Republic P47D Thunderbolt

Plane: Republic P47D Thunderbolt

Weight (Empty/Loaded/Max): 10,994lb / 14,600lb / 20,699lb

Wing Area: 332.2sq ft

Wing Loading: 33.0lb/sq ft / 43.9lb/sq ft / 62.3lb/sq ft

Length: 36' 1"

Span: 40' 9"

Wing Aspect Ratio: 5.0

Engine: 2,000hp Wright R-2800-21 Radial

Flaps: 5 settings

Visibility:

• Front: Good
• Sides: Good
• Rear: Fair

Control Feel:

• Slow: Sluggish
• Near Sustained: Sluggish
• Fast: Sluggish

Stall Speed 1k (No Flaps/Full Flaps) 110/100mph

Guns:

Ordnance:
0: none
1: 2x1,000lb bombs
2: 10xRockets + 3x500lb bombs
3: 10xRockets + 2x1,000lb bombs

Fuel Time/Percent: 42 seconds/percent

Power/weight (Empty/Loaded/Max): 5.5lb/hp / 7.3lb/hp / 10.3lb/hp

Corner Velocity: 320 mph

Durability: Excellent

WEP time: 5 minutes

Maximum Angle-of-Attack (no flaps/full flaps): 15/15 degrees

Wing Incidence Angle (no flaps/full flaps): 4/4 degrees

Accleleration:

Climb:
1k-5k: 66s
5k-10k: 94s
10k-15k: 94s

Zoom Climb:
1k 400mph: +5,400ft
1k 300mph: +3,300ft

Dive:

Max Speed

Turn Performance

Corner Speed and Radii (1,000ft):

Speed: 320mph
Radius: 746ft
Sustained Turn Speed: 190mph
Sustained Turn Radius: 1,095ft
Full Flaps Speed: 145mph
Full Flaps Radius: 775ft

Roll Rate:
150mph: 7.4s
200mph: 5.7s
250mph: 4.4s
300mph: 4.4s
350mph: 4.3s
400mph: 4.8s

Minimum Full-Flaps Full-Power Split-S altitude:
150mph: 1,700ft
200mph: 1,400ft
250mph: 1,600ft
300mph: 2,000ft

Hoof's Tips and Opinions:

The original design of the P47 consisted of a light interceptor equipped with the Allison V-1710 engine, the same type fitted on the P40 and P39 fighters. Armament was to consist of one .50cal machine gun and one .30cal machine gun. Needless to say Republic did not build this plane and instead built the P47. The production P47 was designed with lessons learned from the Battle of Britain and other air combat arenas, where it was found that the characteristics necessary for a successful fighter were: Speed, Durability, Firepower, Pilot Protection, and Altitude performance. Thus the designers at Republic build the P47, which was a huge fighter, with the most complete armor package for a pilot in existence for a fighter, equipped with a whopping eight .50cal machine guns and a huge supply of ammo, powered by a variant of the Pratt and Whitney Double Wasp R-2800 engine found on the Corsair and Hellcat, and was capable of very high speeds, especially in a dive. Nothing can dive like a P47, it could even give the average brick a run for it's money. The British thought that by throwing out all resemblance of maneuverability that the Republic designers had "thrown out the baby with the bathwater", to quote from Fletchman's Lexicon (http://www.cris.com/~mfletch). Robert Tuck, a famous British spitfire ace of the Battle of Britain tried the P47 during a tour of the USA. He felt that even though it could never maneuver with a Spitfire, it would be a successful fighter nonetheless if it went into action over Europe. History proved both the Republic designers and Robert Tuck right, as the P47 performed it's job with distinction, providing most of the fighter escort for the B17 and B24 raids over France and Germany before being replaced by the P51. When the P51 entered service, taking over the escort role from the P47, the P47 found itself in a new role during the ground war in Western Europe: that of a ground attack fighter/bomber. In this role it again excelled, it's good durability allowing it to attack positions that other fighters would have difficulty with, and it's extraordinary ordnance load for a fighter allowed it to be very effective against the German ground forces.

The P47 is often called the "Jug", after "Juggernaut". This is because of it's reputation for taking huge punishment before going down, and bringing pilots back home with horrible damage. This may have been mostly propaganda, spreading from a few badly damaged P47s that returned to base when most planes wouldn't, but it didn't matter. The more comfortable a pilot felt in battle, the better, so whether the P47 was as tough as its reputation claims isn't really important. The P47 was a well built fighter, which is a significant advantage against the well-armed German fighters, who had planes equipped with very heavy firepower, especially the Focke-Wulf.

As far as the Warbirds implementation of the P47D, use it with caution. It is a sluggish beast, by far the "heaviest" feeling plane in the game. She climbs poorly, and any maneuver seems to lose you 500ft or more if you don't watch yourself. Her will to go down makes vertical maneuvering tricky, and hinders climbing to altitude, but when the pilot gives in to Mother Earth, and points the Jug down, she picks up speed like nobody's business. And when she levels out, her weight and inertia keeps her going fast for quite a while, bottoming out at about 345-350mph on the deck, quite fast by Warbird's standards. Getting back up to altitude is a real chore, though.

This is one plane that you *don't* want to be caught low and slow in. Although she can barely outturn a Dora or even a Fw190A8, she is outclassed by most planes. She is a big target, and despite the pilot protection, she seems to attract a disproportionate number of pilot kills. A real bear when slow,at higher speeds she handles half decent, and even allows you to forget how heavy she is for a while. But after turning 90-180 degrees, she will come knocking with that weight, making you wish you broke off earlier.

This plane should be employed either as a ground attack plane or a BnZ fighter. The P38 is an overall better ground attack plane (especially since you can reliably kill ack with the P38's guns, the P47's convergence makes killing ack difficult). As a BnZ fighter, she is real good, better than most American iron thanks to her extra pair of .50cals. But since she uses only .50cals and not any cannon, don't expect a high percentage of your passes on targets to be one kill passes. Don't turn with anybody (except with a P39 if you have 7,000-10,000ft of altitude with which to dive if a P38 comes along), and be real careful of your energy state. She's a half-decent diving energy fighter, but if you burn off too much E, it takes quite a while for that R-2800 to get that energy back.

To sum up, the P47 is an effective fighter, but is an expert's plane. To be really good in it takes patience, and a smart flying style. Make a mistake and you become one of the easiest planes to kill. Don't make a mistake and you can do well.

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