Republic P-47 "Thunderbolt"
Model Airplane News Cover for December, 1942, December 1944, August, 1957 and February, 1962
by Jo Kotula
It was very popular... a four time cover plane
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The "Thunderbolt" was defintely the largest single seat fighter in the war -- it was basically one gigantic engine and supercharger that had been armed to the teeth. It was one of the main United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) fighters of World War II, and also served with other Allied air forces.

        

The XP-47 B
Progenitor of the P-47
Design Patent D-144,058 Click to Enlarge

But, first things first. The intermediary step between the P-43 (above) and the P-47 was a variant called the XP-47B. It had the general lines of the P-43 but due to the giant engine, it had an empty weight of 9,900 lb (65 percent more than the YP-43.) The designer, Alex Kartveli, said, "It will be a dinosaur, but it will be a dinosaur with good proportions." In fact, its proportions were excellent and it has been a subject for modeling ever since --it was on the cover of Model Airplane News twice in the space of two years:

The armament consisted of eight 50 caliber machine guns, four in each wing. The XP-47B first flew in early May 1941 and demonstrated astoundding speed, range, climb and ability to dominate the skies at high altitude, qualities that were desperately needed to attain air superiority in Europe.

     

Republic P-47 "Thunderbolt"
right: article from the April 1942 issue of Popular Science
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The P-47 production version, also known as the "Jug," was the biggest, heaviest, and most expensive fighter aircraft in history to be powered by a single reciprocating engine. It was effective in air combat but proved especially adept at ground attack. It had eight .50-caliber machine guns, four per wing. When fully loaded the P-47 could weigh up to eight tons. The Thunderbolt was described in glowing terms in a 1942 article in Popular Science (right photo). Click Here to download a ".pdf" of this article.

     

The Republic P-47 "Thunderbolt"
Design Patent D-139,729
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On the December, 1942 cover, artist Kotula pays tribute to Marine Fighter Squadron VMF-223, the famous Fighting Bulldogs who slugged it out with the Japanese without rest for several months during the battle for Guadalcanal, destroying 110 enemy planes in dogfights. The artist seems to have take a bit of license, comparing his version with the sqadron's "official" patch.

  

Tribute to VMF-223
Heroic Aviators of Guadalcanal
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Here is a video of the P-47 in action:

In addition to the cover of Model Airplane News, this airplane was also featured in the WINGS "Friend or Foe" trading card series of the early 1950s

Trading card representation of the Republic P-47 "Thunderbolt"
Click Here to see all 200 cards in the series
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Click Here for more information about the Republic P-47 "Thunderbolt".

Cleveland sold Thunderbolt kits in all of their various lines. The kit shown below is from the "Master Series" -- it even came with paint in the correct colors. The picture at the far-right includes a section from the plans which gives suggestions for attaining a "metal look" -- basically by covering or "planking" the model with balsa. This had the desired effect but the resulting model would be too heavy to fly.

        

Cleveland Model of the Republic P-47 "Thunderbolt"

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You can buy the plans and patterns that will enable you to make this model right now. Click Here to go to the exact location on the Cleveland Website to get them.

Republic P-47 "Thunderbolt" at the Cleveland Site
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