p-47 thunderbolt in an era when fighter aircraft were a small sleek light and maneuverable as their designers could ensure in the midst of Spitfires Mischa Smits and Mustangs there was one world war ii fighter that was huge snub nosed and canvas and looking roughly twice the weight of its contemporaries it was called the jug because stood on its nose it looked like a milk jug the Republic p-47 thunderbolt was a late starter in the war it's designed being influenced by events already happening in Europe with the air battles over Poland and France despite the late entry into the inventory it was to be built in greater numbers than any other American fighter before or since it was fast dependable could take major damage and survive and packed heavy and effective firepower the p-47 derived from a series of planes produced by the service key aircraft corporation under the direction of two Russian emigre Alexander Sava ski and Alexander Carvelli by the time the p-47 flew the company was the Republic Aircraft Corporation and service key had left but the planes origins go back to 1931 Alexander service key came to the United States already a pilot and already an aviation enthusiast his father had been the first private owner pilot of an aeroplane in Imperial Russia and Alexander had flown in the first world war in the Imperial Air Force with distinction he came to the USA in 1917 on a naval air mission and stayed on after the revolution at home working for the Army Air Force he set up an aviation company in 1922 on the proceeds of engineering patents he'd sold to the US government and in 1931 set up the service key Aircraft Corporation after Carvelli joined the company his basic configuration around the radial air-cooled engine soon developed into planes that dominated the Bendix trophy races in the mid 30s with Jackie Cochran as one of the consistently winning service key pilots helping to create media interest the company became quite justifiably well known the virtues of the service key planes were there long range and relatively high cruising speed flat-out they were among the fastest American planes of their day and in 1937 when most army and navy pursuit planes were stretched at 200 miles per hour Jackie Cochran caused a sensation with the speed of three hundred and four miles per hour set while breaking a record at the National Air Show by 1938 sobieski planes had 1/3 Bendix trophies in a row following an accident savitsky himself gave up active participation in the races too late arrest worries in the government that his company would fold if he were to be killed the government interest was not surprising the army had bought their first service ski planes in 1935 the basic trainer the bt8 developed from service skis two-seat xbt more relevant to the p-47s development was the save one XP which was the basis of service skis first sales of pursuit aircraft the p35 first u.s. fighter to have retractable wheels the p35 while a step forward for us fighters was outclassed by the developments in the German and British air forces being underpowered and hints to slow though it did have good maneuverability and range it was soon overtaken and the company given contracts to develop the concept into the supercharged YP 43 which itself went into production only as a stopgap measure to keep the production line together while redesigns of first the P 44 which was never built and then the p-47 went on neither b35 nor P 43 were effective fighters by the time they were deployed like the P 43 the P 44 was to have been built around a turbo supercharged radial engine and would have been about the size of most of the fighters of its time but like the earlier two designs it was light on both protective armor and firepower Carvelli and his team were racing to catch up to the rest of the world and designs were now commenced for a new plane that was given the number p-47 to be worked around a large liquid cooled engine with plans being submitted to the air board in August 1939 a fortnight later Hitler's posturing around Poland suddenly turned savagely into war and the American designers were confronted with stunning evidence of how inadequate their current thinking was the war that Hitler and his generals were equipped and ready to fight was a new technologically advanced lightning or much of the army was horse-drawn about dated but the attacking fists of the German Panzers with the Luftwaffe as total dominance and ruthless exploitation in the air crushed the Polish defenses quickly while the US had its own very good strategic bombers like the b-17 they were obviously still lagging far behind in fighter aircraft in all the fighter roles based with news of the Nazi bombing strikes on cities and towns and the opening campaigns of the war the u.s. faced the chilling though distant possibility of being unable to repulse such forces with its existing planes like the p-47 all the designs going to the US army though promising were based on new liquid cooled engines that were still not working satisfactorily and there was a cautious desire to retain some capability using the tried and tested radial engines to give spur to cart' belly there was available a new huge Raby old mm or spout and the plane was literally designed around the power plant and the ducting for the massive turbosupercharger built into the fuselage the giant they created was theoretically a plane of great speed 400 miles per hour was the target and great height with a massive punch from the eight heavy machine guns mounted in its wings