5 Things You Never Knew About the P-47 Thunderbolt 

My grandfather started his career at the beginning of WW2, making it all the way through. During his tenure he was credited with 52 aircraft downed. He was the worst mechanic the Luftwaffe ever had.

It was NOT nicknamed Jug because it was considered a Juggernaut. It received this nickname because the earlier razorback versions, if you imagined them standing on their nose, resembled milk jugs of the time.

The emphasis on the ability of the Thunderbolt to be a successful ground-attack aircraft is a disservice to its real abilities, and what it was design for and why it was so big: to kick ass at high altitude. That big airframe was built to house the turbocharger and associated plumbing, and that turbocharger provided outstanding performance at high altitudes (pretty much above 20,000 feet). The P-47 could maintain manifold pressure, and thus power, much better than the 109 or 190 at high altitudes. As well, that big airframe is much less of a drag in the thin air up high. The P-47 did the heavy lifting against the Luftwaffe when it was still in its prime, and did well, but is overshadowed by the P-51. That’s really a shame. Greg’s Planes and Automobiles has detailed coverage of the P-47, and his videos are well worth the watch.

I would like to see you do one on the F6F Hellcat. The P-47s “counterpart” big badass fighter plane of the US Navy. Both of these fighters could take SEVERE punishment and still bring their pilot’s home. My Dad flew the F6F as a member of VF-82 flying off of the USS Bennington CV-20. Credited with 3.5 victories in the air and another 8 aircraft destroyed on the ground. We just celebrated his 101st Birthday.

My flight instructor, designated examiner and the director of the flight school where I was a flight instructor myself was Henry Lederer. He was the founder and the first president of the Thunderbolts pilots association. He was also the one that was chosen to fly the Thunderbolt down the Hudson River on American Bicentennial. During WW2 he flew both the Thunderbolt and then the P51 and he always told me his favorite was the Thunderbolt. He later worked for Fairchild Republic and Grumman and also was the one to write some of the specs for the F14 Tomcat.

You missed one thing. Everyone has heard of the A10 Warthog but a lot of the younger generation do not realize it is actually the A10 Thunderbolt II, named in honor of the awesome ground attack ability of the P47.

I currently live in Evansville. Our war museum has an actual P-47 manufactured here during the war on display. As a captain on the airport fire dept., our uniforms proudly display the P-47 Thunderbolt on our patch. Our professional hockey team is named the Evansville Thunderbolts! *The memories live on.

Had a friend who's father flew both in WWII and Korea. He flew P-47s in the Ninth AF, and P-51s in korea. He said that the Thunderbolt always brought him home, once with almost 100 holes in it and missing a cylinder head. In Korea he was shot down twice in Mustangs, both times with very little damage to the plane but a few hits to the radiator.

Good video. Being an Evansville resident, the P-47 holds a special place in my heart. We have a fabulous example in our local wartime museum, Hoosier Spirit II. Thanks for highlighting our city and it's contribution.

The P-47 did had two final production variants the P-47M and P47N with the P-47M having a improved double wasp engine and the P-47N having extended larger internal fuel tanks inside the wings so it can operate in the pacific on VLR type missions.

I love these videos. Growing up in the 70s I was obsessed with WWII aircraft, sketching them and building models. Great videos, coolest planes ever.

Thanks for the shout out to Evansville! As a born and raised Evansville native I’ve always had a special place in my heart for the P-47. For the WW2 history buffs, we have a great WW2 museum with a P-47. In addition, on our riverfront we have the only fully operational LST in the world. Full tour available.

