airport in Atlanta. The thing was just loud and rough. Just like Murica
I'm not an aviator but I gotta say, the P-47 deserved the moniker, "the Jug"
That was one big plane
The highest accolade the P-47 Thunderbolt could receive as a ground attack platform, is that the the A-10 Warthog aka the Thunderbolt 2 is named after it. Both have their roots with Republic Aviation.
Been my #1 WW2 plane since Iwas old enough to build models . This going back to the late 60's . Lost count how many times I read my paper version of Robert S. Johnson's book , "Thunderbolt" . Finally had to throw it in the trash because it fell apart. Grat read !!
@@guaporeturns9472 built many a P -47s myself over the years too
@@guaporeturns9472 all great planes . there's just something about the 2800
@@jacktattis yes, and he was out classed until they got the new paddle blades for the 47's and the thunderbolt out climbed the spit fire like it was standing still .
@@jacktattis touch a nerve?
Absolutely top-notch video, you've earned another subscriber today.
I read Bob Johnson's book as a kid and have loved the P-47 ever since.
Fantastic book Thunderbolt my favorite book I gave it to my niece who homeschools her 4 children along with a model of a P47 !!
The children of today seem to know nothing of the 2ww or the Great Men and machines that won the war
P-47 was a workhorse with high survivability, two things that the soviet aircraft designers always were after for.
Alexander Kartveli and Alexander P. de Seversky did exactly what they knew best.
Yep, they also picked the right successor to the A-1 also. It's crazy what kind of damage A-10s come back with. Reminds me about hearing how they thought the P-51 with it's speed would be a good ground attack aircraft, that idea didn't last long.
They weren’t soviet. They escaped the Bolsheviks.
@@JUST5NOW by "soviet aircraft designers".... i mean "soviet school of aircraft design" the general line that they all had....thank you
@@stavrique And you are wrong! Neither Seversky nor his Georgian friend were Soviet. They did not have soviet engendering design school. They immigrated - escaped Soviets. They had European education and engendering skills. Nothing to do with anything soviet.
@@JUST5NOW OK YOU WIN!
I just went by the old Republic P-47 factory building in my hometown of Evansville, Indiana today!😊 the first plane out of that plant was named Hoosier Spirit!
In 1949, the 332nd entered the annual U.S. Continental Gunnery Meet in Las Vegas, Nevada. The competition included shooting aerial and ground targets and dropping bombs on targets. Flying the long-range Republic P-47N Thunderbolt (built for the long-range escort mission in the Pacific theatre of World War II), the 332nd Fighter Wing took first place in the conventional fighter class. The pilots were Captain Alva Temple, Lts. Harry Stewart, Jr., James H. Harvey III and Halbert Alexander. Staff Sergeant Buford A. Johnson (30 August 1927 - 15 April 2017) served as the pilots' aircraft crew chief.[98] Lt. Harvey said, "We had a perfect score. Three missions, two bombs per plane. We didn't guess at anything, we were good."
In NC there was a couple with a small sailboat in the marina where I worked 30 years ago. "Lady Ruth" was his aircraft. I remember him showing me pictures of it.
continually evolving and improving and maybe the best close air support plane. a good fighter plane and would keep you alive and get you home. underrated because planes can be replaced, pilots not so much. no other plane could take such HUGE damage and get you back to base
why do you think that the warthog is officially named the Thunderbolt II. It is the spiritual successor to the p 47; loud incredibly tough. God I love this plane
President Carter was a leader like very few after him. The hostage crisis sunk him in the eyes of the citizenry, but before that he was a steely eyed cold warrior, trained as a reactor officer and served on nuclear submarines. He was incredibly intelligent graduating in the top 10% of his class at Annapolis. He accomplished more out of office than in and deserves our admiration and respect.
What does your comment have to do with P-47’s? Go troll else where.
Terrific film, and a nice bit of history documented.
I really like the interviews and stories from some of the pilots who flew these planes in combat.
Many of these men achieved great things in their lives.
Great american engineers built the best planes to fight enemy!
Thank you so much for this.
Excellent video! Very well done, as usual @Dronescapes!