it was called the p-47 bee and the first one was produced on May the 6th 1941 despite teething troubles that included the loss of planes due to engine failures and due to their tendency to go too fast for their airframe to hang together production and development proceeded rapidly in parallel the C model and the D model both appearing by the end of 1942 the plane though dogged by persistent crashes had easily exceeded some of its targets top speed of 430 miles per hour was welcomed as was the evident power of its armament it was accepted as well suited to its express role of cutting off and destroying attacking enemy bombers however as the problems were sorted out and the planes began to multiply need dictated their deployment for a different role entirely that of escorting the Bombers operating from England dispersed around England teams of civilian mechanics and engineers assembled the planes shipped over the Atlantic soon in addition to this task they would be carrying out major repairs on battle damaged plans the first plane had been unloaded a few days before Christmas 1942 and as soon as the Thunderbolts became available they were rushed through operational assessments and plans to equip three groups when ahead there was some skepticism about the big fighter it had been flown against captured German planes and found to have only one major advantage speed being outmaneuvered and out accelerated by the Nazi aircraft additionally it did not have sufficient range to escort the Bombers all the way to Germany but despite this given the absence of any more suitable weapons the p-47s were sent to battle protecting the bomber raids the first operational sortie over France was flown on the 8th of April 1943 though mechanical failures still led to losses of aircraft the pilots were adjusting to their new fighters with increasing appreciation of their toughness speed and firepower using a variety of external fuel tanks to extend their range the Thunderbolts were rapidly assimilated into the combat and within a short time tactics were developed to exploit their overall speed advantage which saw them earning a good reputation for matching and besting the Messerschmitts and fog Wolf's you flying in shifts to escort the Bombers out as far as possible and meet them on their return the rapidly proliferating jugs were soon familiar sights to the people of England and to the pilots of the Luftwaffe the bombers had been designed to provide one another with mutual support from massed machine guns in the mistaken belief that they would be able to ward off attack on the way to their targets and home again the need to fight fighters with fighters had not been fully appreciated and there had been severe bomber losses in the initial phases of the campaign even with fighter protection the big planes were vulnerable and losses continued however though it may seem callous the continued campaign was slowly having a major effect in that the Germans could afford their losses of aircraft and pilots less than the Allies could the longer the campaign went on through flak and fighters to the factories and infrastructure of Germany the more the wearing down was to gather momentum at the time of this raid to Emden in September 1943 the men flying the Allied planes would not have been aware of this long-term effect as much as they were aware of the very real and vicious presence of swarms of German attackers we will return to wings in a moment it was absolutely the worst movie I've ever seen ever seen it's the worst movie ever made you know the feeling I never have the latest releases the frustration now choosing a movie TV show video book a record can be mistake-free introducing an exciting new magazine called Entertainment Weekly from the publishers of time and people it covers all your entertainment choices in a totally entertaining way now that I can use it's bold it's fresh it's opinionated and it's all in one convenient publication I love it we're so sure you'll love it will give you the premiere issue absolutely free it's great just call this number order now and get the premiere issue free plus a full year of entertainment weekly for just 77 cents an issue over 60% off the cover price if you're not satisfied cancel and pay nothing find out all about the latest entertainment choices in the most entertaining way possible just call this toll-free number Entertainment Weekly what's good what's hot and what's not it's a town of romance and intrigue home to the best parties and the best party crashers almost anyone can be a star on Hollywood Chronicles Mondays at 10:30 Eastern only on the Discovery Channel you're in an f15 eagle and 25 tons of thrust stands in our end powering you to 60,000 feet in just seconds and this is just one of the thrills in the spectacular six video library of today's airpower over six hours of action-packed video and official combat footage literally puts you in the cockpit of the world's most awesome fighting machines in the exciting volume flat tops you'll experience the thrill of a catapult launch in an f-14 tomcat fly a treetop strafing run in an a-10 warthog it's 35 millimeter cannon blasting 2,100 shells a minute into enemy targets you're at the stick of a Debbie Huey Cobra attack chopper with a firepower of an artillery battalion its missile slamming into enemy tanks take off on the amazing Harrier fighter skim treetops head over 900 miles per hour in an RAF Tornado carrying over 10 tons of destruction listen to what veteran pilots say about in the cockpit closest I've