The P47 D was also used by the Mexican 201 Squadron, this squadron helped the Americans to liberate the Philippine Islands and Taiwan from the Japanese, with this plane they caused 30,000 casualties to the Japanese and destroyed several supplies, with only 5 casualties, the P47 is a great plane :D

I worked with an engineer in petroleum industry in Texas years ago, who had been a WWII fighter pilot with 359th FS of 356th FG. Reported to his squadron after D-Day, flying P-47s, the Group converted to P-51s early 1945. He actually damaged in midair a German Me-262 jet. On return trip from another mission, he had engine fire in his Mustang and he had to ditch into channel and rescued ok. He was a tranquil, devoted to God, southern gentleman from Texas and has passed away now. I once asked him, "which one...?", meaning, Mustang or Thunderbolt? He said, "I'd prefer Thunderbolt over Mustang in a given combat situation due to its ruggedness and firepower". Remember, 56th FG declined conversion from P-47s to P-51s and flew the Thunderbolt throughout the War 👍

The P-47 is still my favorite WWII fighter. It's ability to dish out massive punishment on the enemy, take crazy amounts of damage and take it's pilot home is unmatched by any other fighter.

I love the P47. However the P-38 is still my favorite WWII fighter aircraft. However I am becoming a huge fan of the Catalina PBY flying boats and would love to see a video on them (including when they assisted in the hunt for Bismarck).

I grew up a friend and business partner with Todd Perego, His Father was General Frank Perego, the U.S. Army Air Corps youngest General in WWII and a P47 Ace. He also was in charge of the F-5 project at Northrup. It was a tank in the air.

Thunderbolts, Lightnings, Mustangs, Spitfires, Hurricanes, Hellcats, Corsairs...love all those magnificent warbirds!

The B-17 flying Fortress and a P 51 mustang were sleek and sexy lines and they got all the press and are better known throughout history. But the B24 liberator and P47 were manufactured in greater numbers and did a lot more of the work. They are the unsung heroes and need greater recognition by historians. I was very glad to see that you made this video honoring the thunderbolt. Much of what was learned from the thunderbolt became the basis for the development of the A1 Sandy.

Something most don’t know, is that the modern-day A-10 is called the Thunderbolt II. It’s a throw back to the P-47 because both aircraft can take a lot of damage and keep going. Which when you think about why they were built, for Air to Ground operations, it make sense.

As a young kid, my Dad used to watch the P-47s roll off the Republic assembly line and out to a huge mound of dirt just off the Evansville airport runway to test their .50 caliber guns. The city of Evansville produced 167 LST ships, tanks, and over 95% of the .45 caliber ammunition during WWII.

Grest episode TJ! I learned some new things. I think an episode on the P-40 Warhawk would be a good one in this series. One of my personal favorites and a bit of an unsung hero for the allies in WW2.

Having seen Dottie Mae in person a few times, it is amazing that it sat at the bottom of a lake for so long and now looks practically new! The Jug is a pretty awesome bird.

Something else about the Thunderbolt- It had eight .50 caliber machine guns. The rate of fire was such that a one-second burst put out THIRTEEN POUNDS of lead!

My grandfather was a fighter mechanic on the Langley, the Saratoga and the Enterprise. I believe that he mostly worked on Hellcats and Avengers. I'd love to see videos on them (the fighters and the aircraft carriers) if you haven't already made videos about them. I just recently found your channel, and you are doing an excellent job putting these videos together.

my father in law was a P-47 pilot, WWII. He had said that " you take pictures ,for your girl friend next to a P-51, but if you want to get home to your girl friend, you fly a P-47.

My favorite aircraft in its class in WWII. Nothing beat a Jug!

The US service men called the P-47 a "Jug" because they thought it resembled a milk jug. The British didn't get the milk jug reference, and assumed that "jug" was short for juggernaut.

My all time favorite is the P-38. I do love the P-47 and the P-51 as well and the rest of the arsenal of American aircraft, but my favorite is the Lightning!

Excellent points and explanation of the history of the P47, you can't go wrong with the P38 or the Hellcat . Great video

Due to its size, the P-47 holds the record for largest propeller fighter plane ever built!

Always have loved the Thunderbolt . My great grandfather was actually a pilot in Easy’s Angels, so I especially liked that you used that squadrons paint scheme as the thumbnail. Great video!

My grandparents lived in Patoka Indiana during the war. My grandmother told me P-47's use to fly over for their shake down flight.

