Shortround6
Major General
You know, it is for when an aileron on the wing tip is too much, no aileron is too little and a little aileron in-between is just right.
Brought to by the Goldilocks School of Aeronautical Knowledge
"The case for the P-47 Thunderbolt being the greatest fighter of the Second World War "
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Brought to by the Goldilocks School of Aeronautical Knowledge
Thumpalumpacus
Major
My maternal grandfather painted them and Corsairs at Vought's Dallas plant, so, yeah, I'm pretty fond of 'em too.
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Since P-47 is indestructible...
it can bounce off the ground itself.
And knock out a tank.
According to some comments on Youtube, Germany never developed a weapon capable of taking one down. Tank designers mistakenly put the engine on the inside, if the T-34 had an 18 cylinder radial on the outside Russians would have been in Berlin in 1943 with all engines purring away.
Thumpalumpacus
Major
When a Thunderbolt crashes, the ground recoils!
Shortround6
Major General
The P-47, The Chuck Norris of airplanes!
Thumpalumpacus
Major
GrauGeist
Generalfeldmarschall zur Luftschiff Abteilung
The P-47 was certainly rugged, no doubt.
Plenty of cases where it's robust construction was put to the test:
Flying through an Olive grove (made it home)
Struck a tower with it's wing (made it home)
Impacted the ground with it's belly during a strafing run (made it home)
Completely mauled by cannon and MG rounds (and still made it home)
Plenty more examples, but you get the idea.
Plenty of cases where it's robust construction was put to the test:
Flying through an Olive grove (made it home)
Struck a tower with it's wing (made it home)
Impacted the ground with it's belly during a strafing run (made it home)
Completely mauled by cannon and MG rounds (and still made it home)
Plenty more examples, but you get the idea.
Shortround6
Major General
True but while some of war is one on one the results of the whole battle, campaign, war is the results of 100 on 100 or 1000 on 1000. The P-47 gave the best odds of getting back.
GrauGeist
Generalfeldmarschall zur Luftschiff Abteilung
If you're referring to Neel Kearby, he made a mistake by losing sight of his quarry and while circling back, the KI-43 turned inside him and shot him down.
He safely baled out of his damaged Jug, but died from his injuries while dangling from a tree that his parachute was tangled in.
I never said at any point, that the P-47 was indestructible, I said it was rugged.
He safely baled out of his damaged Jug, but died from his injuries while dangling from a tree that his parachute was tangled in.
I never said at any point, that the P-47 was indestructible, I said it was rugged.
During the wars people survived jumping out of planes without parachutes and lived through plane crashes even survived in rear sections of aircraft separated from the plane. That is no argument for doing away with parachutes or staying inside a plane that is doomed to crashing.
I remember reading somewhere about a B17 tail gunner that survived after the tail snapped off, apparently it floated down similar to a leaf, same as the Russians, , the troops used to climb out onto the wings using handrails and let go as the pilots flew over snow drifts, just amazing.
Similar to Vesna Vulović - Wikipedia
The Canadian Lancaster still flying is named after Pilot officer Andrew Mynarski, when their Lancaster was hit and in flames, he tried to free the trapped rear gunner, but couldnt. He eventually jumped but was too low and although he survived the landing he died later. The trapped rear gunner Pilot officer Pat Brophy survived the crash and his account of events allowed Mynarski to be awarded a V.C. Andrew Mynarski - Wikipedia
This chap fell 18,000 feet and, having had his fall broken by pine trees and a snow drift, walked away with a sprained leg!
en.wikipedia.org
Linkss to some other cases at the foot of the page.
Nicholas Alkemade - Wikipedia
Linkss to some other cases at the foot of the page.
Reluctant Poster
Tech Sergeant
- 1,637
- Dec 6, 2006
One fact that gets glossed over in the Robert Johnson story is that 4 of his 56th FG mates died at the hands of the Luftwaffe that day. I think Johnson's survival owed a great deal to luck.
drgondog
Major
The 56th actually lost 5 shot down, 4 KIA and one rescued by ASR, plus Johnson's badly shot up Jug. 4th /78th FG had no losses. Given jammed canopy, Johnson was toast had he been forced to bail out or ditch - Gabreski described Johnson's as nearly shot in half, which according to the damage photos is a little bit overstated.
LW claimed and were credited with 9 P-47s; 7 by JG 26 and 2 by JG 2 (Goltzsch). nearly 2:1 overclaim on June 26. This is the famed Johnson/Mayer linked combat wich didn't happen.
Thats an interesting assertion. I know its canon that its the case regarding the P47. But has anyone ever actually analysed which aircraft delivered 'the best odds on getting back'?
How can it be quantified, given it was also undertaking some of the most hazardous missions? Was its loss rate per sortie measurably superior to types undertaking the same missions, like say for ground attack, Hawker Typhoons? Or for bomber escort, P38s or P51s?