been to combat since my last mission hottest air action footage I've ever seen see Soviet MIG 25 and 27 s long-range Baer tu-95 bombers and close-up footage of a new mig-29 the incredible accuracy and power of long-range radar guided sparrows and deadly Sidewinders blast enemy aircraft out of the skies fly a spy mission at Mach 3 in an sr-71 blackbird as a special bonus there's official Navy footage of the January 89 shutdown of the Libyan MiG's incredible awesome devastating six videos over six hours of supersonic thrills in a library you'll watch over and over again to order in the cockpit use your credit card and call one eight hundred five five four eight thousand that's one eight hundred five five four eight thousand will send you the complete collection all six videos in a sturdy library case and charger account just 25 75 a month for six months including shipping in heaven when you purchase in the cockpit you'll also receive spectacular bonus footage of the super-secret b-2 stealth bomber and this beautiful color poster both yours free have your credit card handy and call now that number of 1-800 five five four eight thousand the new season takes off on the Discovery Channel no one is safe from the unexpected the great tragedies of the 20th century on survival Wednesdays at 10:00 Eastern it's an all-new season only on the Discovery Channel and now we return to wings the Germans tactics determined that their fighters would concentrate on attacking the bombers and not engage the escorts unless it was unavoidable this suited the high-flying Thunderbolts which could stooge around above the formations of bombers and dive to intercept the attackers once the Thunderbolt had built up speed in diving onto the Germans it was little they could do to escape tactics they had employed on Spitfires of diving away from attack simply played into the p-47s hands and the Nazis learned the hard way that there was no way to outrun the juggs the strategic bombing offensive continued through 1943 and 1944 with very little letter and as the campaign proceeded and tactics were adjusted back and forth the tide continued to surely run out on the Nazis their losses of planes were bad enough but their losses of pilots were unsustainable their aces were going the veterans of Spain Poland France and Russia were thinned out by each successive demand in addition the planes that had been all-powerful had been bested first by the Spitfires and hurricanes of the British and then by the newer American times worse they were not being replaced by better planes the constant revising of the me-109 saw its effectiveness tumble as its weight rose and the fw190 too started to show signs of having outstayed its array the Germans had the knowledge to have rested control with jet fighters but through Hitler's mistrust and a generalized lack of foresight the fighter potential of planes like the me-262 was to be overlooked until it was too late for them to swing the balance back to the Germans so 1943 and 1944 saw the Luftwaffe decline to the point where our from having absolute air superiority throughout Europe the Germans could not even control the skies over their own homeland losses in the bomber fleets were at times very heavy and the theoretical assumptions of the commander's that things were worse for the enemy can't have been much comfort for the b-17 crews the Thunderbolts 2 took a lot of punishment but unlike their liquid-cooled finer contemporaries which could be brought down with very little damage they proved to be very hard to bring down with the protective arm around the pilot and the absence of coolant lines and radiators to sustain critical minor hits the jugs proved able to keep flying even after major strikes however the positioning of the fuel tanks meant that they had an uncomfortable tendency to catch fire and pilots had to be alert to the need to bail out quickly if the tanks were hit the mass raids on the German cities left the Luftwaffe with no option but to oppose the Bombers with all the weapons at their disposal while the pounding of the Reich went on devastating the cities and making the continuance of war production increasingly difficult the German Air Force had to continue to suffer losses that it could not make food given that many of the p-47s were leaving their bombing support missions with ammunition at plenty still on board it was a small lateral thought to employ that firepower to good effect on the way home from a relatively ad-hoc beginning this soon became official policy and the shifts of fighters were slightly shortened to ensure a small margin of remaining fuel for these strafing rounds the railways and airfields of the Germans came in for special attention the Luftwaffe found itself being destroyed on the ground and the p-47 found itself increasingly regarded as a ground attack weapon the air war in the Pacific had rapidly adjusted from the initially stunning Japanese successes and the u.s. recognizing the importance of air superiority and with its enormous material advantage pushed a string of airfields across the Japanese Empire aimed at Japan herself from these bases secured by the Japanese inability to compete with the quality and quantity of American planes America's economic power translated itself into a military force that was unstoppable the great distances involved in almost every mission meant that the jugs were not ideally suited to the arena and the longer range of the p-38 and later the p51 saw them preferred however many thunderbolts were to see action