How about covering the P-38 Lightning? From the difficulties with the twin engines, to the fact that Charles Lindbergh actually flew it in combat (as a civilian).

Agree with others: The p47 was made to engage other aircraft at altitude, above 20K. At that altitude, it was nimble and could maneuver with the best of them. After the props got figured out, it could also climb as fast as any other fighter. It could out dive anything too, including the 109.

P47 was designed as a high altitude long range escort tighter. It’s range was initially crimped because USAF generals reused to import drop tanks. This tanks did arrive when Mustangs came on line giving the latter the name for long range.

The P-47M was the fastest piston-powered aircraft of the war, powered by either the new Pratt & Whitney R-2800-14W or the R-2800-5 engine while using the brand new CH-5 turbo-supercharger, and new wide-bladed prop, and when hot rodded by the crews of the 56th FG, they hit an honest 500 mph. P-47s flew over 746,000 sorties on all fronts, more than the P-38, P-40 and P-51...wait for it...combined!!! and was THE "workhorse" of American aviation in WWII. It was also made in larger numbers than any other American fighter, even though it was expensive at $83,000 a plane. (A P-51 was $51,000) It was the best escort fighter by the end of the war in the long-range P-47N model holding an incredible 1266 gallons and a range of 2350 miles (a P-51D had a range of 1650 miles,) It had eight .50s with 3400 rds of ammo, enough for 32 seconds of firing and spit out 12.7 lbs of lead per second, (a P-51 had six .50s, only 1880 rds and only 22 seconds of firing putting out 9.23 lbs of lead per second,) With its duplication of controls/systems and tough air-cooled radial engine It had THE BEST survival rate of any aircraft in WWII and its loss per mission rate was an astounding 0.7%, amazing considering over 400,000 of its missions were ground attack, the hardest. (The vulnerable liquid-cooled P-51's survival rate per mission was also twice as bad at 1.2% and it was found after the war was shot down by ground attack at a rate of 3 Xs bad.) The P-47 was the aircraft that got you home. With its very rare and expensive electric dive brakes the P-47 was the fastest piston-powered diver of WWII, (the Me 262 was faster,) It fought for a year linger than the P-51, shooting g down German planes when they still had good pilots.

I think my Grandmother worked in Evansville on P-47's installing the cowlings .

The Chance-Vought F4U Corsair! Most especially the ones flown by Pappy Boyington & his Black Sheep Squadron! I LOVE those guys, especially since I was a kid watching them on TV WAAAY BACK in the late '70s! Aaaah, the memories!

Another Great Video TJ. I am really excited about the upcoming new video you gave us a sneak peek of on Patreon Too. Have a Great weekend buddy. Keep 'em flying.

EXCELLENT video. T E R R I F I C graphics for a superb WWII fighter plane! Great job indeed. Many thanks.

My father was a p-47 macanic He had 3 bronze stars Battle of Britain , and D-Day +6 , Battle of the bulge the went all the way to Germany he told me he saw them come back with cylinders shot off very tuff plane My uncle was a waist gunner on a B-17 he was a pathfinder first in Germany he wrote a book called bombs away you should check it out ……I’m very proud of them

The "Jug" nickname is referring to the shape of the fuselage. It resembles a Milk Jug.

Gotta love the P-47! You have presented very interesting tidbits here -- thanks. I am in a minority in that my favorite warbird is the PBY. There are lots of reasons for that opinion, and I think it would make a good subject for a future video on things we never knew.

The P-47 is soo much larger than its contemporaries because of the ductwork and inter cooler for the turbocharger.

Excellent video Tj loved it. Please do a video about when Robert S Johnson encountered Egon Myer!

It was the plane used by the Brazilian Expeditionary Force (FEB) that fought in Italy. 43 Brazilian pilots performed 5465 combat flight hours.

The Merlin 60 with 2 stage 2 speed supercharger came in 1942, after the Thunderbolt conception. It matched the P-51 airframe like a glove bringing up the best of both. This brought the Jug down to wreck havoc the enemy rolling stock, vehicles and infantry doing the same as RAF Typhoons, A-20s and others.