Glad you enjoyed it
Excellent A/P, it did the job it was designed to do, Excellent video, thank you for sharing, JV
Thank for the reference to the "Kansas Tornado" flown by Captain Howard Curran who like Gabby was a POW in Germany at the end of WW2 and like Gabby end up in South Korea as an F-86 pilot. I had the great pleasure to be a neighbor of Capt Curran in Tacoma, Wa and was amazed at his exploits a a fighter pilot. His compliments of the P 47 gave me a new respect for the P 47.
It went from a milk jug to a juggernaut. The most devastating ground attack fighter of WW2 it blow up a bridge and smoke a 190-109. And the bubble canopy version with the paddle props it was the best. The N was best the M the fastest piston fighter to fly in WW2 .
Quentin Aanenson is my local legend that flew these bad boys. There’s a small airport in Laverne, MN named after him. Also he did the PBS documentary “a fighter pilots story” it’s definitely worth checking out.
Gabby is and will always be a badass
I always loved the p-47 they held the front until the 51 and 38 relieved them of escort….then they came into their own. Bomber, ground support and just flying high and ambushing the enemy….look at it this way no other aircraft retired them. Ha! So versatile
I love the Thunderbolt, I have mad respect for the men who flew it and the folks that built it. I have the hobby of flying RC planes. I had one I flew for a few years, I hit a tree and flew it again. It was tough like the original. I just placed an order foe a new one and cannot wait to fly her again. I know it is not "real" but it is my tribute to these men who did it fpr real
❤
and the new one flies sweet@@crgbarros
I have a calendar photo somewhere of all the guys carrying belts of .50 caliber BMG to reload the eight Brownings. I have often wondered what would have happened if the P-47 had a longer range. Perhaps the Mustang would have been the footnote in history.
There was a trade off, toughness or range, they had to pick one. The P51 was fast and had range but didn't have a sliver of the P 47's toughness.
When they came out with the paddle prop, which BTW is still made and used on airboats, it made the jug complete
The P-47 with suitable drop tanks could match and surpass the range of the Mustangs. The 'N' variant was used in the Pacific to escort B-29s. The problem with the P-47 was that it was expensive!
@@davep7296 The P47 could not surpass the P51B/C/D/K range until the P47N came out. The P47N achieved that range by having an enormous fuel supply all around the fuselage and in the wings, which would have made the P47N even more vulnerable to cannon hits than even the liquid cooled engine of the P51B/C/D/K.
The jug did NOT have a range problem,it had staff officer problems,they refused drop tanks early in the war in Europe. The officers in the pacific had their own tanks made. Reference Gregs airplanes and autos,8 hrs worth on UT
Man, the F4U Corsair is my fave warbird, but the P-47 T-Bolt is def a close second. What a beast.
The P-47 was a beast once 150 octane AV gas became widely available.
Interesting. Where'd you come across that nugget of info?
Thanks for the gentle pace.
My grandfather worked on those from the North Africa to Europe. 8th Army AC. RIP PeeWee. I’ve inherited so much memorabilia.
Bless him
@@jacktattis I believe the RAF used them in North Africa in 1944. They were also used by the Soviets and the French!
@@jacktattis Oh that must have been devastating for you to learn that an inferior Yank plane replaced a superior British made plane.
The praises given to the P47 were well deserved, but its engine which was really a big part of its success, was essentially the same as on the F6F Hellcat and F4U Corsair. Until a couple of years ago, my favourite WWII fighter was the P51 Mustang, but Greg's Airplanes 8 part series on the Thunderbolt changed my mind.
The jump between the Jug and the Sabre must have been remarkable. And then the F111... What a pilot!
Very informative and worth watching.
How could you hate such a beautiful, tough, big plane?!
The 47 and the 38 did so much of the heavy lifting early in the war before the 51 was refined into what it became.
The 47 was a bare knuckle brawler that served it so well when they got intro fights with superior 109s and 190s. It was the ruggedness of the 47 that endeared it to it's pilots which gave them tremendous confidence in a fight. You can land punches but your not going to knock me out.
I have affection for certain planes: The Swordfish. The Thunderbolt. The Hurricane. There are narratives with every bird
I'm still at awe when I hear the names Jug and Thud. Truly classic warplanes.