in the area and played important roles in some campaigns once again they gravitated to the ground attack role and with devastating effect teamed with the Lightning's they supplied precision tactical support in the intense ground fighting that characterized the island-hopping campaign that was closing in upon Japan the ground crews had liked the thunderbolts from the start they were dependable and rugged and tolerant of difficult conditions they're servicing had been thoughtfully considered by the designers and every effort had been made to simplify matters though they had their own critical nuances and bad habits these affected the pilots rather than the crews and compared to many other marks the mechanics rated them very highly it was in the Pacific that they were to embark on one of their most celebrated missions their involvement in the Battle of the Marianas in late May 1944 at bellows Field Oahu p-47s of the 318 fighter group were preparing for the coming invasion after a ceremonial inspection and last-minute maintenance the planes were flown the short distance to Ford island at Pearl Harbor where they could be landed beside the docks from the airstrip they were wheeled up to the side of waiting ships and then swung aboard the ships were two of the bay class of Jeep carrier the USS Manila Bay and USS Natoma Bay the three squadrons of Thunderbolts were quietly loaded and stowed elsewhere in the harbor the first convoy of the invasion fleet was ready and along with the assault troops the ship's took on board the eight hundred and fourth aviation engineers battalion and the equipment needed to construct an airstrip as soon as a sight could be captured and made safe also traveling on that first convoy was a contingent of p-47 ground crew from the Fighter Group they sailed from Hawaii to the Marshall Islands where the invasion fleets were assembled back at Pearl Harbor the last of the fighters was carefully loaded as the second invasion convoy prepared for departure the invasion of the Marianas was a major step forward for the Allies from Saipan Tinian or Guam they would be in a position to strike next at Okinawa or Formosa bypassing the Philippines and neutralizing the large Japanese Garrison's there more immediately they would be able to effectively complete the blockade of Japan cutting her off from her vital supplies of war materials particularly rubber and oil the Marianas was clearly going to be a campaign that the Japanese could not sidestep the stakes were too high to lose the Marianas would leave even the Japanese unable to deny at home or abroad that they were beaten it would be evident from that point on that the only factors would be time and fanaticism the eventual outcome would not be in doubt we will return to wings after these messages October is energy Awareness Month we're in luck did you know sirloins only a hundred and seventy seven calories and round tip steak semi or 162 where would we be without beef alle luck I'd say beef real food and luck Wisconsin ego brings me the kingdom's most valuable object some marry my daughter SIA i slayed two dragons for the kingdom's most valuable object next Iceman crocodile infested waters for this next sire I didn't slay any 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new hair hair I didn't have three years ago will the new generation hair grow system work for you there's only one way to find out call for this free information now so I start watching the Discovery Channel thought maybe I learned something then I see they have this guide you know to kind of help you figure out when everything's on so I order it real easy just 1-800 TDC eight three four three and I charge it and now a few weeks later it's here look at this thing it's a magazine TDC magazine I open it up and there's this grit which is great because I can see the whole week at a glance so I just circle the shows I want to see and look at this it's a complete description of every single show and check this out these photographs gorgeous there's even articles by famous authors amazing all I expected was a program guide and I get all this what a bargain hey I wonder if they'll ever be a swimsuit issue call now to order your TDC magazine and receive 12 monthly issues for only 1195 that's more than 50% off the cover price or tell the operator to bill you later he's a MasterCard accepted what a child that my uncle's dying wish you wanted me on his lap who's in the electric chair you don't plan to grow old gracefully either I plan to have facelifts till my ears meet I'm a living example of Dianetics george bush's almond president for a few short months and already his wife is on the dollar bill unconventional unpredictable uncontrollably funny comedy nobody brings it on like HBO and now we return to wings on the morning of the 15th of June the first Marines hit the beaches of Saipan as with other campaigns the important islands were the three with air strips Saipan Tinian and Guam with 32,000 Japanese troops on Saipan it had the largest garrison and the decision was made to attack there first by nightfall on the 15th 20,000 American troops were ashore within a perimeter of fiercely determined Japanese resistance a bloody process of inching forward followed at the beaches the flood of men and machines were speeded up and then most of the convoy was withdrawn to a safe distance as the Japanese fleet tried to intervene over the horizon from the battle on the island the two aircraft carrier fleets were edging into range of one another on the 19th the naval