Village I grew up in The New Forest UK was one big Thunderbolt base. We used to love playing amongst the old ruins and remnants of Brownings etc.

Great vid again, buddy!!! It’s cool how this plane saved one of our towns in a unique way (even I didn’t know that)! For your next aircraft facts vid, do the Hawker Hurricane since it’s Battle of Britain Season!!

Wow. These videos, yours and others, are really high class.

Saw a P-47 flying with a B-17 several weekends ago at an airshow. A rare sight!

Think that the mighty Beau would be an appropriate candidate for one of the next videos. Regarding Thunderbolt, one of my most favourite aircraft, especially in late D and M variants😁

I go to Evansville va once every couple of months. At the airport they have a control panel from a P-47 thunderbolt

I'd love to see you cover the C-141 Starlifter. There just isn't a whole lot out there on this big agile bird. Love the sound of it.

Would be nice to see an episode on the Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateer .. keep up the brilliant work 👍

One of the best fighter planes in WW2 . It have the Messerschmidt , and Focke Wolf fits filled w fear.

I'd like to learn about some of the float planes of all sides and how they were used besides rescuing downed pilots. Love the channel! Thanks!

You almost hit 100.000 subs, good job!

Almost 100k Brother!! Appreciate your hard work on these gorgeous vids.

The great thing about Dottie Mae is that she is a fly able, fully restored and probably they most authentic Jug out there. I was one of the many people (there was probably almost 30 of us maybe less) to see her the day before she would be put on display(of course I was not invited for the actually ceremony).When I saw her I was stunned, I almost cried. She is the most beautiful plane I have ever layed eyes and no matter who I marry this plane will always have my heart. If you want to see her she can often be seen at chino airport in California where she visits Planes of fame and other venues in California such as airshows.

I live in Mt. Vernon Illinois, seen on that map about an hour west of Evansville. Although the P-47 is one of my favorite WWII planes i never knew they were made that close. may need to make a visit over there sometime.

You should do a video on the Westland Lysander

This was a very well done job of displaying the abilities of the P-47 and its accomplishments. For your next video, I'd like to see one done on one of the rarer bombers of WWII; the Consolidated B-32 Dominator. As a potential back-up for the B-29, it was used by only one squadron of the 312th bomb group. This should be an interesting subject.

Enjoyed your video and so I gave it a Thumbs Up

Apparently they used to say that the best way to take evasive action in a Thunderbolt was to unstrap and run around the cockpit. It was a big fighter.

Though the P51 Mustang was an incredible fighter and did a lot of damage to the Luftwaffe from mid 1944 onward , experts on airwar concur that it is the unsung P47 that really broke the back of the Luftwaffe during the 12 months prior to the Mustang entering service in great number. 🤔

A Jug admirer, my 1st balsa build & I use to Visit Evansville every Sunday , also. You have to if you live in dry, Owensboro.

New sub, very interesting videos you post, keep up the good work! 👍

Kudos to Republic Aviation the P-47 Thunderbolt, pilots and crews for this tough, versatile aircraft. The people of Evansville, Indiana were fortunate to have an opportunity to produce this fighter!

I'm from Evansville and my high school history teacher had a K-bar knife his dad made working at that plant, he took the handle off and made one out of a rejected canopy stacking it in the handle.

I was always a Mustang guy growing up in late 60s 70s and 80s. I never new much about the P47. I don't think it was glamorous enough and wasn't in the books or toys when I was a kid, but the Mustang sure was. I think it's the first airplane I could identify by seeing it. But I have learned so much about the P47 in the past years that I think it got ripped off and shafted by the bomber mafia trying to cover up their big screw up of banning all u.s. fighter's from using drop tanks. Ya know that story about how it wasn't till the Mustangs range they could finally hit Berlin? Not exactly true people! It was when they finally started putting drop tanks on the fighter's. The P47 could hit Berlin way before the Mustang. It is also responsible for the most kills when the German pilots were still really good and experienced. By the time the newer planes showed up almost all the good German pilots were out of the war and there new pilots were inexperienced using poorly built aircraft by then. I think if I had to choose today what airplane I wanted to use in ww2 it would the p47. I think it offers the better odds of me getting home and being an extremely effective fighter, especially in the later models. They were hitting 475mph. It's quite an airplane!