There are just those certain planes that everyone is fond of. The P-47 is one of those planes. I have never flown a but wanted to back when I was twelve years old. The thunderbolt was a powerful plane and most of the pilots that flew them loved them. They brought their pilots back most of the time. They weren’t the best looking planes but they remind me of a similar plane the A-10. Also a well liked plane by its pilots. I would watch the documentary’s and see the mechanics and ground crew riding on the wings of the planes I wondered what they were doing now I know.
I don't care what others say, the P-47 was the best fighter of WW2!!!!
Nah. Spitfire was.
F6F Hellcat pilots might disagree with that.
@@jacktattis
Yep. The Spitfire was great at the start of the war, and great at the end of the war. Greatest fighter on any side in WW2
It might be more accurate to say the P47 was the best USAAF of WWII, to which I think a lot of people would agree. Cheers.
Yes it was
Hello dear admin. Even though I don't know English, I watch your videos with pleasure because I am a history buff. You have subtitle options in many languages, could you please add Turkish language to these. Thank you very much in advance...
Done 👍
G.K. I thought that 8 .50.s would be better than 20mm cannons because of a denser pattern. They seemed to work well against fighters. Cannons are great against the larger bombers. Both are good on ground targets depending on the type.
The P-47 Thunderbolt was designed by Alexander Kartveli, a man of Georgian descent. It was to replace the Seversky P-35 developed earlier by Seversky. Also the truth is that Seversky was not Russian but Polish by his ethnic origin. They both - Kartveli and him were originaly from Georgia (Rebuplic) which from 1917-1921 wasn't part of the Russian Empire .They fled from their homeland, Tbilisi, Georgia, in 1921 to escape the Bolsheviks. Thus, no russians took part in developing the US aviation of any kind.
That narrator is the stone cold best. No idea who he is, but he is legend.
Dr. Muller hit the nail on the head talking about Saving Private Ryan. That scene was the only weak scene in the movie. Steven Spielberg loves P51s the way Tarantino loves feet.
"That scene was the only weak scene in the movie"
Particularly because there were precisely zero Tiger tanks in the American sector in Normandy. All three Tiger battalions were facing the British and Canadians around Caen, not 100km to the northwest facing the Americans in the Cotentin Peninsula.
Those should have been razorback P-47's instead if P-51's at the end of "Saving Private Ryan". That ruined the movie for me. Also that "Ryan guy" going from young to old , Steven Spielberg stole that from "12 o'clock high" a TV series in the past.
Wow ! Thank you.
The P47 Thunderbolt was that good the 56th fighter unit flew them All the way until victory in Europe that's how good this Bird is respect to the pilots and ground crews 🙏👏🤝
Great double feature! 👍 😃
They called the P-47 the Jug because of the jugs of vinegar the pilots carried on each mission. The pilots would spray vinegar on the tires during flight. The engine ran on vinegar and the pilots had to walk on the wing and pour fresh vinegar in the wing tanks. This kept the instruments working during holidays
One of my favorite bubble top canopy fighters of WW2.
Not many people realize the P-47, F4U Corsair and F6F Hellcat all used the same massive Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp two-row, 18-cylinder radial engine. The F4U Corsair was the fastest of the three because it mounted a giant propeller measuring over 13 feet in diameter - necessitating the plane's "Gull Wings" to raise the fuselage and engine higher for prop clearance.
No, the P47 was faster, Wikipedia is a poor source for information on aircraft because of the variant's they choose to list the spec's of, the M and N variant's of the P47 were about 40 MPH faster than the F4U.
F4U's had to have multiple stage superchargers to perform at altitude, that drags the engine down driving them, but the P47 had a single stage supercharger that was compounded with a turbo at high altitude and since a turbo is a waste energy recovery device it doesn't drag the engine down like a 2 stage 3 range supercharger does.
There was a prototype P47 built during the war that flew around 505 MPH, even with all the unlimited class war birds in pylon racing it's record wasn't broken until 1989, for all those years it held the record as the fastest piston engine aircraft.
@@dukecraig2402 100% !!!!!!!!!!