battle commenced and the Japanese fleet was ground down in its most telling defeat of the war by the almost insolent force of Admiral Spruance as fifth fleet the most powerful fleet in the world meanwhile the invading troops at Saipan pushed relentlessly on ashore fighting a fierce and sustained battle with the Japanese troops dug in on the hills of the island on the 17th the US forces captured as Lito airfield and by the 18th the Japanese had been pushed far enough back for the engineers to be moved in to commence reconstruction the scene of destruction at the airfield was testimony to its battering over the previous few weeks the carrier-borne bombers and fighters of the fleet had attacked it constantly and then it had been bitterly contested in the ground fighting littering the airfield were the wrecks of Japanese planes they had by the 20th lost 450 aircraft in the course of the campaign with most of their crews it was a loss their air power would not recover from in the rest of the war the engineers dug in still in danger of Japanese attack and sniper fire and then proceeded to recreate an airfield out of the rubble on the 22nd seven days after the first troops went ashore the runway was ready and the two transport carriers stood 260 miles out to sea to launch the thunderbolts ashore needless to say Carvelli had not designed his big brute of a fighter with the confinements of a carrier in mind however there was no intention of landing them back on board they were loaded onto the catapult and shot off one every two minutes all planes were catapulted successfully and they flew into their new base which had been renamed Easley field as they circled to land they could see the smoke of battle raging along the hills only a few miles away no sooner had they landed than they were in action the first planes ashore had carried out several successful strikes before nightfall that day the for heavy half inch machine guns were mounted in the outer wing beyond the housing for the undercarriage the arrangement of the four ammunition belt feeds to the breeches required the staggered positioning of the guns as with most of the planes layout the armament installation was practical strongly constructed and simple to access in service the Thunderbolts increasingly potent external tactical stores were all so simple to load the rocket installations had at first been inefficiently designed and there had been difficulties with their accuracy but these problems had been quickly overcome with realization of the potential of the combination of fighter and rocket though not much of a dive bomber due to the problem of its tendency to gather too much speed the thunderbolt had a good lifting ability and could deliver to 500-pound bombs with considerable accuracy in low high speed passes Saipan was the scene for the thunderbolts to be the first planes to use a new weapon in combat napalm using external fuel tanks as containers napalm bombs were constructed on the planes the mixture of napalm and gasoline was pumped into the tanks and a detonator was fitted the fighters were an important factor in the rest of the Saipan campaign and the campaign's on Tinian and Guam the fighting on Saipan went on into the first weeks of July with Japanese losses over 26,000 troops and on the 23rd of that month the invasion of Tinian was commenced throughout the juggs made thousands of the short hops from the airfield to the battlefield and back giving close and decisive support to the ground troops though the Japanese on Tinian fought hard with whatever they had they had no hope of success the Thunderbolts had complete position of the air and were almost free to do as they pleased in attacking the beleaguered garrison return to wings in a moment live the sporting life Mondays at midnight Eastern in four terrible years 600,000 men fell on the battlefields of the American countryside in honor of the 125th anniversary of the Civil War this one our award-winning video touring Civil War battlefields remembers the men of the blue and gray see where it all started at Manassas read of America's bloodiest day Antietam witness a stunning defensive victory for robert e lee at Fredericksburg ponder the decisive battle of Gettysburg accurate stirring story the men who fought desperate battles to order your touring Civil War battlefields call this toll-free 800-number now use your Visa Mastercard or send your check for 2995 plus 275 for shipping and handling satisfaction is guaranteed or your money back it's a tone of romance and intrigue home to the best parties and the best party crashers almost anyone can be a star on Hollywood Chronicles Mondays at 10:30 Eastern only on the Discovery Channel financial serenity the confidence to spread your wings the travelers gives 40 million Americans financial peace of mind with a broad horizon of growth opportunities and the overriding promise of insurance protection the travelers you're better off under the umbrella series presents the great American torture test we challenge the ball numbing cold of northern Alaska and intense city traffic traveled coast to coast to the suffocating heat of Death Valley and pass with flying colors see Rex because extreme conditions demand extreme protection there's 2.3 pounds of water in here that's what's trapped in our body tissue every month it made me bloated irritable and my clothes felt tight until I discovered aqua bath it helps you juice bloating and puffiness safe and effective aqua ban helps you get rid of the bloat every month this itch