“The
aeroplane that you can fly into combat, do your job, and
get you home,
is THE best aeroplane in the world, and the P-47 did that
for us” Bob Winters. 62nd FS
On May 26th 1942, the first Republic P-47 Thunderbolt
was received by the USAAF, and the 63rd Fighter Squadron
of the 56th Fighter Group became the first squadron to
be equipped with the new fighter. It was the beginning
of a partnership which would become unique in the history
of the 8th Air Force, with the 56th being the only Fighter
Group to fly the P-47 continually throughout it’s
service in the E.T.O.
In
much the same way as the Spitfire came to signify the defence
of Britain during the Battle Of Britain in 1940, while the
Hurricane, although accounting for just over half of the
Axis aircraft destroyed during the battle remains the unsung
hero, it was the P-51 Mustang which was to became the 8th
Air Force “pin up girl” while the P-47 and its
pilots took on the Luftwaffe from 1943 onwards and slowly
began to turn the tide of the air war against Germany.
Initially
hampered by its slow rate of climb and short operational
range, developments in auxillary fuel tanks coupled with
larger internal fuel capacity from the D-25 models onwards
meant that eventually the P-47 was able to range as far
as Berlin. Rate of climb was dramatically improved with
the introduction of the wider “Paddeblade” propellers
and 56th FG aircraft already in theatre began to be field
fitted with these propellers in late 1943, while later batches
of the P-47 were factory fitted with them.
Working
closely with attached Republic Aviation representatives,
many of the field modifications developed by the 56th Fighter
Group were incorporated into the later batches of P-47’s,
whilst older aircraft in service with the group were continually
upgraded and received the latest improvements from Republic.
Although
designed as a high altitude escort fighter the P-47 was
adapted to carry not only additional fuel tanks but also
listed GP bombs, M10 rockets, and fragmentation bombs amongst
its weapon loading. Coupled with the eight .50 cal Browning
machine guns mounted in the wings this turned the Thunderbolt
into what is considered by many to be the most effective
fighter-bomber of the second world war.
The
P-47s ability to absorb battle damage and still get make
it back to base is legendary, and many pilots owe their
lives to the rugged construction of the Thunderbolt and
the reliability of the air cooled Pratt +Whitney R 2800
engine. Unlike the liquid cooled engines of the P-51 Mustang,
with which loss of coolant would give the pilot approximately
10-15 minutes flying time before the engine seized, P-47’s
returned to base with whole cylinders missing and the contents
of the oil reservoir coated along the fuselage sides but
still flying. As the saying goes, “If you want to
get a girl fly a P-51, if you want to get home in one piece
fly a P-47”
FIRST
IMPRESSIONS
“The
aeroplane that you can fly into combat, do your job, and
get you home, is THE best aeroplane in the world, and the
P-47 did that for us” Bob
Winters. 62nd FS
I
looked at that big machine and I said “Captain, that’s
not a fighter aeroplane that’s a single engine bomber!” Russ
Kyler. 61st FS
"You
come from an AT-6 training plane, and here’s this
great big P-47 with a 2800 engine up there, four bladed
prop. You’ve never seen anything like that in your
life, and you’ve got to get in that thing and fly
it alone!" Cleon
Thompton 61st FS
"It
was an awful lot of airplane for a kid out of flying school,
but we managed."
Wilfred
Van Abel. 63rd FS
"It
looked to me like a monster airplane, the biggest airplane
I’d ever seen, which it wasn’t, but it just
looked huge. It felt like the airplane had run away with
you, and I just hung on. I didn’t really fly it off,
it flew itself off and I just hung on."
Les
Smith. 61st FS
"The
P-47 was a completely honest bird-easy to take off and easy
to land, with wide, stable landing gear. The cockpit was
roomy and comfortable - just a sweet ship in every way"
Edward
“Praeger” Neyland. 61st FS
"The
P-47 was heavy; it did not climb very fast and did not seem
very responsive to the controls, but I found out on that
first flight it could really dive and at higher speeds it
was stable and responsive. During the flights that followed
I began to really like this big flying jug."
Gerry
Johnson. 61st and 63rd FSs.
"The
cockpit had more room than any fighter I had flown, and
it gave me quite a sense of power to look out and see the
big, four bladed prop in front and the four .50-caliber
machine gun barrels sticking out of the front of each wing."
“Gabby”
Gabreski. 61st FS
"It
was love at first sight. Somehow I just knew that this machine
and I were meant for each other." Robert
S. Johnson. 61st and 62nd FS’s.
"I
will never forget how astonished I was when I walked around
the P-47. I always thought of a fighter plane as small,
streamlined, highly manouverable and fast, comparable to
a hummingbird: and from the standpoint of appearance, the
P-39 fitted this description perfectly. Judging by the same
appearance, if the P-39 was a hummingbird, the P-47 was
a gooney bird." John
Truluck. 63rd FS
Pilot
familiarisation Republic training video
Republic's
P-47 Thunderbolt: From Seversky to Victory [Hardcover]
Warren M. Bodie
Publisher: Motorbooks Intl (Nov 1994)
Language English
ISBN-10: 0962935913
ISBN-13: 978-0962935916
56th
Fighter Group Statistics
Missions
flown : 447
Aircraft
airborne : 20480, amended to 20274 when unused "spare"
aircraft returned.
Sorties
: 19391
A/C
not completing mission : 1057
A/C
completing mission : 19217
Total
operational flying time : 64,302 hrs
Enemy
aircraft claims : 674½ air - 332 ground
56th
FG aircraft MIA : 128
.50
cal ammunition expended : 3,063,345
rounds
Rockets
fired operationally : 59
Tons
of bombs dropped : 678
Drop
tanks utilised : 200gal -181 ..... 75 gal - 1202 .....
108 gal - 8721 ..... 150 gal - 13120 ..... 215
gal - 322