P-47 Thunderbolt Aces of the Eighth Air Force (Osprey Aircraft of the Aces No 24)

The US aviation industry produced three great fighter designs to equip its burgeoning army air force during World War 2, and of this trio, Republics P-47 Thunderbolt was easily the heaviest. Powered, crucially, by a turbocharged Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp radial engine that produced 2000 hp, the first production fighters reached the 56th FG in June 1942, and six months later the group joined the Eight Air Force in Britain. The arrival of the first P-47Cs in mid-1943 addressed the problem of the aircrafts short combat radius, as this model could be fitted with an external tank. Slowly, as combat tactics evolved in units like the 56th and 78th FGs, pilots learnt how best to fly the Thunderbolt in order to effectively counter the more nimble Luftwaffe fighters. = 00.jpg......Page 1 01.jpg......Page 2 02.jpg......Page 3 03.jpg......Page 4 04.jpg......Page 5 05.jpg......Page 6 06.jpg......Page 7 07.jpg......Page 8 08.jpg......Page 9 09.jpg......Page 10 10.jpg......Page 11 11.jpg......Page 12 12.jpg......Page 13 13.jpg......Page 14 14.jpg......Page 15 15.jpg......Page 16 16.jpg......Page 17 17.jpg......Page 18 18.jpg......Page 19 19.jpg......Page 20 20.jpg......Page 21 21.jpg......Page 22 22.jpg......Page 23 23.jpg......Page 24 24.jpg......Page 25 25.jpg......Page 26 26.jpg......Page 27 27.jpg......Page 28 28.jpg......Page 29 29.jpg......Page 30 30.jpg......Page 31 31.jpg......Page 32 32.jpg......Page 33 33.jpg......Page 34 34.jpg......Page 35 35.jpg......Page 36 36.jpg......Page 37 37.jpg......Page 38 38.jpg......Page 39 39.jpg......Page 40 40.jpg......Page 41 41.jpg......Page 42 42.jpg......Page 43 43.jpg......Page 44 44.jpg......Page 45 45.jpg......Page 46 46.jpg......Page 47 47.jpg......Page 48 48.jpg......Page 49 49.jpg......Page 50 50.jpg......Page 51 51.jpg......Page 52 52.jpg......Page 53 53.jpg......Page 54 54.jpg......Page 55 55.jpg......Page 56 56.jpg......Page 57 57.jpg......Page 58 58.jpg......Page 59 59.jpg......Page 60 60.jpg......Page 61 61.jpg......Page 62 62.jpg......Page 63 63.jpg......Page 64 64.jpg......Page 65 65.jpg......Page 66 66.jpg......Page 67 67.jpg......Page 68 68.jpg......Page 69 69.jpg......Page 70 70.jpg......Page 71 71.jpg......Page 72 72.jpg......Page 73 73.jpg......Page 74 74.jpg......Page 75 75.jpg......Page 76 76.jpg......Page 77 77.jpg......Page 78 78.jpg......Page 79 79.jpg......Page 80 80.jpg......Page 81 81.jpg......Page 82 82.jpg......Page 83 83.jpg......Page 84 84.jpg......Page 85 85.jpg......Page 86 86.jpg......Page 87 87.jpg......Page 88 88.jpg......Page 89 89.jpg......Page 90 90.jpg......Page 91 91.jpg......Page 92 92.jpg......Page 93 93.jpg......Page 94 94.jpg......Page 95 95.jpg......Page 96 96.jpg......Page 97 97.jpg......Page 98

The US aviation industry produced three great fighter designs to equip its burgeoning army air force during World War 2, and of this trio, Republic's P-47 Thunderbolt was easily the heaviest. Powered, crucially, by a turbocharged Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp radial engine that produced 2000 hp, the first production fighters reached the 56th FG in June 1942, and six months later the group joined the Eight Air Force in Britain. The arrival of the first P-47Cs in mid-1943 addressed the problem of the aircraft's short combat radius, as this model could be fitted with an external tank. Slowly, as combat tactics evolved in units like the 56th and 78th FGs, pilots learnt how best to fly the Thunderbolt in order to effectively counter the more nimble Luftwaffe fighters.

Powered by a 2000hp Pratt & Whitney engine, the P-47 Thunderbolt joined the Eighth Air Force in Britain in 1943 to undertake an escort role for the force's B-17 bomber. This book includes interviews with pilots, tables of the units involved, details of variants and archival photography. By the early spring of 1943, three USAAF fighter groups - the 4th, 56th and 78th - were flying the P-47 Thunderbolt from bases in England. Beretning om 8th Air Force's P-47 Thunderbolt piloter's indsats under 2. verdenskrig