The F4U also had a great manual 2 stage supercharger and. Intercooler setup. To a degree peoples assessments of "best fighter" are subjective with different focus on strong points including cost savings and construction ease, green pilot freindliness, or not focusing on those factors. I've thought Corsairs were ugly treacherous unforgiving machines that might be the best throughout the war everything else considered.😅
@@dukecraig2402True all that but my impression is that all variant's are relatively sluggish down low to one degree or another.
Do you know whether or not that pylon jug might've had an R3350 fitted? That's pretty common practice at Reno.
My favorite fighter plane of WW2. I've always loved the P47 from first sight, and never understood why people disliked it. I guess when you get a bulletproof 2000hp air colled radial with a huge 4 bladed prop, solid airframe loaded with fuel, guns, and ammo ...you need something to complain about. Well its big, and it looks like a milk jug... aaaand the canopy looked better as a Razorback... I guess.
The first model airplane I ever built was a P-47. Built quite a few as a kid.
amazing video and a great tribute to the greatest plane ever made :)
Thanks a lot!
Very interesting to learn of this aircraft from this video. You hear the names of aircraft from the day. I am aware of the P-47.
But only just. I am Canadian and always interested such a video as this.
From my perspective on this aircraft?
It may have been the perfect tool for what it brought to battle. Brute force brought to the air.
I am wondering about the men riding on the wing of the aircraft while it is moving around the airfield. My guess is that when on the ground the pilot can't see directly in front of his aircraft, so the man on the wing is there as an extra set of eyes to help him steer safely.
No sh*t.
@@MacFinn-wp2vn No need for that. I was asking a sincere question, hoping someone would know for certain. I don't recall seeing a ground crew member riding on the wing of any other WW2 aircraft. If my guess is correct, it means the design of the plane left it with a blind spot for the pilot while it was being taxied around an airfield. Was this a design flaw or an accepted trade off? How many ground accidents happened before they added the man on the wing?
@@dongilleo9743 saw a photo of a taxying P47 with a crewman laying on the wing ,pointing the way to go.
@@dongilleo9743 It was obviously accepted and not a flaw or they wouldn't have built many thousands of these aircraft. Poor forward visibility was common to single engine fighters, some worse than others. The F4U Corsair was no better, and it had to land on a boat.
The man riding on the wing was the crew chief, his job at that point was not only to help the pilot steer the aircraft on those narrow improvised airstrips while taxiing but also to monitor the aircraft for any possible flaws or mechanical problems like an uneven running engine etc etc.
Flying those aircraft from that era was a dangerous occupation not only because of the enemy but also from mishaps, a full ⅓rd of all the 8th Air Force deaths in Europe were due to accidents, so something like an engine conking out during take off on those short improvised airstrips while it was loaded with bombs and fuel could be disastrous, those crew chiefs needed to keep checking those things out right up to where he'd jump down off the wing right before it'd take off.
If you want to impress your wife, fly a P-51. If you want to come home to her, you gotta fly big chonk.
I love this channel.
My Favorite WW2 aircraft, second is the Do-335 and there is a single Do-335 at the national air and space Museum near the National Marine Museum Manassas US Civil War Battlefield, third is the P-39 Airacobra and its successor the Kingcobra and with its deadly ness and faster speed then German fighters at the altitude they fought at over Russia
9,500 of these were built not far from me in East Farmingdale Long Island at the main Republic Aviation plant at the north end of Republic airport. The only thing left is the American Airpower Museum
Good job well done 👍
The UK had the Hurricane, the U.S had the P47. No show pony, just a darn fine workhorse.
Built like bulls of the air, they were rough, tough and could land a punch when required.
Outstanding!
My dad flew about 175 combat missions in the India/China/Burma theater
My Grandfather was crew chief of a P-47 in the 88th fighter Squadron in Burma. SSGT John Keegan. Plane was the Wynne-K named for my grandmother
The P47, destroyed more trains and transport convoys along with flaming Luftwaffe tails its crazy. Had 8 .50 caliber
The P47 was like so many other weapons developed in ww2. So far advanced for the times. Think about it a fighter capable of maintaining 400 mph + at 40,000 + ft. The fire power it carried and durability made a perfect bomber escort or interceptor and it could hold it's own in a dog fight if used right. I marvel at the ships of ww2. I never realised just how incredibly advanced they were with radar, aiming systems and communications. I mean mankind went from basically wooden ships to steel behemoths with advanced weapons and awe inspiring firepower in the blink of an eye. The Japanese were the first to realize aircraft carriers were the ultimate warship and changed naval warfare forever.