My favorite WW2 plane. "If you wanted to get a girl, fly a P-51D, if you wanted to kill Nazis, fly a P-47 Razorback"

I think you should do a video on the North American P-51 Mustang

The P-47 was beast indeed and I love this airplane that flew well on the deck and flew very well at high altitude. They achieved far more than the P-51 and was a very tough airplane that could hold far more damage than the sexy P-51. After the war savagely downside the Airforce by scrapping the fleet of P-47 leaving very few of them. A decision that they will regret as those airplanes were far more suitable for ground attack in Korea. Resulting in the loss of many pilots flying the P-51...

Superb video best way to get up to a dinosaur such an education video for young adults never knew why Evansville was popular love to see something about airplanes with pontoon War aircraft

Great airplane, always liked after seeing it at an Airshow. Also one of my fav's in War Thunder game!

Excellent aircraft, one of my favourites at the Duxford Imperial War Museum.

A video on the mighty mosquito would be appreciated.

My mother, her dad, and her mom all worked at the Republic Aircraft plant in Evansville for the duration of the war.

I have a 50 cal round sitting on my desk. Its a weighty chunk about 2.5 inches long. The Jug's 8 Brownings would have created hell on earth for any target unfortunate enough to get their attention.

My namesake, Col. Michael C. Horgan, flew P-47s with the 9th Air Force during WWII before continuing his career through Vietnam. My dad flew the P-47's son and grandson in Korea and Vietnam (F-84, both straight and swept winged, and F-105).

Wonderful video. Never knew some of the history of the P-47. Didn't realize over 6K were produced. Truly fascinating history and definitely keep it up. It's always great learning things you never knew before. Could you do a video on the history of the P-40 or the P-51?

PBY Catalina gets my vote for next aircraft.

I think the Jug name isn't short for Juggernaut. I remember reading Thunderbolt years ago. Robert Johnson referred to the airplane as The Jug long before it made it's mark. Jug wasn't a compliment, not at first.

I think it was never called the Juggernaut per se but it was called the “jug” because of its shape. But that was not, in this case, short for juggernaut.

Just as a famous airmen said if you wanna impress,fly a p 51,if you wanna come back alive fly a p 47" Brilliant video as always!

I live by the factory that made b-24s in Willow run in Michigan plus the great lakes had training carriers on it for navy pilots, the carrier was called the U.S.S Wolverine

Covering the Hellcat would be a winner.

I heard they called it jug because it looked like a milk jug. Can't imagine being on the business end of 8 .50 caliber MGs.

Great video. And for once, I enjoyed the computer animation.

Awesome channel!!

great video awesome a/c; another fighter-bomber was the Hawker Typhoon with its RP -3 rocket projectiles that sealed the end of German Offensive in Normandy by absolute panzer destruction at Mortain and subsequent Falaise pocket end of the German Army in Normandy

Good one!

The late Ginger Lacey flew Thunderbolts in Burma. He reckoned that they were so big and heavy that the only way you could take evasive action was to undo your straps and run around in the cockpit !

The P-38 is still my favorite WWII fighter aircraft.

My fifth grade teacher was a P47 pilot and flight instructor. I heard stories about the "JUG" all that year

Congrats on 100k

It mentioned to comment if I had a plane that's not documented much show the Fairchild PT-19. Also it's little known combat service. From what I understand, they served in the Philippines in a combat role as they were using anything they could get their hands on. My grandfather bought one after the war and as a kid that plane was a ball to ride in.an amazing trainer and oddball in how it was controlled... So responsive it was crazy

Would love to see a video on the P 38 very interesting aircraft