irrational treatment maximum strength cortisone five with the medicine doctors recommend most gets under the itch for soothing relief and help in healing see the rash is gone use cortisone 5 where the medicine doctors recommend most you are this far away from being the main one for a general named grows a scientist named Oppenheimer you got one job doctor give me the bar worlds apart and something goes wrong brought together to change the world forever three Paul Newman fat man and little boy rated pg-13 now playing at a theater near you pack your bags and get ready for a travel adventure find out what to see and how to get there with discovery on the goal weekdays at noon eastern nine Pacific only on the Discovery Channel and now we return to wings from the airfield across the narrow strait the ground crew and off-duty pilots were given a rare chance to watch the squadrons planes at work with guns rockets bombs and napalm on the enemy defenses that the battle for the Marianas was a turning point of the war is testified to by Tojo's government's resignation on the 18th of July it was one of the major amphibious landings of the Pacific campaign and the last time the Japanese fleet could muster an effective Fleet Air Arm it was also a great example of the way that the jugs were becoming an integral part of army calculations on the battlefield this importance was also reflected in their use in Europe in the latter parts of the war particularly by the 9th Air Force in the planning for the d-day landings in Normandy considerable attention had been given to the need the tactical ground support plans to be on hand to disrupt any German attempt to concentrate force to throw the attackers back into the sea during the early phases of the invasion there were problems with liaison between ground and air forces with the establishment of mechanisms for forward air controllers to maintain direct contact with the patrolling fighter bombers the p-47s and other tactical airplanes became one of the Allies most effective and important weapons in their inexorable progress across France and into Germany as the front moved forward through the second half of 1944 and into 1945 air bases close to the action constantly sieved with the activity of the Thunderbolts you the deliberate campaign against the Luftwaffe had continued with the German losses in the air against the strategic raids the ground attacks ensured that the Allies enjoyed total air supremacy over France and Germany even before the troops were landed the thunderbolts themselves were no longer much involved in the strategic campaign their limited range had seen them replaced in this role by the p-51 Mustang which with its coupling to the rolls-royce designed Merlin engine had become one of the most potent fighters of the war in addition to their direct support of the troops on the battlefield the tactical role of the p-47 saw them involved in the massive campaign to disrupt the Nazis transport systems with paralyzing constant attacks on the roads and railways delaying the movements of troops and Panzers to the front and inflicting heavy casualties on the German reserves before they could take up their positions as the allies over and the German army the scenes of destruction that greeted them confirmed the effect of the tactical support the paralysis of the railway networks in particular was a major triumph in the German cities the effect of the tactical bombing coming on top of the sustained strategic campaign meant that very large areas were totally destroyed the advancing armies drove through scenes of destruction that were unparalleled in scope the First World War had seen comparable desolation but only in the relatively narrow confines of the battlefields here entire countries had been laid waste production of the p-47s ended in December 1945 in the four years from the first flight of the plane in 1941 fifteen thousand six hundred and eighty-three had been built the largest ever production run for an american-built fighter aircraft the multitude of Thunderbolts had proved themselves very worthy weapons and particularly in their tactical use had paved the way for many of the theories behind the developments in post-war military aviation ironically given the assessment of them as primarily tactical support planes the last Thunderbolts the end model was specifically developed as long-range escort fighters for use with the raids on Japan by the b-29s after the war the p-47s like most of the world war ii inventory were overtaken by the rapidly developing Jets and there was no place for them in the front line of a major power some were given to South American Air Forces and a few stayed in service in Peru until 1969 the last recorded military action involving p-47s was during the revolution in Dominica in 1964 during the Second World War p-47s flew 540 5575 sorties logging combat flying time in excess of 100 third million hours they were credited with over 7,000 enemy planes destroyed 3,750 two of these being aerial victories a very creditable performance the English are learning that the big fighters were known affectionately as John's had incorrectly assumed that this was a contraction of juggernaut not picking up the milk jug likeness and taking it as a reference to the size and firepower of the plane it certainly was big and it certainly packed a heavy punch the p-47 was one of the most successful fighters of the war and one of the Allies main weapons and there is no doubt that it was one of the truly outstanding aircraft of all time