Imagine being on the business end of eight .50Cals. It truly is a remarkable aircraft.
Gabby was a true gunfighter!!!!
Russians know how to build tough airplanes. Whether they build them in Russia or they build them in the United States. They build them tough as nails.
Ace video mate.
A f***ing awesome video guys
"Helped win the war"... absolutely! Too many videos would have you believe that a given weapon "won the war". NO weapon did that. Countless people, now almost all dead, did that. The Jug was a huge, tough brute built to tangle with the best and take punishment that would down nearly all of its opponents. It would have been a far better choice for ground support in Korea than the Mustang.
American industry and logistics “won” that war. Anyone who believes otherwise is deluding themselves. A p47 pilot survives his mission commitment in spite of damage done to his aircraft and gets to go home to be a training instructor for the next wave of pilots, teaching them pertinent info that saves their lives every bit as much as the airframe itself. The gas, spare parts, and ammunition gets where it’s going more times than it doesn’t thanks to a better logistics train than the enemy. Meanwhile, the enemy is fielding and its best until they are KIA and can hardly keep their planes in the air due to shortages across the board. The P47 was a death Nell for the Luftwaffe.
@@AdmiralYeti8042 Still true. While deployed to the Middle East, we were given massive latitude for spares. At the end, I remember being gobsmacked as logistics personel rolled in, rolled up their sleeves, and quietly sorted out our crimes. Up until then, I had no particular respect for supply folks. That changed big time.
Long live the P-47, and the R-2800
Number ONE in my opinion.
It's a pity, that out of +15, 500 Thunderbolts built, not many are in flyable condition. Growing up, built 2 P-47D models. Aside from F4U & SBD, Jug became my favorite model
I think that way with so much WWII equipment. Tons of the stuff that did make it back home was still scrapped. The stuff that did make it's way to civilians via cheap surplus, lots of it wasn't treated well. Just like anything from back then though, no one knew it would be worth many many times what they originally paid for it 80 years later. Besides aircraft, halftracks are the other thing i really hate the loss of.
My favorite always, sure so many good ones ,but she's a rough and tough pistol packing mama to deal with!
I'm a "Jug" man through and through.
This aircraft looks like an engine nacelle with wings and a tail on it.
My father in law flew in Chenault’s 14th piloting a P51. At that time his roll was bombing trains and bridges. He did get an opportunity to fly the P47 and likened it to flying a dump truck. A complete opposite of the sporty P51 in the hands of a 22 year old pilot. I heard his stories when he was in his sixties and might hit 30 mph in his Olds Cutlass.😂
The P-47 'D bubble canopy late war variant was the' most' and ALMOST
looked svelt and elegant. Heck with the fragile Mustang. Robert at 68.
A beast of a plane. An RAF pilot wryly remarked "I suppose our bombers could hide behind it".
O Brasil vou na segunda guerra na Itália com os P_47 e os pilotos relataram da capacidade de absorção de impactos... teve um piloto que na sua retomada de altura após um bombardeio bateu com sua asa em uma chaminé perdeu quase todas a asa mas, conseguiu retornar pra base e pousou normalmente seu avião!!.
the Sherman was the best tank in WW2 because of the P 47
The Sherman was not the best tank in WW2. There wasn't any best tank of WW2. Different nations had different needs.
@@jacktattisMost of them are gone now but ask any WWII tanker or infantryman. CAS…
@@jacktattis And saved many many more ground pounders in the process. Same with outdated Stukas on the eastern front where pilots would get the Stuka shot out from under them in the morning and they would be flying sorties again that afternoon. DCAS motto: "So that other's may live".
Fw 152 ta ist besser
P47 is my favorite plane. If I had fought in the Second World War, as I would not be a skilled pilot, I would prefer a plane that would bring me back.